CREATIVITY AND DIGITAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP AS DRIVERS OF DESIGN THINKING EFFECTIVENESS

What drives design thinking effectiveness for entrepreneurs? Design thinking is often used by entrepreneurial ventures to manage the innovation process. But while studies on design thinking within entrepreneurship indicate that it is a powerful tool for those who use it, few studies have examined factors related to its effectiveness. Using a survey of 448 entrepreneurs in the US and Croatia, we develop and test hypotheses relating creativity (including organisational creative behaviours, employee creative ability, and creativity training for employees) and digital entrepreneurship to design thinking effectiveness. Conceptualising creativity as a distinct organisational resource supportive of design thinking, we find that creative behaviours and the creative ability of employees positively affect design thinking effectiveness; digital entrepreneurship was also positively related to design thinking effectiveness. Creativity training did not directly affect design thinking effectiveness but increased it in organisations that demonstrated creative behaviours. We conclude that entrepreneurial firms intending to use design thinking would be well advised to consider the creative ability of their employees and the degree to which their organisation behaves creatively. As digital entrepreneurship enables design thinking to be more effective, entrepreneurs would benefit from making their ventures as digital as possible.