Creative Climate Research Articles

Ideas and Implementation: The Effective Implementation of Novel Marketing Programmes in Small‐ to Medium‐Sized Greek Firms

The purpose of the present study is to identify the potential contribution that a firm's climate supporting creativity can make towards understanding the effective implementation of novel marketing programmes. Specifically, a conceptual model is developed and empirically tested with Bayesian path analysis, using data obtained from managers of 87 Greek firms. Results suggest that a firm's climate that supports creativity has an indirect effect on marketing programme implementation effectiveness through marketing programme novelty. Additionally, climate for creativity moderates the relationship between marketing programme novelty and marketing programme implementation effectiveness such that the indirect effect of climate for creativity on marketing programme implementation effectiveness was found significant for levels of climate moderate to low, but not when the level of climate for creativity was high. Recommendations for further research are discussed.

Political economy constraints on carbon pricing policies: What are the implications for economic efficiency, environmental efficacy, and climate policy design?

Economists traditionally view a Pigouvian fee on carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions, either via carbon taxes or emissions caps and permit trading (“cap-and-trade”), as the economically optimal or “first-best” policy to address climate change-related externalities. Yet several political economy factors can severely constrain the implementation of these carbon pricing policies, including opposition of industrial sectors with a concentration of assets that would lose considerable value under such policies; the collective action nature of climate mitigation efforts; principal agent failures; and a low willingness-to-pay for climate mitigation by citizens. Real-world implementations of carbon pricing policies can thus fall short of the economically optimal outcomes envisioned in theory. Consistent with the general theory of the second-best, the presence of binding political economy constraints opens a significant “opportunity space” for the design of creative climate policy instruments with superior political feasibility, economic efficiency, and environmental efficacy relative to the constrained implementation of carbon pricing policies. This paper presents theoretical political economy frameworks relevant to climate policy design and provides corroborating evidence from the United States context. It concludes with a series of implications for climate policy making and argues for the creative pursuit of a mix of second-best policy instruments.

Myopic Creative Climate - The result of streamlining in R&D organizations?

Creative climate has been proposed as a fundamental component of organizations displaying high innovation performance, and validated tools for measuring creative climate are today readily available. In the existing literature, however, the multi-dimensionality of the creative climate concept is not thoroughly reflected, but organizations have primarily been regarded to either have or not have a creative climate. In this article we attempt to bring a more nuanced perspective to creative climate – describing what can be seen as a myopic creative climate. This type of climate is characterized by a good working environment where people support each other’s ideas and trust each other. However the levels of risk taking and idea time are lower and, more importantly, this results in a significantly lower innovation performance than is found in a good creative climate. This alters the way we view creative climate by highlighting that not all dimensions are equally important. Even in a work environment where the majority of creative climate dimensions are at high levels, the organization may suffer from decreased levels of innovation.

Creativity from a systems perspective: bridging theory and practice

Purpose – This paper aims to sketch the outline of a systems framework for creativity. It involves several levels of analysis and addresses researchers and practitioners. When improving creative climates in work settings, it is necessary to have a better understanding of the various mechanisms of creativity and what strengthens or diminishes them. Design/methodology/approach – Creativity research is fragmented and involves multiple aspects, levels and disciplines, ranging from biology to psychology and sociology. Concepts from systems science have particular value in understanding creativity, as they provide a transdisciplinary language of how systems work and adapt. This conceptual paper makes use of the language and concepts from the systems field to connect often disparate perspectives and clarify key mechanisms of creativity. Findings – The core of this paper is a newly developed multilevel model of the creative mind. The proposed concepts provide a starting point for integrating further theoretical findings. Practical implications – Improved understanding of creativity could help leaders more effectively use their creativity while facilitating the creativity of others for successful cooperation and problem-solving. Originality/value – The visual models introduced here help bridge theory and practice while creating a stronger link between creativity research and studies in systems, cybernetics and complexity.

The Effects of Individual Creativity and Organizational Climate on Firm Innovativeness

Creativity and innovativeness are recognized as critical competencies for 21st-century organizations, to lead or adapt to change. The aim of this study is to empirically reveal the interrelationships among individual creativity, creative climate and firm innovativeness. Data obtained from 181 employees from 48 manufacturing firms in Kocaeli- Turkey were used to examine the hypothesized relationships among study variables. Data is submitted to regression, correlation reliability and factor analyses using SPSS 13.0. The results showed that even both individual creativity and creative climate have positive effects on firm innovation; the effect of individual creativity is shadowed by the climate when their effects are tested in a holistic manner. These findings emphasized the importance of creative climate that encourages employees for creativity in order to increase the firm innovativeness.

