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Environmental determinants of work motivation, creativity, and innovation: The case of R&D downsizing

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Abstract

The capacity for technology businesses to grow and change with the times is linked to how they develop and market technological innovations. Despite the importance of technological changes for corporate vitality, there are documented instances of corporations failing to capitalize on technological opportunities. Innovation outcome is contingent upon a match between a firm's internal capabilities and its external environments, even as innovation activities are complex and constrained. How can the slim odds of success be enhanced? Technological Innovation analyses why companies choose certain new technologies, from a technological, economic and institutional perspective. Based upon multidisciplinary research on technological choice, the book bridges research and practice.

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... Many scholars consider monetary incentives as negatively influencing innovative behaviour by undermining intrinsic motivation (Deci, Koestner, & Ryan, 1999) and thus creativity, specifically in view of ambiguous and explorative tasks (Amabile & Conti, 1997;Kohn, 1993;McGraw, 1978). Moreover, extrinsic rewards may erode innovative behaviour by diverting attention from autonomy and self-realisation towards economic gain, reputation, and compliance (Amabile & Conti, 1997;Deci & Ryan, 1985). ...
... Many scholars consider monetary incentives as negatively influencing innovative behaviour by undermining intrinsic motivation (Deci, Koestner, & Ryan, 1999) and thus creativity, specifically in view of ambiguous and explorative tasks (Amabile & Conti, 1997;Kohn, 1993;McGraw, 1978). Moreover, extrinsic rewards may erode innovative behaviour by diverting attention from autonomy and self-realisation towards economic gain, reputation, and compliance (Amabile & Conti, 1997;Deci & Ryan, 1985). Yet, the strongest argument against monetary incentives in innovation is connected with findings of principal-agent theory -namely, imperfect information about agent performance and thus imperfect reward distribution (Holmstrom & Milgrom, 1991). ...
... There is a broad agreement among researchers that non-monetary incentives promote creative behaviour and that they are conducive to innovation generation (Amabile & Conti, 1997;Deci & Ryan, 1985). Non-monetary incentives build an innovative organisational atmosphere, set lenient innovation targets and modest challenges, and build commitment, trust, tolerance, and affiliation (Aryee & Aryee, 2007;Martins & Terblanche, 2003;Shalley & Gilson, 2004;Stamper & Masterson, 2002). ...
Article
To date, employee participation finds very little recognition in China in research as well as in management practice. It seems to fundamentally contradict traditional values in Chinese culture. The effect of employee participation on innovation is completely unknown, not only for China, but also for many other emerging economies. In contrast, employee participation finds a lot of recognition in the western world for quite some while. Research suggests that employee participation is particularly relevant for innovations in skilled labour contexts, which are becoming increasingly important also for China. Based on a survey of 620 medium-sized and large companies we are investigating the effect of employee participation on innovation generation and commercialisation in China. In the formulation of our hypotheses we take the moderating effects of incentives into account. The contribution of this article is to give evidence on the explanation power of the western concept of employee participation outside the western world. This allows for a better understanding of the robustness of the concept towards cultural context factors.
... Lauritzen, 2017). While contributing to knowledge regarding this (co)creativity, we build on Amabile and Conti (1997) and first focus on members' creative identity, creative self-efficacy and domain-relevant knowledge as determinants for OI community members' novel idea generation. We then examine the role of social determinants that influence members' willingness to cocreate innovation efforts among OI community members to jointly advance those novel ideas (Amabile and Pillemer, 2012;Lauritzen, 2017). ...
... Members' lack of confidence in their own selves and their abilities in a creative context, paired with limited knowledge of the product context at hand, raises considerable risk that members' innovation contributions will be significantly compromised. While the componential theory of creativity has been drawn on to explain individual creativity efforts (or capacities) in other contexts (Amabile and Conti, 1997), to the best of our knowledge, this research is the first to have employed this perspective to advance theorizing on the determinants that leverage OI member contributions to enhance and develop novel ideas in OI. ...
