pallavi b27

8/4/2019 PALLAVI B27

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PROMOTINGINNOVATION

AND

CREATIVITY

AMONGST

EMPLOYEESUBMITTED BY-

SUBMITTED TO-

Pallavi kumari

Marlyn mam

Section R1904

Roll no.-B27

IntroductionThe need for innovation permeates every organization from top to bottom for employees, but

not every organization is adept at generating creative solutions to its problems. As a senior


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executive, what can you do to promote innovation and creativity that is manageble and

measurable at every level of the company, including:

small improvements whose cumulative effect adds up to big savings in day-to-day

processes

major changes that revolutionize jobs, products and services

Breakthroughs in strategic thinking that could redefine the nature of the organization?

We can create a six-part system for managing creativity and creating an environment where

ideas can be better assessed and adopted and these are:-

decide what operations to target for improving innovation

prepare the workplace for innovation

implement behavioural suggestion systems

generate innovative alternatives

choose from among innovative alternatives

adopt innovations throughout the organization

Numerous commentators have argued that enhancing the creative performance of employee

is necessary step if organisations are to achieve competitive advantage. When employee

performs creatively, they suggest novel and useful products, ideas or procedures that provide

an organisation with important raw material for subsequent development and possible

implementation.

CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION DAY

Launched in 2001 by a group in Toronto, Canada, this day is now celebrated in more than 43

countries. April 15th was chosen as Creativity and Innovation Day in honor of Leonardo da
http://www.creativityday.ca/index.phphttp://www.creativityday.ca/index.php


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Vinci who was born on this day. This day marks the beginning of a week full of activities

and workshops aimed at fostering creativity and innovation. The website dedicated to this

special day provides a variety of resources including articles, research studies, posters and

ideas for activities that encourage creativity whether in the classroom, in the office or in

everyday tasks.

Distinguishing between creativity and

innovation

It is often useful to explicitly distinguish between creativity and innovation.

Creativity is typically used to refer to the act of producing new ideas, approaches or actions,

while innovation is the process of both generating and applying such creative ideas in some

specific context.

In the context of an organization, therefore, the term innovation is often used to refer to the

entire process by which an organization generates creative new ideas and converts them into

novel, useful and viable commercial products, services, and business practices, while the

term creativity is reserved to apply specifically to the generation of novel ideas by

individuals or groups, as a necessary step within the innovation process.

For example, Amabile and shermaine montefalco et al. (1996) suggest that while innovation

begins with creative ideas,"

"...creativity by individuals and teams is a starting point for innovation; the first is a

necessary but not sufficient condition for the second."

Although the two words are novel, they go hand in hand. In order to be innovative,

employees have to be creative to stay competitive.


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BUSINESS CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION (To build an

innovative culture):-. More and more, todays competitive climate requires organizations to

institutionalize the process of innovation - to plant the seeds of creativity

that could utterly transform a business. Creativity necessarily involves the

destruction of old - and sometimes comfortable and perfectly good - ways

of doing business. But for companies willing to take the risk - and for

leaders committed to building innovative cultures - the first requirement

is to understand the creative process, and the second is to commit to

policies that support the creative process.

The Four Stages of the Creative Process:In order to build an innovative culture, leaders first have to understand the four keys stages

of the creative process, based on the work of Teresa Amabile, Ph. D. - a psychologist at the

Harvard Business School: The four stages are:

1. Preparation: this is the stage where the creative person or team becomes

immersed in the problem. Its an information gathering stage, and when the effort is

a collective one, it involves the forming of roles, areas of special individual interest

and the (sometimes loose!) coordination of tasks. The creative process can sometimes

stall - or temporarily appear to stall - at this stage, especially when lots of possibilities

yield no immediate, transformative insights.


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2. Incubation: in this stage, the original problem may appear to be on the back

burner, even forgotten or neglected, but the mind is still at work. Not the logical,

linear mind - the part we use most when awake - but the part that dreams, synthesizes,

and makes new, weird, original connections. For a team effort, this can mean that the

group may not meet for a while, appearing to let the project fall by the wayside. But

people will still be thinking, or have ideas occur to them in the shower, or write down

thoughts on cocktail napkins, etc.

