In this study, the authors investigate how network relations affect project performance through creativity. They challenge previous conceptualizations of creativity by proposing the idea that creative outcomes in project industries can be conceptualized as deviation from past projects and deviation from partners’ projects. While previous research has mostly assumed that network relations are beneficial to performance because they increase innovation and creativity, this conceptualization of creativity reveals different empirical regularities. The authors show that network relations are likely to exercise both positive and negative effects on creativity and that creativity is also likely to exercise both positive and negative effects on performance. In addition, networks show both convergent and divergent effects on the two dimensions of creativity. The findings show that network relations activate important trade-offs that organizations must consider in their strategic choices and open up research on the social side of creativity.
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