MC EM-15

MC EM-15
1yr MBA-Executive 2015-16T-IV

Course: Managing Creativity

Credit: 2

Prof: Suchitra Pal, PhD.

Objectives

Course Description

Creativity and innovation go hand in hand as one is generation of new ideas and the other is implementation of those ideas. Creative ideas are the underlying factor for entrepreneurial activities and success of business enterprises. The basic premise of the course is that all individuals are born creative. Some might be exploring it quite regularly while for some it might have gone to a backstage as they didn't have the opportunity to use it often. But the good thing is that it can always be enhanced or brought to the front stage. The course would be conducted with a series of discussions on broad themes with the realm of creativity through articles, cases and assignments.

2. Student Learning Outcomes

· The objective of the course is to help students think of some new ways of understanding and managing the creative processes.

· It aims to make students aware of the steps that go on in crafting creative enterprises in new or existing organizations, encourage innovations at the work place, and develop as well as sustain their own creativity in the midst of demanding situations.

· The course would involve some exercises to help students understand their own creative style.

Contents

Tentative Session Plan

Session Number	Topics/ Activities	Reading/ Case list, etc.
	CREATIVITY IN INDIVIDUALS
1	Introducing Creativity	Understanding Creativity - The Manager as Artist byJorg Reckherrich, Martin Kupp and Jamie Anderson Creativity in Organizations: Importance and Approaches by Michael D. Mumford, Kimberly S. Hester, and Issac C. Robledo Tending Your Own Inner Work Life: How Finding Meaning in Your Role as a Manager Ignites Your Team's Joy, Engagement, and Creativity by Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer
2	Assessing Individual Creativity	Beyond the Chicken Cheer: How to Improve your Creativity by Loren Gary Creativity Step by Step - Twyla Tharp Motivating creativity through appropriate assessment: lessons for management accounting educators by Monte Wynder Myers Briggs test: http://humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/Jtypes2.asp Self-assessment exercise: http://www.creax.com/csa/
3	Individual Level Influences	Creative Abilities: Divergent Thinking by Selcuk Acar and Mark A. Runco Idea Generation and Idea Evaluation: Cognitive Skills and Deliberate Practices by Gerard J. Puccio and John F. Cabra Short brain tests at: http://www.planetpsych.com/zinteractive/brain.htm http://www.arts-on-the-net.com/jaymark/brain.exe Few Tests would be administered in the class
4	Individual Level Influences (Continued)	The Emotive Roots of Creativity: Basic and Applied Issues on Affect and Motivation by Carsten K.W. De Dreu, Matthijs Baas, and Bernard A. Nijstad Few Tests would be administered in the class
	CREATIVITY IN GROUPS
5	Influence of Group	Team Creativity and Innovation: The Effect of Group Composition, Social Processes, and Cognition by Roni Reiter-Palmon, Ben Wigert, and Triparna de Vreede Creativity and Innovation: The Role of Team and Organizational Climate by Michael A. West and Claudia A. Sacramento
6	Case Study - Chapter Enrichment Program Teams at the American Red Cross (A)	Apart from the case: Putting the Innovator's DNA into Practice: Philosophies-What Do Highly Innovative Companies Have in Common? by Jeff Dyer, Hal Gregersen, and Clayton M. Christensen
	CREATIVITY IN ORGANIZATIONS
7	Harnessing Individual Creativity within an Organizational Context	Creativity and the Work Context by Greg R. Oldham and Markus Baer Fostering Individual Creativity Through Organizational Context: A Review of Recent Research and Recommendations for Organizational Leaders by Mark D. Agars, James C. Kaufman, Amanda Deane, and Blakely Smith Creating Breakthroughs at 3M by Eric von Hippel, Stefan Thomke, and Mary Sonnack
8	Case Study - Project Platypus - Mattel’s Unconventional Toy Development Process	Apart from the case: America's Looming Creativity Crisis by Richard Florida
9	Promoting Creativity in Organizations	Creativity in Organizations: Facilitators and Inhibitors by Eunice M.L. Soriano de Alencar How P&G Tripled its Innovation Success Rate by Bruce Brown and Scott D. Anthony
10	Case Study - Google's Organization Culture	Apart from the case: Toward a Theory of Organizational Creativity by Richard W. Woodman, John E. Sawyer and Ricky W. Griffin
	REVIEW
11	Presentation of progress of Case Diaries, Take Home Assignments, and Group Project	Assessment of Progress of various evaluation components
12	Discussion on different techniques to promote or nurture Creative ideas or thoughts	Compilation to be included in the Courseware The Weird Rules of Creativity by Robert I. Sutton
	MANAGEMENT OF CREATIVITY
13	Leading a Creative team and Creative Individuals	Creativity and the Role of the Leader by Teresa M. Amabile and Mukti Khaire Directing Creativity: The Art and Craft of Leadership byPiers Ibbotson and Lotte Darso Leadership of Creativity: Entity-Based, Relational, and Complexity Perspectives by Russ Marion
14	Case Study - Premiumsoft - Managing Creative People	Apart from the case: How to Kill Creativity by Teresa M. Amabile