3. Illumination: Without warning, ideas or innovations can come any time - the

aha! or eureka! experience. More commonly, there is no immediate killer

insight, but some new angle that may occur, or some sudden, burning, unexplainable

need to return to work on the problem - often a sign of creative labor pains. When

the creative project has been a team effort, sometimes the only thing needed is to get

the original group members together again after a period of time, and then pow! -

the spontaneous exchange among them can bring forth an idea that no one member

could articulate alone.

4. Execution: This is the stage that separates mere creativity from successful

innovation. New ideas require action, stubborn determination, and ability to build

change coalitions while marketing the idea to critical skeptics. Perhaps more than

anything else, it takes courage and persistence. Since the execution stage is more

about social skill than it is about the technical skill that produces the innovative idea,

this is the stage where organizational management can be most actively helpful in

promoting business creativity.


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Some business practices that create innovative

culture

Leaders who want to create an innovative business culture must understand the steps of the

creative process, but that alone is not enough. To promote business innovation, executive

leaders should commit to the following business practices, and institutionalize them in the

culture - by training managers in these practices and then doling out promotions and rewards

to those who employ them successfully.

1. Select the most promising innovators, but encourage unexpected surprises: To build

innovative hothouses in an organization, executives may want to cull out the most

promising idea-generators and provide them with extra resources. Those are the

people who can benefit most from the buffer zones in step two. But the other

practices listed in this section should be generalized throughout the organization, if

possible, so that innovators in unexpected places will have the room to produce ideas

and results. Leaders should train other managers to understand the stages of the

creative process, and evaluate managers based on their ability to promote and

shepherd through to completion new ideas that they encounter.

2. Create buffer zones for the most innovative people: Creating buffer zones means

building a kind of protective cocoon around creative people or around the innovative

teams within an organization. That means eliminating the ways that policies or other

work pressures get in the way or discourage the information gathering involved in the

preparation stage. It also means being sure that the tools and resources are available

when creative people go looking around for data or answers to questions. The


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executive leader for such a group should do the advance work and run the

interference necessary to let creative people go through the preparation stage without

interference or harassment.

3. Give innovators room to play: For innovators, anything they can do to mess

around with the kinds of data or projects that they see as helpful - will be helpful.

That can be hard to remember when they seem to have lost their minds, or to have

lost their focus! But during the incubation stage, activities that may look like useless

diversions - that may not even look like work - are all necessary to allow the deeper

parts of the brain to solve a problem and make new connections. For typical results-

oriented executives, this can be hard to do - especially when the creative team

happens to be a team of executives working to create a new business process. The

senior executive who may have assigned the task may be hard pressed to let his

innovative team have the time and space to produce truly transformative solutions.

The key to letting people have room to play is to refrain from judgment of their

activities or methods.

1. Give innovators room to play: For innovators, anything they can do to mess around

with the kinds of data or projects that they see as helpful - will be helpful. That can

be hard to remember when they seem to have lost their minds, or to have lost their

focus! But during the incubation stage, activities that may look like useless

diversions - that may not even look like work - are all necessary to allow the deeper

parts of the brain to solve a problem and make new connections. For typical results-

oriented executives, this can be hard to do - especially when the creative team

happens to be a team of executives working to create a new business process. The

senior executive who may have assigned the task may be hard pressed to let his

innovative team have the time and space to produce truly transformative solutions.


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The key to letting people have room to play is to refrain from judgment of their

activities or methods.

Resist the temptation to look for immediate results: Any team can develop

incremental solutions or recommendations. There is no business or technological

process that cannot be improved through study and modification. But to build a

culture that truly encourages innovation, the pressure to get immediate results will

yield only incremental improvements, and the need to meet deadlines can sometimes

kill the creative process before the illumination stage. While it is true that deadlines

can focus creative teams and encourage timely ultimate illumination, setting

deadlines should not be overused because they often will interfere with the creative

process. Close communication with creative people working on a project can help

leaders develop a feel for when setting a deadline will help, rather than hinder the

process.

