Promoting Individual Creativity - Essay Example

? Entrepreneurship Report Executive Summary The concept of entrepreneurship s back to the 1700s and the term entrepreneurship refers to the process of bringing together all other factors of production in a more organize manner to realize certain objectives (Erik, 2011). The process of entrepreneurship has been used for stimulation of economic growth as well as creation of opportunities for employment. Any person who practices entrepreneurship can be called an entrepreneur (Erik, 2011). Entrepreneurship is associated with so many benefits and many people today tend to be entrepreneurs rather than becoming professionals or engaging in a formal employment. The reason why these individuals will propose to be their own bosses is because of the various merits that are associated with entrepreneurship. Some of the benefits are becoming their own bosses as well as the ability to enjoy freedom on the areas of businesses (Erik, 2011). The creativity and innovative nature of an individual molds the entrepreneurship skills in them. Since the 1700s many creative and innovative young professionals have become entrepreneurs and the driving force behind their entry into entrepreneurship world are the various benefits that are associated with entrepreneurship (Erik, 2011). Good practice of entrepreneurship requires application of qualities like dedication, flexibility, determination, and creativity. CHAPTER ONE Introduction The process of entrepreneurship starts with introduction of new things in areas where those introduced things are missing. Once the new things have been discovered these things are combined with the already existing resources (Erik, 2011). The process of combination of these things with the already existing resources entails creativity. In this report an individual who will be discussed in relation to the creativity and entrepreneurship is Stephen Murtagh who was the winner of the year 2013 Manufacturing award for the year (Casey, 2013). Most of the individuals who are creative are able to adapt in many different situations and they are able to realize their goals from the available resources. Some of the personality characteristics of creative people are Possession of great physical energy These personalities are able to work for very long hours with a lot of concentration (Brown, 1989). The generation of their energy takes place internally because of their focused minds and the urge to achieve success in all that they do. Possession of naivety and smartness at the same time These people tend to have high level of intelligence as well naivety in venturing into new areas (Brown, 1989). The naivety originates from divergent thinking since this thinking is associated with separation of good ideas from bad ones. Ability to combine both discipline and playfulness Creative people are always capable of combining both irresponsibility and responsibility quality and they are able to work late at night unlike uncreative individuals (Brown, 1989). Ability to navigate between imagination and fantasy Creative people always have a sense of reality and this reality emerges from imagination that these people obtain from art and science. Possessions of introversion and extraversion These possessions are able to differentiate the personality traits in individuals and measurement of these differences is possible. Studies have shown that these qualities can be both found in creative people. Stephen Murtagh seems to have much of the above qualities and this is because through his efforts AW Bell Machinery manufacturing firm was able to emerge as a medium company for the year (Casey, 2013). The company was not able to export its products in previous years and through his effort they were able to reverse this culture and the company could now export most of its products as well as to come up with innovative and creative products. CHAPTER TWO-Literature review According to Teresa Amabile (1988), some of the factors that enhance individual creativity are self motivation, cognitive abilities, orientation of risks, diversity in experience, possession of expertise in the given area, and social skills possessed by an individual. All the listed factors can be classified as individual factors though some factors that also enhance creativity can be environmental factors. In terms of the social environment some of the factors under considerations are freedom, proper management of projects, and availability of resources. According to Brown (1989) and Harrington (1990), creativity of an individual can also be influenced by the organizational set up from where the individual works. The interaction of individuals with different situations, products, and components also enhance the creativity of an individual. Antecedent conditions, cognitive ability and style, personality factors, motivation influences, and contextual influences can be said to be directly proportional to individual creativity (Woodman, Sawyer, Griffin, 1993). CHAPTER THREE- Methodology Introduction Various methods of