Creative and Innovative Management - Literature review Example

Creative and Innovative Management College: Creative and Innovative Management Creative and innovative management is a business strategy that aims at stimulating the organization productivity through the creation of viable ideas and their successful implementation. Creativity refers to the ability of organizational leaders to apply their knowledge, curiosity, imagination and evaluative skills to develop new ways of conducting their business operations. On the other hand, innovation is the ability of an organization to apply effective methods, technologies and processes to solve their business challenges. Business advisors have emphasized on the need for organizational leaders to engage creative and innovative management strategies within their business systems as one way of pushing their business to the highest levels. In the contemporary business environment, organizations have faced the pressure of competition and this makes it necessary to apply creative and innovative minds in their differentiation strategy to come out successful in the market. To achieve creativity and innovation, organizational leaders have to generate viable business ideas, innovative methods to apply these ideas and means of supporting these new changes in the investment strategy. Creative and innovative management has been a crucial topic of discussion in the business environment. The difference between creativity and innovativeness lies in their focus and measurability. As Marshall (2013) notes, creativity is the ability of the management team to unleash the potential of their minds to build new business ideas. On the other hand, innovativeness is the ability of introducing change within an organization as a strategy to solve problems within an organization. While creativity is subjective and immeasurable, innovativeness is visible and measurable. Over time, there has evolved a debate of which of the two is more important than the other in terms of the benefits associated with each. From a critical point of view, the two attributes are significant in the development of business strategy. While creativity will assist in the construction of new ideas, innovativeness will help in the implementation of these ideas. In this light, creativity and innovation are terms that are tied to each other and leaders have to engage in both to survive in the competitive business environment. The significance of creativity and innovation is in the creation of differentiation strategy in a competitive business environment. The contemporary business market is dynamic and hence there is pressure for organizations to remain dynamic to ensure that they suffice the market needs. The consumer tastes and preferences change at any given time and the challenge is for the suppliers to acclimatize to the changing consumer tastes to ensure that their goods remain in demand and that they are not phased out of the market. Moreover, there is a competition for all organizations to produce products that suit the market needs and satisfy the customer demands (Marshall, 2013). As competition has become inevitable, the bargaining power of the suppliers has fallen below the bargaining power of the customers. Resultantly, the success of business organizations depends on the ability of the organization to establish a creative organizational front. Creative and innovative management is essential in the development of products that satisfy the consumer demands. Creativity is used in the construction of ideas on how to produce products that best satisfy the public demands. Each organization employs unique ideas in the product development of process with respect depending on the creativity of the management team. The creativity of the leaders depends on their ability to apply their knowledge and experience, engage their minds and utilize research to come up with possible business ideas (King & Anderson, 2001). While these ideas remain raw, their successful implementation depends on the innovativeness of the management team. The management engages their innovation in developing the mechanics that can be utilized in the implementation of their so created ideas. For an organization to differentiate within its business environment, it has to use creative and innovative management to develop unique goods that best satisfy their target customers. Secondly, creativity and innovation is used in the processes streamlining the supply chain within an organization. The price of organizational products depends on the cumulative cost used in the supply chain of the product. In a competitive business environment, the price of products is a crucial factor that determines the affordability of the products. In this respect, organizations have to apply price reduction strategies to ensure that they minimize the cost of production and supply their customers with products at a lower price. Creative and innovative management is one of the strategies that are used in the development of low price goods through effective supply chain management strategies. An example of application of creativity and innovation can be seen in the deployment of technology within the organizational operations. In the modern business environment, the ability of an organization to successfully integrate technology in its business operations is a necessary competence (King & Anderson, 2001). For instance, the use of the online presence and development of internet advertising strategies is crucial in the reduction of marketing price. For instance, Facebook is a social media site that marketers have found more effective in terms of cost and efficiency in creating product awareness in the public. In essence, creativity and innovation are crucial business virtues that modest organizations cannot do without. The success of management team depends on their ability