2. Commit to driving the best ideas through to implementation: Innovators are seldom

the best salespeople for their ideas. They are, by nature, more likely to work in

isolation, play with their ideas, or generally rub others who are less creative the

wrong way. The business leader who wants to encourage innovation must act as the

first-line filter to test the best ideas and solutions, choosing which ones are the right

ones to see through to fruition. Then the executive advocate must commit to the

internal sales and marketing project to build coalitions that will bring the new idea

into a reality. This takes courage and persistence, and an ability to work the political

and social process involved in getting others to adapt to innovation. This is

important, not only to reap the rewards of innovation in practice, but to encourage


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other innovators by showing them that their best efforts will actually be adopted and

see the light of day - in your organization, and not your competitors!

Leaders who want to encourage business creativity must be sure also to build talent driven,

positive cultures that place a value on learning. To see if your organization fits the bill, heres

one quick test: can any employee at least two steps removed in the organizational chart

openly ask a question that challenges a firmly held opinion of the CEO? If the answer is

no, then your organization is probably not as open as you think it is, and youll need to

reassess your culture if you genuinely want to promote innovation - and reap innovations

rewards.

Engaged Employees Inspire Company Innovation

and creativity

For innovation, business leaders aren't necessarily looking to traditional sources, like

research and development departments, to contribute big new ideas. Rather, they're

counting on ideas from their employees, customers, and partners to help drive the

organization forward. And engaged employees are most likely to contribute those

innovations, according to a recent Gallup Management Journal(GMJ) survey of U.S.

workers.

GMJsurveyed U.S. employees to discover what

effect employee engagement may have on team-level innovation and customer service

delivery. Gallup researchers studied employee responses to several items about innovation in


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the workplace to see which factors differed most strongly among engaged employees (29%

of respondents) and those who were not engaged (56%) or actively disengaged (15%).

Gallup research has shown that engaged employees are more productive, profitable, safer,

create stronger customer relationships, and stay longer with their company than less engaged

employees. This latest research indicates that workplace engagement is also a powerful factor

in catalyzing "outside-the-box" thinking to improve management and business processes as

well as customer service.

When GMJresearchers surveyed U.S. workers, 59% of engaged employees strongly agreed

with the statement that their current job "brings out [their] most creative ideas." On the flip

side, only 3% of actively disengaged employees strongly agreed that their current job brings

out their most creative ideas.

.

Graphical representation of creativity on the job amongst

employee


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THREE COMPONENTS OF

CREATIVITY

MOTOROLA APPROACH TO CRATIVITY AND INNOVATION

AMONGST EMPLOYEES

Motorola is an electronics company that is well known for making products like

cellular phones and pagers. They have achieved a high level of success throughout the world

by being innovative and promoting creativity among their employees. This companys

prosperity is dependent upon developing cutting edge technology and in new product design.

To accomplish these goals, Motorola actively encourages employees to generate creative

ideas, challenge conventional thinking, and look towards the future.

There are many practices Motorola uses to be successful and improve employee

creativity within the organization. Some of these methods include employee empowerment

and risk taking, training and education techniques, participative management, and team


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collaboration. This paper will address how Motorola manages creativity and innovation in

the workplace and describe the effects of their approach on employee performance.

Training and Education

Motorola has a distinct corporate culture and core set of values that affect how

employees perform and their level of creativity. Motorola strongly believes in preparing

their employees through education and training. Every worker is required to go through 40

hours of training each year, and they are provided with additional educational opportunities

like attending professional conferences and workshops (Inside Motorola: Benefits). There is

also a school, called Motorola University, which is an important tool designed to train

Motorola recruits.