Fostering a collaborative and creative climate in a college class through idea-centered knowledge-building

This study explored the effects of student engagement in a knowledge-building (KB) environment on their collaborative learning process and the perceived creative climate of that environment. The participants were 30 college students who undertook a living technology course in which KB were employed. The main data sources include students’ online discourse and a creative climate questionnaire. The findings indicate that the students became progressively more collaborative and productive over time, and they also tended to perceive the climate of the learning environment as highly supportive of knowledge creation. Implications for designing creative learning environments are discussed.

Digital creativity and transdisciplinarity at postgraduate level: the design and implementation of a transdisciplinary masters programme and its implications for creative practice

This article investigates how transdisciplinary approaches to curriculum design on a taught masters programme in creative technologies enhance digital creativity in students. Drawing on the experience of developing and running the Masters in Creative Technologies (MA/MSc) at the Institute of Creative Technologies at De Montfort University, Leicester, we explore a number of areas relating to transdisciplinary teaching and learning in higher education, including: how digital technologies enable students to work in a transdisciplinary manner; how working creatively with technology enables transdisciplinary modes of working; and the ways in which transdisciplinarity, enabled by digital technologies, has affected the creative practice of learners. The article discusses how the programme has developed a climate for creativity, and outlines how the knowledge and skills gained during a creative technologies-related transdisciplinary programme meet the needs of a changing workplace.

The Effect of Multidisciplinary Design Education for a Creative Climate in the Collaborative Design Process

Background : The demand for design college graduates with previous experience is increasing since industries progressively require more multidisciplinary project work. For more than a decade, beginning in countries such as Great Britain, the need for multidisciplinary design education has been felt and related research and education programs have been implemented. Following this trend, Korea also launched in 2009 a multidisciplinary design school development project. In the present study, we seek to verify whether, after three years following the inception of this project, the students who received this multidisciplinary education can be considered to have attained more creative problem-solving abilities than the students who majored only in design, based on their completion of a project after teaming up with students from various other departments. Methods : When it is heterogeneous and in the in-depth discussion stage, the EMT(heterogeneous teams, including multidisciplinary design majors) produced more creative output than the EDT(heterogeneous team, including design-only majors) as a result of a design task experiment. Therefore we compared the team climate, and how it affects the creative output, of the EDT and the EMT in the in-depth discussion stage of the heterogeneous groups by the conversation analysis. Results : The EMT had more conversations on the group climate and placed more weight on negative feedback than the EDT based on the results of the conversation analysis. Of the conversations related to the group climate, the amount of weight given to the conversations by design-only students and multidisciplinary students in each team showed that the latter participated in the conversations at a ratio for commenting more equally than the design-only students. Multidisciplinary students showed relatively uniform participation in the motivation, positive feedback, negative feedback and suggestion. However, the design-only students tended to concentrate on a particular aspect, especially motivation. Conclusion : This study was able to confirm that students who received multidisciplinary design education, when they form a team with various other majors to do a project and in the in-depth discussion stage, show differences in creative climate to solve problems and produce more creative output than students majoring in only design.

Extending climato-economic theory: When, how, and why it explains differences in nations' creativity

The climato-economic theory postulates mechanisms of threat and challenge to explain differences between countries. Interestingly, both of these mechanisms are often considered to be components of the models of organizational climate for creativity. We show that among rich countries, climatic demands are related to creative achievement in a reversed-U manner, whereas the relationship is linear among poor countries.

Leadership Style in Relation to Organizational Change and Organizational Creativity: Perceptions from Nonprofit Organizational Members

AbstractAs the environment within which organizations act continues to change and becomes increasingly competitive, maintaining an organizational climate that supports change and encourages creativity is a key objective for organizational leaders. This article examines the relationship between leadership style (transformational, transactional, laissez‐faire) and members' perceptions of the psychological climate for organizational change readiness and psychological climate for organizational creativity. Results indicate that transformational leaders have a direct positive relationship with psychological climate for organizational change readiness and organizational creativity, while laissez‐faire leaders have a negative relationship.