to support creative and innovative management strategy within their organizations. Burrus (2013), a business strategist identified three levels of creativity; the discovery, invention and creation levels. In the discovery level, the management team becomes aware of new methods that can be used to streamline business operations. Discovery is a process that is stimulated through provision of opportunities to generate new ideas. The potential of a team to discover depends on their exposure to different business operations and their experience in the business market. The second stage is the invention stage. Invention is a higher level of creativity that depends on the knowledge of the management team and the ability to develop a scientific approach to business management. Invention is a strategy that is used to develop new methods for modest business approach. Creation is the highest level of creativity that depends on personal instincts in the organizational development. In this light, creation is the development of unique ideas that no other person can generate. Burrus (2013) regards the third level of creativity as the most superior in developing new business ideas as it allows organizations to remain unique in their production plans. To support creativity and innovation within an organization, the management team must stimulate these virtues within their employees. They should provide the organizations with opportunities to reason out new methods of conducting business within the capacity. The top level management must portray creativity in generating business ideas that can be implemented for the benefit of the organization. One way to stimulate creativity is through observation of the market trends and available options in the business environment. The top level managers should engage in market survey to observe how various organizations have engaged in product creation and development. This knowledge will shape their way of perceiving business concepts and the ability to learn new methods of developing business strategies. This way, it is possible for the management team to develop different approaches to implement their business operations. In addition, the management should engage in consultative sessions in which they can share and find solutions to real business ideas. In these sessions, each leader should be provided with an opportunity to provide own ideas on how to solve emerging business problems. The creativity and the innovativeness of an organization should be reflected in the business overall organizational strategy. These strategies in the organization should be embedded in the overall mission and vision of the organization. The vision and mission statement of an organization defines the principles that an organization employs in accomplishing its business strategies. Various business organizations have expressed their endeavour to utilize the principles of creative and innovative business management in their vision and mission statements. The advantage of this strategy is that it inspires every member of the organization to contribute to the creation of efficient products through the application of creative thinking (King & Anderson, 2001). Inspiring the employees is one of the most superior strategies of implementing creativity within a business entity. In this view, it is crucial for organizations to embed their business goals in their mission and vision statements. In business management, creativity and innovation are applied through the development of ideas and implementation of change within the organization. Andriopoulos and Dawson (2009) change management models are important in developing a strategy to implement creativity and innovation within a business system. While creativity refers to the process of generating new methods, change management models provide a strategy to implement changes and help the organization apply the new ideas in its operations. To implement change in an organization, it is crucial to inculcate effective organizational behaviour within the organization. The employees must be motivated and ready to implement the ideas of the management team if successful changes are to be made. The role of managers is to get their employees on board in the implementation of organizational objectives and goals. Employees that are aligned to the organizational goals are more conscious and motivated to accomplish the management ideas. The success of the management team in engaging business creativity and innovation depends on their ability to convince and influence the stakeholders of the business to get on board in the implementation process. While the top level managers are involved in the change design, the operation management team is involved in the actual implementation of the project ideas. In this light, for effective change management, it is crucial to garner support from this level of management. In addition the stakeholders and shareholders of any organization must be convinced if they have to support the change implementation process. One way to obtain the support of major business stakeholders is to share the business ideas with them and seek their contribution (Marshall, 2013). At this stage, the management team should convey the benefits of the new ideas and their necessity at that particular time in business. The ideas must be beneficial not only to the business, but also to the business stakeholders. If the stakeholders are satisfied by the business change ideas, then they are likely to support their implementation. Another team that needs to be convinced is the employees who are responsible for the round plan that is vital in the successful deployment of business change. The success of change management depends on the speed and efficiency with which the change is successfully implemented (Andriopoulos & Dawson, 2009). The goal of the management team