The Concept of Creativity in Organizations - Literature review Example

Article Comparison (a) Article 1: “Creativity,” (b) Article 2: “Emotion in The Workplace.” Name: Lecturer: Course: Date: Introduction This paper provides detailed comparison between two articles: (a) Article 1 has the title “Creativity,” while (b) Article 2 has the title “Emotion in The Workplace.” Accordingly, pros and cons of the articles are discussed. Pros Article 1 and Article 2 have effectively explored their respective subject areas. At the same time, the two have a thesis statement. The advantage of these is that they provide the discussions in the two articles with a sense of direction and a premise to support their arguments (Belt et al, 2011). For instance, Article 1 discusses the concept of creativity in organizations and how a creative environment can be established. In this way, it provides explanation to the advantages of creativity to an organisation. The author takes the perspective that creativity is a critical component of business that has not been fully prioritized by the top management of organizations. The article argues that survival of an organisation can be difficult without the involvement and support of the top management. On the other hand, Article 2 explores the concept of emotion within the workplace. It underlying argument is that since managing employee emotions is a difficult task, managers should take a leading role in managing the emotions of employees. In this way, it points to the advantage of training managers on emotional intelligence is critical. Like Article 1, article 2 shows deeper and better understanding of its phenomenon of study. The author of Article 1 gives a comprehensive discussion on the significance of creativity and how it can be applied in the organisation. This has the advantage of providing relative deep insight in the phenomenon of creativity (Belt et al, 2011). For instance, the author demonstrates why it is crucial for the management to be involved in the creativity while looking to motivate the members of the organization to be creative. According to the author, organizational leaders need to engage the right people at the right time in order to encourage creativity. The author further acknowledges that creativity can only flourish in organisations that encourage collaboration. On the other hand, Article 2 offers a more insightful understanding of the phenomenon under review. This has an advantage in providing relative deep insight in the phenomenon of emotions at workplace. Indeed, the author shows this understanding by describing the concept of emotions at workplace, based on Ashkanasy and Daus (2002) definition, as the “act of managing emotions in the work place.” Additionally, the author offers a critical analysis of the concept of emotions at workplace based on the Affective Events Theory (AET). Further, the author presents a reflective account of how he displayed emotions at workplace triggered by unfriendly boss, and how he eventually became dissatisfied with his job. For instance, rather than just discuss the positive aspects of emotions at the workplace, it presents a parallel view of the negative aspects (Carmeli, 2003). Next, both articles appear to have sufficiently included and discussed their respective statement of facts. This has the advantage of presenting the readers with consistent message. Indeed, there appears to be no error or discrepancy regarding the statement of facts. Article 2 has supported its assertions based on AET theory to demonstrate that the events that take place around the workplace actually influence the emotions of the employee, as well as job satisfaction, dissatisfaction and reaction. The advantage of this is that it presents the readers with consistent message regarding the significance of controlling emotions at the workplace. Evidence of this is demonstrated by the author’s own reflections and citation of a case study provided by the authors of Ruth Alison, a sales person in a large department store, who demonstrates the experiences she goes through in her work place as influenced by her emotions. Although Ruth Alison, keeps on smiling to the customers, the treatment she gets from her boss triggers negative attitude, which further makes her feel like she should quit her job. On the other hand, Article 1 presents facts regarding the role of the management in fostering creativity in an organization. Critically therefore, it effectively conveys a consistent argument on why the role of the management is crucial in fostering creativity in an organization. According to the author, factors that support creativity include support from the top management, allowing the employees autonomy and freedom to engage in independent thinking, and lastly collaboration among the employees. The article also attests to the fact that creativity in an organization depends on ongoing, vibrant collaboration and free flow of ideas. To support these facts, the author cites a study conducted by Amabile et al (2004), which corroborates the facts. Cons An underlying limitation of the two articles is that they failed to discuss in detail their respective areas of focus. The disadvantage of this is that it makes both articles less authentic (Soule et al 2007). For instance, Article 1 and 2 appeared to favour particular aspects of the subject rather than discuss comprehensively using different perspective and based on literature review. To larger extent therefore, Article 1provided a one-sided argument on the significance of concept of creativity in organizations, while Article 2 provides loosely supported argument on the reasons managers should take a leading role in managing the emotions of employees. Additionally, both articles had poor depth of research. It could therefore be argued that rigid concentration by Article 1 on purely its subject of focus resulted in narrow, incomplete, and somehow biased conclusions. For instance, Article 1 centres on the positive aspects of creativity to the employees while failing to offer a critical analysis of the significance and implications of creativity in the workplace. The article states that motivation is important to the employees when it comes to creativity, yet it fails to elaborate on the importance, or argue on why it should be considered important. In Article 2, this is showed by the limited reference to additional literature to support the author’s statements. Article 2 also has narrow and deficient subject of focus. Still, Article 1 does have some underlying weaknesses of its own. Unlike Article 2, Article 1 failed to define the concept of creativity and to relate it to a theory. Additionally, the author failed to give a reflective account of creativity in organisations. This makes it difficult to establish a benchmark in which his arguments should be compared to or based on (Soule et al 2007). Conclusion Overall, Article 2 has more pros than cons, which makes it stronger in terms of argument, as well as consistency and authenticity compared to Article 1. Therefore, its underlying argument that managers should take a leading role in managing the emotions of employees can be validated. Article 2 also has a broader subject focus, which makes it more comprehensive. Despite the shallow research and scarcity in making reference to published literature, it also offers a two-sided argument before concluding that AET Theory can integrate the aspect of emotional regulation to influence employee behaviour and attitudes. On the other hand, Article 1 appears to have a one-sided argument. Additionally, Article 1 has omitted potentially relevant information on creativity and innovation, lacks sufficient evidence to support conclusions, fails to challenge validity of conclusions it makes, and uses current and past data. Reference List Amabile, T. M., Schatzel, E. A., Moneta, G. B., & Kramer, S J 2004, “Leader behaviors and the work environment for creativity: Perceived leader support,” Leadership Quarterly, 15(1), 5. Ashkanasy, N and Daus, C, 2002, “Emotion in the Workplace; The new Challenge for managers,” Academy of Management Executives. 16(1), p76-80 Belt, P, Mottonen, M, Harkonen, J 2011, “Tips for Writing Scientific Journal Articles,” Industrial Engineering and Management Working Papers 2011 /5 Carmeli, A, 2003, “The relationship between emotional intelligence and work attitudes, behavior and outcomes: An examination among senior managers,” Journal of Managerial Psychology, 18, 788–813. Soule, D, Whiteley, L & McIntosh, S 2007, Writing for Scholarly Journals: Publishing in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, viewed 29 Aug 2014, http://www.gla.ac.uk/media/media_41223_en.pdf Read More