Motorolas training and education programs have set a high standard for teaching

workers how to behave in the workplace. Motorola University was established in 1980 to

serve as a learning centre for employees. It now has branches all over the world and instructs

workers about a wide variety of business topics by combining traditional schooling with

hands on learning. They learn not only by reading manuals or attending lectures, but by

inventing and building their own products as well (High Performance Working Research

Project). Motorola University does not dwell on abstract concepts or theories. It

concentrates primarily on the application of concepts to the business world and how to deal

with performance issues. This program creates a practical link between education and

business strategies that can guide employees to make informed decisions.

Motorola also employs innovative training through a distance-learning program.

They use technologies like CD-ROM courses, satellite broadcasts, and virtual classrooms on

the Internet to keep employees skills up to date in a rapidly changing industry. Motorolas


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unique training practices lead to more knowledgeable and competent employees because

their skills are continually advancing. Distance learning also makes training more efficient.

It allows numerous employees to be trained simultaneously at regional centers and reduces

the time and travel costs it would take to educate them elsewhere. Motorola has stated that

distance learning will continue to grow in the future, and it will someday make up as much as

40% of their entire training program.

Participative Management

Motorola Universitys curriculum is based on very clear objectives aimed at

preparing employees to be leaders in the workplace. It stresses the importance of change and

points out that there must be shared responsibility for change across the entire organization.

Motorola University has helped the organization evolve from a view of change as

something done to others for the benefit of a few to a view of change as something done

collectively for the benefit of the whole (High Performance Working Research Project).

Therefore, Motorola encourages employees to be accountable and have a stake in the

company by awarding them with significant opportunities to contribute to organizational

change.

An interrelated principle Motorola teaches is that innovation is more likely to occur

when employees participate in finding solutions rather than waiting for them to occur

elsewhere. Motorola wants workers at all levels to incorporate organizational changes within

their everyday jobs instead of deeming change as purely a function of management. Finally,

Motorola University teaches its workforce to think with a broad perspective that extends

beyond the organization. The goal is to avoid narrow-minded thinking, which can restrict

imaginative ideas and solutions.


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Team Collaboration

Another interesting technique Motorola uses is a competitive event between teams of

employees throughout the organization. This competition is called TCS, and is aimed at

promoting idea sharing and improving total customer satisfaction. The top teams from

Motorola branches all over the world come to Orlando participate in this event. Each team is

given a 12-minute time limit to make a presentation about what they have done to meet

customer needs over the previous year. They must describe how they applied problem

solving techniques, teamwork, creative solutions, or new processes to enhance customer

satisfaction. They also have to show that their accomplishments were consistent with the

companys five main initiatives: six sigma quality control, total cycle-time reduction, profit

improvement, participative management, and leadership.

An example of a winning team at the TCS was the ROOTS team from China. This

group demonstrated resourcefulness and innovation through a plan to that resulted in a 40%

increase in the amount of paging products sold to area suppliers. ROOTS coordinated with

both new and existing suppliers in China to create a close distribution network that was more

efficient and lucrative for Motorola (High Performance Working Research Project). This

illustrates the kind of innovation and progress Motorola wants all groups to strive for.

The TCS competition is a fun occasion for everyone involved and includes a paid trip

to Orlando, Florida for the finalists. However, it is also a learning tool. Many ideas are

exchanged between teams and new cross-cultural relationships develop. It is also an exercise

requiring teamwork and spirited employee participation. One Motorola executive described

the TCS event as the personification of our empowerment program. The TCS has

emphasized the use of teams in a creative setting, and Motorola has seen teams become more

cooperative and effective since the competitions inception.


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The chairman of the board at Motorola observed that the TCS encourages employees

to become more involved in generating and implementing new ideas. He said, The

intangible benefit is that, once people see that you're interested in their ideas, they feel better

about being part of the corporation and part of their business unit. Motorola believes this

type of employee participation and recognition leads to greater levels of loyalty and lower

turnover. Since around 40% of Motorola employees are regularly involved in team activities

during their normal workday, the TCS is a useful instrument to bring out their creative spirit.

It teaches them to find innovative and intelligent solutions consistent with the companys

commitment to customer satisfaction.