Creatividad en el aula: percepciones de alumnos superdotados y no-superdotados

El presente estudio compara la percepción de clima para la creatividad en el aula, en las clases de Matemáticas y Lengua Portuguesa, entre alumnos superdotados y no-superdotados, así como investiga la relación entre creatividad y percepción de clima para la creatividad. Participaron 21 alumnos superdotados y 27 no-superdotados del 6° año de enseñanza fundamental de una escuela fiscal de Brasil. Los resultados muestran que los alumnos superdotados evaluaron el apoyo del profesor hacia la expresión de ideas del alumno en el aula de Matemáticas de manera más positiva comparado a los no-superdotados. Asimismo, los alumnos superdotados presentaron mayor interés por el aprendizaje en esta asignatura en comparación a la de Lengua Portuguesa. Se encontró correlación positiva entre la creatividad y la percepción de clima en los alumnos superdotados y correlación negativa en los no-superdotados.

The moderating effect of relationship conflict on the creative climate–innovation association: the case of traditional sectors in Spain

A good creative climate is considered one of the main capacities inherent in groups that establish innovation processes. Creative climate emerges from different forces interacting in a way that can be stimulated or inhibited. We identify six dimensions of creative climate. By analysing them jointly, we find that some are more relevant than others for the purposes of innovation. To test the model, we designed an empirical study based on a group of medium-sized firms in traditional sectors in Spain involved in non-high technology innovation. The results show that trust and support are the dimensions that favour innovation and that the dimension of relationship conflict has neither a positive nor a negative effect on innovation. Nevertheless, relationship conflict has a significant positive effect on the autonomy–innovation association and a significant negative effect on the commitment–innovation association. We find synergistic effects between apparently contradictory forces with implications for change and thus for organizational flexibility.

Validation method training: nurses' experiences and ratings of work climate

Training nursing staff in communication skills can impact on the quality of care for residents with dementia and contributes to nurses' job satisfaction. Changing attitudes and practices takes time and energy and can affect the entire nursing staff, not just the nurses directly involved in a training programme. Therefore, it seems important to study nurses' experiences of a training programme and any influence of the programme on work climate among the entire nursing staff. To explore nurses' experiences of a 1-year validation method training programme conducted in a nursing home for residents with dementia and to describe ratings of work climate before and after the programme. A mixed-methods approach. Twelve nurses participated in the training and were interviewed afterwards. These individual interviews were tape-recorded and transcribed, then analysed using qualitative content analysis. The Creative Climate Questionnaire was administered before (n = 53) and after (n = 56) the programme to the entire nursing staff in the participating nursing home wards and analysed with descriptive statistics. Analysis of the interviews resulted in four categories: being under extra strain, sharing experiences, improving confidence in care situations and feeling uncertain about continuing the validation method. The results of the questionnaire on work climate showed higher mean values in the assessment after the programme had ended. The training strengthened the participating nurses in caring for residents with dementia, but posed an extra strain on them. These nurses also described an extra strain on the entire nursing staff that was not reflected in the results from the questionnaire. The work climate at the nursing home wards might have made it easier to conduct this extensive training programme. Training in the validation method could develop nurses' communication skills and improve their handling of complex care situations.

How to enhance new product creativity in the online brand community?

An online brand community (OBC) is one of the most important sources of creativity in modern times. While there is substantial evidence concerning both OBCs and creativity, there remains little understanding of how new product creativity is enhanced in an OBC. The results of a survey of 208 paired usable questionnaires (from each fir m’s NPD executive and OBC member), reveal that before interacting with creativity capabilities, a creative climate of OBCs can only impact meaningfulness of new product creativity. However, the interaction of a creative climate of OBCs and creativity capabilities has direct impact on both novelty and meaningfulness of new product creativity. Our findings suggest that firms’ creativity capabilities can act as an enhancer of the creative climate of OBCs.

Assessing knowledge-intensive work environment: General versus situation-specific instruments

The aim of the present study is to examine to what extent general and situation-specific work environment instruments capture the salient work characteristics in a knowledge-intensive context. We conducted qualitative open-ended interviews with 30 employees (24 men and six women) from a Norwegian university department. The information from the interviews was content-analysed and coded on the scales of five work environment instruments; two general instruments (the General Nordic Questionnaire for Psychological and Social Factors at Work [QPSNordic] and the Job Diagnostic Survey [JDS]) and three situation-specific instruments (Assessing the climate for creativity [KEYS], Situational Outlook Questionnaire [SOQ], and the Organizational Climate Measure [OCM]). The results showed that situation-specific work environment instruments covered significantly more statements about the work environment than the general instruments. More statements could be categorized on the organization and individual levels, compared to group and leadership levels. The situation-specific instruments covered more statements than general instruments at the organization level. These statements were mainly related to the organizational context, social and relational characteristics, and encouragement of creativity and organizational impediments to creativity. The findings support the value of situation-specific instruments for assessing the work environment in knowledge-intensive organizations.