Evaluation

4. Evaluation

· Class Participation (In Class Discussion on Readings and Case Studies): 20%

· Report (Individual Diary of Creativity): 25%

· Group Project & Presentation: 25%

· End Term: 30%

Class Participation - In Class Discussion on Readings and Case Discussion (20)

Each student would be individually evaluated based on his/ her level of participation and valuable inputs provided during the class discussions for the case studies.

Report - Individual Diary of Creativity (25)

The diary of creativity should be your collection of experiences, thoughts, ideas, observations and other resources related to this course and to creativity in general. The diary should have account of any fascinating products or services or concepts or business ideas or advertisements that have excited you. You should also note similar designs that have “bugged” you. The objective is to stimulate you to have a deeper understanding of design decisions that shape our everyday lives.

Apart from the above, your Diary of Creativity should have one page summaries for each of the following:

· How would you go about describing someone as being Creative?
· What does Managing Creativity mean to you?
· Highlight five creative things that you have come across in your day to day life or at your place of work and describe why you think each failed (or worked)?
· Share with us your experiences when you needed to move on with a creative idea or an assignment or a project in your daily life or in your work place that required help from others?
· How do you react when confronted with an issue?
· When do you feel most creative?
· How do you motivate others to be creative?
· Success or failures are a part and parcel of life and chances of failure are high when one takes creative risks leads to successes and failures. What would be your suggestions to turn “failures” into learning experiences?

Group Project & Presentation (25)

Students have to form a group ranging from minimum 2 to maximum 4. Each group has to demonstrate their creative skill by coming out with an innovative product or service that has the potential of a commercial value. They can work on a proof of concept or prototype of a product or an artifact. A detailed business plan would be the deliverable along with presentation of the idea to the class. Take for example, if you were to thinking of a breakthrough product in the form of Toothbrush or some concepts to maintain oral hygiene then, do some research on toothbrush/ toothpaste so that you are experts of the oral hygiene market. Use your research brainstorm to get new features and/or designs for the product that you would have conceptualized. Design the new product, talk about how it would be made, how it would be used, its advantages, who would buy it, etc. The group has to be innovative in the way they present their project and would be given 20 minutes for presentation.

PowerPoint presentations are NOT allowed!

You can do a skit, product demonstration, create an advertisement, make a jingle, etc. and the group will be graded on the creativity of the idea and presentation. The supporting report should discuss, explore and analyze the processes your team followed in its creative effort to redesign the product or service. How were options generated? How did the team settle on its final design? What inspired you during your design work? What creative resources did you use in arriving at your final design?

References

Reference Text Books forming part of Courseware

Courseware will be provided from:

· Handbook of Organizational Creativity by Michael D. Mumford
· Guide to Managing Creativity And Innovation Compiled by Harvard Business School Press
· Thinkertoys: A Handbook of Creative-Thinking Techniques by Michael Michalko
· Articles and Exercises from Journals, Magazines and other sources

Created By: Alora Kar on 10/01/2015 at 11:58 AM
Category: MBA EX-15-T-IV Doctype: Document

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