Creativity within the organization

Running Head: Creativity within the organisation Creativity within the organisation Creativity within the organisation Harnessing creativity within the organization
Harnessing creativity in the organization leads to innovation within the same organization. The task of transforming creativity in an organization lies with the managers. There are several ways through which a manager can harness creativity with the organization and they are as follows:
The manager should understand the true value of his client or customer. This means that the manager should look at the business through the customer’s eyes. Creativity in a business is enhanced when a business engages in an endless search for the unmet customer needs (Zhou and Shalley, 2008).
The manager should provide support at three different levels/rings which include the group, the individual and the whole group. All the practices in the organization must take into account the impact they will have on the three rings. Encouragements and acknowledgement from higher levels in the organization to the subordinates is the first managerial role and this leads to the creation of a fertile soil within the organization which then triggers the emergence of ever growing creativity and innovation (Staw, 2006).
The manager must have a lot of trust in transparency as confidence fuels creativity. Providing the staff with consistent and open views on what is happening and the reasons behind it is liberating and reassuring. Trust and transparency boosts the intrinsic motivation of the staff and as a result, they will be motivated to becoming creative. By doing this, the manager will be able to transform individual creativity into organizational creativity (Zhou and Shalley, 2008).
The manager should also allow self managed teams within the organizations. These teams should consist of proactive employees who are capable of exhibiting innovativeness in setting their own priorities, structure, processes and decision making.
The manager should provide regular feedback to the employees. When people discover that they have made a difference or have made it in one thing, they get motivated to invest more in themselves and this results into creativity (Staw, 2006).
What are some organizational examples of pursuing this creativity towards profitability within todays organizations?
Organizations today are working hard in enhancing creativity within the organization as a way of increasing their profits. Creativity in organizations leads to innovation and lack of it in public and private companies lead to stagnation which then leaves the organization unable to perform as expected. Apple Inc. is a perfect example of an organization which has been pursuing creativity towards profitability. For example, the company’s innovative capacity is founded on its endless search for unmet customer needs. Innovation or the successful exploitation of ideas by the company has led to the production of unique products which attract a large number of customers hence profitability (Staw, 2006).
Large organizations have been working more horizontally than vertically as way of cultivating collaboration. With horizontal perspectives, the company usually open up internal communication and this may spur up creativity as the people from the low hierarchies feel encouraged to excise their creativity abilities. Creativity from the company employees leads to innovation hence production of new products which leads to high levels of profits judging from the increased number of customers.
References
Staw, Barry M, (2006). Psychological Dimensions of Organizational Behaviour. Pearson/Prentice Hall
Sears, Greg J. and Baba, Vishwanath V, (2011). Toward a Multistage, Multilevel Theory of Innovation, Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences, 28(4) : 357-372 (2011). doi: 10/1002/cjas. 198, John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
W. Volberda et. al, (2012). Management Innovation and Leadership: The Moderating Role of Organisational Size. Journal of Management Studies, 49: 1 January 2012, 28-51. doi: 10. 1111/j. 1467-6486. 2010. 00976. x. Blackwell Publishing, UK
Zhou, Jing and Shalley, Christina E, (2008). Organizational Creativity:
handbook, New York, Lawrence & Erlbum Associates.
Mumford, Michael, (2012). Handbook of Organisational Creativity, London,
Academic Press Elsevier Inc.