is to implement changes as fast as the market changes are taking place as the cost of lagging behind is usually very high. If the business dynamism changes at a slower pace than the market changes, the organization is likely to lose its profits due to a reduction in the demand of their products and hence the level of sales. For employees to remain cooperative, they must be motivated and convinced of the value of the project. One way to hasten the change implementation is developing efficient teamwork within the organization. The team forming process involves employee behaviour management. This can be accomplished through clear communication strategy between the employees and the management throughout the project implementation process. Using the behavioural approach will allow the management to form strong and effective teams necessary in change management. In implementing creativity and innovation management within an organization, the leaders must anticipate a number of challenges. One challenge that can be anticipated in change management is poor conception of the ideas by other stakeholders of the business. In an organization, the stakeholders are at different levels of understanding as their knowledge and experience differ and this may limit their understanding. While the top level managers may understand the significance of the change, it may be a challenge for the operational managers to understand its significance and this will become a barrier to the implementation process. The only way to overcome this barrier is to develop simplified goals and develop clear objectives (King & Anderson, 2001). Breaking the project makes it easier for the low level managers to comprehend and successfully communicate the employees under them. This will ensure that all the participants are conversant with the implementation process and have the incentive to work out the project effectively. Another challenge that may arise during the change implantation process is the emergence of disagreements within the various stakeholders. Creative and innovative management is a process that is based on personal ideas and strategies and this can be a major cause of conflict within the management. The existence of various ideas within a group provides difficulty for a group to agree, especially due to the fact that it is impossible to assess the effectiveness of these ideas at this initial stage. To be able to settle on one idea, the management must develop a front to test the effectiveness of the ideas (Snyder & Duarte, 2008). At this stage, more research must be conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of each idea and to come up with a viable conclusion. The idea that has more benefits and poses less risk to the business should always be selected. For successful change implementation, it is crucial for the management team to assess the various challenges and the risks that they are likely to encounter during the deployment process. This will help them to come up with a plan to develop a mitigation strategy to overcome these challenges. At this stage, the management team should identify all the challenges and the various stages of project implementation that they are expected to arise (King & Anderson, 2001). After this, they should communicate these challenges to the various operational teams and provide them with clear guidelines on how to overcome these challenges. The impact of barriers can have far reaching impacts on the profits of a project. For instance, during construction of business store, it may be difficult to predict the weather at the construction time and this may cause delay on the project path. During rainy seasons, construction projects are expected to delay the project and this is likely to affect the project critical time and hence delay the change implementation process. In this respect, assessing the various risk factors and barriers that are likely to arise during the project implementation process helps to impact the change management. In conclusion, creative and innovative management is critical for business success in the contemporary business environment. As the market characteristics change periodically, business organizations need to effect change in their operations to position themselves strategically in the market. Creative and innovative management refers to the creation and implementation of new business ideas with the aim of designing products that meet the market standards. To implement new ideas in an organization, the organizational managers need to take advantage of change management strategies to successfully implement their business plans. One important strategy should be to get on board all the stakeholders in the creation, implementation and follow up stages of the change management process. Also, the management should anticipate all the challenges that are likely to arise in the implementation process and define and communicate strategies to overcome these barriers. Successful implementation of new viable ideas will guarantee organizations success even in the most competitive business environment. References Andriopoulos, C., & Dawson, P. (2009). Managing change, creativity and innovation. Los Angeles: SAGE. Burrus, D., (2013). Creativity and Innovation: Your Keys to a Successful Organization. Retrieved from :< http://www.huffingtonpost.com/daniel-burrus/creativity-and-innovation_b_4149993.html> King, N., & Anderson, N. (2001). Managing innovation and change: A critical guide for Organizations. London: Thomson Learning. Marshall, D., (2013). There is a Critical Difference between Creativity and Innovation. Retrieved from :< http://www.businessinsider.com/difference-between-creativity-and-innovation-2013-4> Snyder, N. T., & Duarte, D. L. (2008). Unleashing innovation: How Whirlpool transformed an industry. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Read More