obtaining data were tackled and the various sections included research design, area of study, and data collection techniques. Research design Vital information that explained creativity, entrepreneurship, and entrepreneurs was collected through the use of qualitative approach. The information collected was able to explain different aspects of creativity as well as entrepreneurship concepts. Area of study This report extensively covered creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship concepts as well as advantages and disadvantages of entrepreneurs. The various factors for promoting creativity in an individual were tackled as well as entrepreneurship concepts. Data collection techniques Use of open ended and closed questionnaires were employed for primary source of data and for the secondary source of data articles written by other authors were used. After the collection of data, the data was evaluated and verified before conclusions and recommendations were drawn. CHAPTER FOUR- Results and Discussions From the interview with Stephen Murtagh, some of the learnt skills about entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship process are that entrepreneurs have ten vital qualities which assist them in their day to day operations. These qualities are discipline, confidence, and open minded, self-starter, competitive, create, determine, have strong skills, have strong ethics, and passionate (Erik, 2011). According to Stephen Murtagh, discipline assisted him to able to work with other fellow engineers and be able to create new designs for the machines (Casey, 2013). He had the confidence that even though the company has taken quite long before exporting its products one day they will be able to do so. He was able to approach so many designs with open minds and that enable him to come up with various designs that enabled the company to win the medium manufacturing award for the year (Casey, 2013). He was able to initiate most of the projects in the company and through the competition spirit he was able to overtake the designs for other companies which were equally bigger and had more resources as compared to AW Bell Machinery Company (Casey, 2013). The success according to him came from creativity and determination and also from stronger ethics and skills. The entrepreneurship ability therefore, enabled him to pull together all the different designs and put them in a more useful form. Recommendations and Conclusion The interview has really impacted the approach that I would use for my project. Initially, I considered the project to be tough but after the interview my mindset has changed and is now my comfortable with it. I have realized to be positive in my approaches since positive mind set can offer remedies to cases where discouragements have taken a lead. The interview has also greatly boosted my appreciation of my carrier. I have realized that through my carrier I am supposed to be a solution provider and not a seeker of a solution as I initially thought. References Amabile, T.M. (1988). “A Model of Creativity and Innovation in Organizations,” Research in Organizational Behavior, vol. 10: 123-167 Brown, R.T. (1989). “Creativity: What Are We to Measure?” In J.A. Glover, R.R. Ronning, C.R. Reynolds, eds. Handbook of Creativity. New York: Plenum Press. Casey, N. (2013). Stephen wins manufacturing award. Retrieved From dandenong.starcommunity.com.au/star/2013-06-13/Stephen-wins-manufacturing-award/ Erik, N.B. (2011). Entrepreneurship and Entrepreneurs Training Manual [3rd Ed.]. Guanzi Institute Press. Harrington, D.M. (1990). “The Ecology of Human Creativity: A Psychological Perspective.” In M.A. Runco and R.S. Albert, eds. Theories of Creativity. Newbury Park, Cal. 143-169. Woodman, R.W., Sawyer, J.E., Griffin, R.W. (1993). “Toward a theory of organizational Creativity,” Academy of Management Review, vol. 18, No.2, pp. 293-321 Appendices SECTION A: BUILDING OF A CARRIER 1. How did you choose your carrier? ....................................................... 2. Who influenced your choice of engineering carrier? ……………….. 3. Apart from engineering which other carrier path were you interested in? …. 4. What are the challenges that your carrier has? ………………………… 5. How do you tackle the various challenges in your carrier? ………………… 6. How to do you balance your carrier with your family? …………………… SECTION B: PERSONALITY TRAITS 1. Briefly state your personality traits…………………………………… 2. How do different situations affect your personality? …………………. 3. How do you relate with other fellow engineers? ………………………. 4. Has your promotion at work affected your personality? ………………. SECTION C: ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND ENTREPRENEUR 1. What do you understand by the term entrepreneurship? ……………. 2. Are you an entrepreneur? …………………………………….. 3. Are your personality traits similar to the qualities of an entrepreneur? ….. 4. What is your creativity level? .......................................................... 5. Is personal creativity related to organizational creativity? …………… Read More