A common model of group collaboration at Motorola is the use of cross-functional

teams to complete tasks. Workers from different departments like sales, engineering, market,

and research and development are frequently combined to work jointly on projects.

Employees are also taught how to use techniques like effective communication and conflict

resolution in a group setting. Motorola believes that with the proper training, cross-

functional teams can accomplish tasks more quickly than dividing them up between each

division (Besemer). In fact, because of cross-functional teams, cycle times have reduced by

60%-70% in engineering and manufacturing areas and 90%-95% in administrative and

service processes. They have also seen that combining knowledge and diverse perspectives

of several departments often leads to more creative solutions than traditional methods

(Hurley).

Empowerment and Risk Taking

Motorola has strived to ensure continuous improvement and lasting success by

following fundamental principles that emphasize change. One principle is known as

leadership of renewal, which stresses the need for change to stay ahead of the advancing


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technology market. Motorola has tried to create a corporate structure that can anticipate and

manage change in order to gain a competitive advantage. A key aspect of accomplishing this

is to teach managers and lower level employees to take a proactive approach toward change

(Winston).

Another standard they adhere to is called renewal of leadership. At Motorola it is

important that employees have freedom to take risks and utilize creativity. Therefore,

Motorola looks for managers who can inspire and empower subordinates rather than inhibit

their creative freedom through rigid authority or control. Their renewal of leadership system

uses an intricate 360-degree feedback program for all divisions of the company. This allows

every worker to get opinions about their strengths and areas needing improvement from

peers, managers, subordinates, and customers. Motorola also has a structure that encourages

the rotation of managers from all levels of the organization. This is done to reenergize

managers and ensure that problems will continually be looked at from a fresh perspective

(Winston).

An essential concept the Motorola Corporation advocates to their employees is to

think the unthinkable. The notion here is to think differently and find innovative solutions to

any type of problem encountered. To encourage this initiative, Motorola passes power on to

their employees to make critical decisions and tells them it is okay to make mistakes. Open

to new ideas, devoted to nurturing, and encouraging those who question the oldest

assumptions and propose the boldest changes--these are enduring characteristics of

Motorola (High Performance Working Research Project).

Motorola also encourages their employees to exhibit desired performance through

rewards and positive reinforcement. Counter-intuitive thinking--the thought process of

standing against the crowd and challenging conventional wisdom--is prized, encouraged, and


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rewarded. In fact, it is the basis on which Motorola's success is founded. Motorola is very

good about giving their employees a high level of autonomy and encouraging independent

thinking. This results in a greater sense of confidence and creative freedom while on the job.

In order for workers to consistently apply the values that Motorola preaches, they

must be properly motivated. Thus, Motorola offers many extrinsic rewards to employees

that can make them feel appreciated and motivate them to be successful. The company

provides extensive training each year for all employees, tuition reimbursement for attending

school, sports and recreation facilities, and promotions based on achievement rather than

tenure (Inside Motorola: Benefits). These incentives, along with competitive salaries, can

help workers feel a greater sense of commitment and purpose for their jobs. It is also

common for people to be more productive and creative when they are valued and feel

comfortable in their surroundings. The preceding examples illustrate why so many

employees view Motorola as a first class organization and are passionate about their careers.

Looking ForwardMotorola has implemented a system to ensure that everyone, from executives down

to regular employees, is always thinking towards the future. The company continually

reevaluates and reinvents its business structure to meet current demands, and has shown that

they are not afraid of making drastic changes when necessary. This type of progressive

attitude emulates from the top of the organization downward. Therefore, employees at

Motorola are more willing to make suggestions and express their creative visions because

they are given freedom to try new things and have the unwavering support from management

to take risks.


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Furthermore, Motorola calls on their personnel to contemplate a number of questions

that will impact the future of the organization. They ask challenging questions such as: what

will our organizational structure look like in 2025? How does our structure need to be

different to support our vision? What new technologies will be needed? What skills will our

managers need for the growth and the changes we are experiencing? (High Performance

Working Research Project) These types of thought provoking questions necessitate creative

responses from employees and reveal the need for continuous innovation in a dynamic

industry.