Learning Mechanisms and Creative Climate

A creative climate is the key to the long term success and survival of organizations in many industries. A number of different interventions for organizational development and change attempt to design and enhance an organizational creative climate. Our understanding of some of the organizational mechanisms that can create and enhance such a climate is limited. This paper reports on an organizational development effort, carried out as a collaborative management research project, to explore the most important types of organizational learning mechanisms and the possible relationship between them and a creative climate in an Italian fashion design company. The study analyses four different types of learning mechanisms, and confirms the impact of two of them – structural and procedural – on the creative climate within an organization. The implications for organization development research and practice are then discussed

Creative Climate

Creative Climate

The Influence of Internal Environment and Continuous Improvements on Firms Competitiveness and Performance

This paper investigates the organizational internal environment, climate and continuous improvement implementations on competitiveness of firms in a developing country environment. The results indicated that of the ten Ekvall s creative climate factors examined only four had some positive influence on firms competitiveness. Continuous improvements implemented by the firms were also found to have a significant positive influence on the firms competitiveness. Furthermore, the firms internal environment was found to have significant positive influence on the competitiveness of the firms. Finally, the firms competitiveness in turn was found to significantly influence the firms performance. Some managerial implications of the findings are also provided.

Caregivers in older peoples' care: perception of quality of care, working conditions, competence and personal health

The aim was to describe and compare nursing assistants', enrolled nurses' and registered nurses' perceptions of quality of care, working conditions, competence and personal health in older peoples' care. Altogether 70 nursing assistants, 163 enrolled nurses and 198 registered nurses completed a questionnaire comprising Quality from the Patient's Perspective modified for caregivers, Creative Climate Questionnaire, Stress of Conscience Questionnaire, items on education and competence and Health Index. The caregivers reported higher perceived reality of quality of care in medical-technical competence and physical-technical conditions than in identity-oriented approach and socio-cultural atmosphere. In subjective importance, the highest rating was assessed in one of the physical-technical items. The organisational climate was for three of the dimensions rather close/reached the value for a creative climate, for seven dimensions close to a stagnant climate. In perceived stress of conscience, there were low values. Nursing assistants had lower values than enrolled nurses and registered nurses. The caregivers reported highest values regarding previous education making them feel safe at work and lowest value on the item about education increasing the ability for a scientific attitude. Registered nurses could use knowledge in practice and to a higher degree than nursing assistants/enrolled nurses reported a need to gain knowledge, but the latter more often received education during working hours. The health index among caregivers was high, but registered nurses scored lower on emotional well-being than nursing assistants/enrolled nurses. The caregivers' different perceptions of quality of care and work climate need further attention. Although stress of conscience was low, it is important to acknowledge what affected the caregivers work in a negative way. Attention should be paid to the greater need for competence development among registered nurses during working hours.

Trial and error mindset of R&D personnel and its relationship to organizational creative climate

This paper aims to reveal the mindset of corporate R&D personnel's behavior when they break through a difficult problem. In addition, we examine the relationship between that mindset and the organizational creative climate. We defined trial and error behavior as the process of continuous knowledge creation and acquisition until success is achieved, and constructed a model. We distributed a questionnaire survey on invention and discovery activities to 706 corporate R&D personnel who had received awards from leading Japanese science academies. The results of qualitative data analysis revealed six mindsets and approaches: (i) elimination approach, (ii) idea exploration-oriented mindset, (iii) cause exploration-oriented mindset, (iv) repetitive approach, (v) passion for trial and error, and (vi) experience-oriented mindset. In addition, the results showed that the creative climate did not have a significant impact on the exploration-oriented trial and error mindsets of R&D personnel, such as with (ii) and (iii). Technology-oriented firms cannot develop innovative achievements if they are not willing to encourage risk taking. Our findings indicate that managers should try to understand their employees' trial and error mindsets and create an effective organizational climate that goes beyond an organizational creative climate.