Use Of Creative Techniques Research Articles

From Apathy to Action: Promoting Active Citizenship and Global Responsibility amongst Populations in the Global North

Efforts to address social and global problems such as poverty, mass hunger and mass-atrocity crimes are hindered significantly by apathy and low levels of active civil and political engagement amongst populations in developed countries. Social change non-government organisations (NGOs), such as Oxfam Australia, Oxfam Hong Kong and Médecins Sans Frontières, have recently employed innovative, creative, experience-based strategies in their efforts to promote active citizenship and greater global responsibility amongst populations in the Global North. These techniques are based on two key assumptions: that experiences change attitudes and that changes in behaviour will follow changes in attitudes. Yet the effectiveness of these newer techniques and the accuracy of the assumptions on which they are based remain largely untested. This article explores these assumptions and discusses the innovative, creative techniques that they have generated in NGO public education efforts. The article examines the theoretical literature on the problem of apathy and on the use of creative techniques to overcome apathy. It further discusses the practical application of these techniques through an examination of Oxfam Australia's “Refugee Realities” project. This discussion is based on preliminary evaluation research conducted by Oxfam Australia and the author's own experiences as an actor/volunteer on the project. The article suggests that creative, experience-based public education strategies are effective in challenging and confronting public attitudes towards issues of global injustice. Further research is needed, however, to determine whether these encounters result in long-term changes in attitudes and whether they contribute to moving individuals and communities from apathy to action.

"FUZZY FRONT END" PRACTICES IN INNOVATING JAPANESE COMPANIES

In this paper, we report on the results of a large-scale study about typical front-end-related innovation practices in 553 Japanese mechanical and electrical engineering companies. We explore typical activities concerning the generation and assessment of new product ideas, the reduction of technological as well as market uncertainty and front end planning. Finally, we report on the differences between successful and unsuccessful companies. Our study confirms earlier findings about the frequent use of creativity techniques in Japan during the process of idea generation. We also find companies to be intensively involved in upper management and customers on NPD projects. While integrating upper management is of vital importance for assessing new product ideas, integrating customers and users is primarily used to developing product ideas and concepts. We further find evidence that successful companies integrate their customers more frequently in the process of developing and assessing new product ideas than non-successful companies. In addition, the former integrate customer requirements into their product definitions more often and also translate these requirements into technical specifications more frequently than non-successful companies. Finally, successful companies more often systematically plan a project prior to its start than unsuccessful ones.

The Use of Creativity Techniques in OHS Risk Management

Modern legislation governing the management of occupational health and safety is now often based on what is known as the performance‐based approach. The performance‐based approach mandates a problem‐solving process known as risk management. The risk management models revolve around a method of injury prevention known often as the hierarchy of control. The first priority in the hierarchy is elimination of the hazard, while the least preferred methods rely on behavioural approaches or personal protective equipment. The high‐order controls on the hierarchy require a rethinking of the system to make the workplace intrinsically safe. However, in practice, the implementation of this kind of thinking is conceptually very difficult. This paper explores these issues and suggests that the techniques of creative thinking have a logical and worthwhile role in the performance‐based risk management model.

Ensuring creative approaches in information system design

AbstractImprovement in computing capability is one way to aid US companies in recapturing competitive edge. The easy applications have been computerized; the difficult ones lie ahead. Creative approaches are needed to computerize those difficult applications. Yet IS has apparently little interest in the subject of creativity; less than a half‐dozen articles on the subject have been published in the 35‐year history of the discipline. The author reviewed the literature in other disciplines of art, science, engineering, psychology and education, to determine how creativity techniques had been utilized in those disciplines. The research revealed that many of those techniques are useful for the IS field. Definitions of creativity are provided, then three classifications of creativity research are reviewed: Rothenberg, Ackoff/Vergara, and Rosner/Abt. Creativity techniques are illustrated for general problem solving. The author advocates the use of creativity techniques in the information system development process at four points: near the conclusion of requirements definition, logical design, physical design and program design. Use of creativity techniques at each of these points is illustrated. By delaying convergence on a solution, new approaches and new alternatives can be generated and evaluated. These approaches can produce the systems needed to assist US companies in international competition.

Management of creativity

During the development of project management in the 1970s, attention shifted from rational planning techniques to human aspects. One such aspect is creativity. The use of creativity techniques in project management is discussed and some consequences of the application of new computer-assisted video techniques are suggested.

Creativity Techniques: Toward Improvement of the Decision Process

Selected creativity techniques to improve the decision process are illustrated, their application to the decision process elaborated, and their contribution to organization performance hypothesized. Impediments to the use of creativity techniques are discussed and suggestions made to reduce the effects of those impediments.

Creativity Techniques: Toward Improvement of the Decision Process.

Selected creativity techniques to improve the decision process are illustrated, their application to the decision process elaborated, and their contribution to organization performance hypothesized. Impediments to the use of creativity techniques are discussed and suggestions made to reduce the effects of those impediments.

Sistema de solución creativa para problemas recurrentes – Itacone

Itacone es un sistema creado para resolver problemas recurrentes que requieren el uso de técnicas creativas, teniendoen cuenta las particularidades culturales y socioeconómicas de la comunidad latinoamericana, preparando la mentedel consultor que lo aplica, para conocer lo que piensan las partes involucradas en resolver el problema, cambiar laforma de ver el mismo, analizar objetivamente ideas de solución y generar una estrategia que incluya las solucionesque mejor se adaptan a resolver ese problema integralmente, teniendo en cuenta las consecuencias de esa soluciónen el entorno natural y social. El sistema se basa en propuestas de investigadores canadienses (Briand, A. 2004) ylatinoamericanos (los autores) para definir el problema a estudiar de manera objetiva, en investigadores europeos pararomper paradigmas con relación a soluciones que han fracasado con anterioridad y utiliza el concepto de la logísticaen reversa (o logística inversa entendida como las actividades desarrolladas para revisar las consecuencias de unproducto con el propósito de maximizar su valor, Angulo 2000), verificando la aplicabilidad de la solución diseñadacon los dueños del problema antes de entregarla definitivamente, y eventualmente conocer las consecuencias deaplicar la solución estratégica para ajustarla y maximizar sus posibilidades de éxito.