ConclusionInnovation and creativity have clearly been a driving force behind Motorolas

prosperity. Over the years, Motorola has proven itself to be revolutionary through both their

product design and in the way they interact with employees. Motorola has been a leader in

the technology market because of their emphasis on continuous improvement and their

ability to adapt to change. Some elements of Motorolas creative plan include employee

empowerment, participative management, team collaboration, and innovative education and

training. Their goals are for workers to exhibit independent thinking, creative problem

solving, and leadership ability. It is evident Motorola encourages creativity and innovation

from their employees, and this has contributed greatly to the organizations success.

ROLE OF ORGANISATIONAL CLIMATE TO ENCOURAGE

CREATIVITY TOWARDS INNOVATION

An organizations climate, or work atmosphere, represents the primary backdrop that

influences employees beliefs about their work environment. The climate affects the setting

and ongoing adjustment, as well as employees expectations about what the organization


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desires and expects of them. When we are interested in fostering creativity and innovation in

our organization, we must consider to what extent the organizational climate is conducive to

opportunity, encouragement, and support. This is especially important because we know that

most creative people are particularly responsive to workplace climate factors. Additionally,

key aspects of an organizations climate for creativity will serve as effective starting points

for creativity-related interventions. It is likely that large numbers of employers will need to

gain a strong understanding of how to target these interventions based on climate. A 2006

survey of corporate leaders conducted by SHRM indicated that 73.6% rated

creativity/innovation among the most critical emerging content and skill areas over the

next five years.

An organizations climate is generally comprised of influences from different sources of the

employees experiences such as their jobs, groups, and environmental factors. Through the

Kenexa Creativity series of articles (featured in the previous four issues of Kenexa

Connection), we have identified and discussed various influences from the workplace such as

working in groups and the influence of leadership on creative endeavors.

Climate factors such as leader support, autonomy, challenging work, adequate resources,

work group support, and positive supervisor relations all influence employee creativity.

Examples of leader support and positive supervisor relations include removing obstacles,

supporting and championing team members ideas, inquiring regularly about work and

progress, recognizing good work (both privately and publicly), helping when problems arise,

and asking for ideas. Autonomy relates to the perception that employees have the

independence to decide how they will approach their jobs.

Furthermore, social relationships, other than those with the supervisor, influence creativity

and innovation. Employees who feel their participation is encouraged are more likely to feel


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that their creativity will be supported. Communication between peers, supervisors, and

subordinates is clear, open, and effective. Employees who experience a more positive peer

group are likely to be more creative than those who do not encounter support and intellectual

stimulation. These positive relationships are characterized by open and honest

communication and trust. Employees will also find it easier to engage in creative efforts

when they feel that the debate and discussion of ideas is encouraged and supported in the

organization.

It is also important for employees to perceive support from top management. Senior

leadership must make it clear that they desire creativity and innovation. Part of the

employees experience of the importance of creativity and innovation will also come from an

encouragement of flexibility. It is necessary for employees to feel that the organization and

its leaders are accepting of risks and will tolerate the uncertainty and ambiguity that is often

associated with creative efforts. Employees who perceive their jobs or tasks as a challenge

are more likely to be creative. The job or tasks should be complex and interesting, but should

not be overly taxing or unduly overwhelming to the extent that creative energies are

diminished.

The climate factors discussed here provide a starting point for designing organizational

efforts and processes to encourage creativity. However, before interventions are designed, it

is important to assess your organization for its creative climate. Organizational survey items

such as My ideas and suggestions count, In this company there is open and honest two-

way communication, I often do work that challenges me and my abilities, We have an

environment where new ideas can be tested quickly, and In my work group, we learn from

unsuccessful attempts to innovate, will provide a basis for understanding your organizations


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climate for creativity. Only after you understand your climate can you develop an appropriate

plan for encouraging future creativity.

So a better organisational climate isnecessary for innovation and creativity.


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BIBLIOGRAPHY

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