... Lauritzen, 2017). While contributing to knowledge regarding this (co)creativity, we build on Amabile and Conti (1997) and first focus on members' creative identity, creative self-efficacy and domain-relevant knowledge as determinants for OI community members' novel idea generation. We then examine the role of social determinants that influence members' willingness to cocreate innovation efforts among OI community members to jointly advance those novel ideas (Amabile and Pillemer, 2012;Lauritzen, 2017). ...
... Members' lack of confidence in their own selves and their abilities in a creative context, paired with limited knowledge of the product context at hand, raises considerable risk that members' innovation contributions will be significantly compromised. While the componential theory of creativity has been drawn on to explain individual creativity efforts (or capacities) in other contexts (Amabile and Conti, 1997), to the best of our knowledge, this research is the first to have employed this perspective to advance theorizing on the determinants that leverage OI member contributions to enhance and develop novel ideas in OI. ...
Preprint
Purpose: Organizations increasingly seek to leverage open innovation (OI) communities to generate and advance novel ideas through collaborative innovation efforts of their members. However, success is far from guaranteed as OI communities can only thrive depending on individual and collective member contributions. This research examines individual and social determinants that encourage members to first generate novel ideas, then collaboratively advance these ideas through cocreation with other members, a process we term member ‘(co)creativity’. Design/Methodology/Approach: A survey design was used to collect data from 301 OI community members, which we analyzed through component-based structural equation modeling using SmartPLS. Findings: Drawing on componential theory of creativity and innovation, this study demonstrates the role of members’ creative identity, creative self-efficacy, and domain-relevant knowledge as determinants for their novel idea generation. While novel idea generation leads to members’ participation in collaborative innovation, this relationship is partially mediated by members’ willingness to cocreate in this process. This process is further conditioned by social determinants and leads to members’ creative self-enrichment as a result of collaborating in OI communities. Research Implications: Taking a member perspective, this study advances marketing innovation theorizing by investigating critical determinants of effective OI communities, informing managers about success factors that promote collaborative innovation in OI communities.
... Several psychologists have proposed theories to address the effects of societies on creativity. Amabile (1982Amabile ( , 1983Amabile ( , 1996Amabile & Conti, 1997), for example, has spent two decades conducting experimental studies of the effect of the environment on students' intrinsic motivation and creativity. She has concluded that the social environment, including a society's educational system, overall classroom climate, school and work environment, and family, could be important resources to facilitate or inhibit a person's creativity. ...
... First, it may be that an individual's need for autonomy is a critical force driving the individual's creativity. Generally, a higher need for autonomy has been shown to energize an individual's potential for creative production, and vice versa (Amabile, 1982(Amabile, , 1996Amabile & Conti, 1997). Drawing from this argument, it follows that Americans can be expected to be more creative than Chinese, given the fact that American society tends to foster more individual freedom and expression of individuality, whereas Chinese culture tends to encourage more conformity at the expense of creative expression. ...
Article
Chinese students outperform American students in many international competitions in mathematics and the natural sciences. Does this superiority of Chinese students over American students also apply in other domains? Our previous research has shown that compared with their American counterparts, Chinese students' artwork is perceived as less creative by both Chinese and American judges. In a new study, we find that Chinese students' creativity is increased when given direct instructions to be creative or guidance on how to be creative. Three different factors are posited to be responsible for the discrepancy in rated creativity between Chinese and American students, namely, social values, school pedagogic practices, and educational testing systems. This article argues that high-stakes standardized tests could impair the development of students' creativity. Although there is a general tendency for school educators in both China and the United States to overemphasize analytical skills at the expense of the development of creative abilities, in general, the tendency for the Chinese to do so is stronger than it is for the American. Suggestions are proposed to educators on how to foster students' creativity. Furthermore, the article suggests that school and national leaders in the United States and China, as well as elsewhere, should learn from one another's educational successes, while maintaining their unique cultural and educational characteristics. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 40: 103–114, 2003.
... Особое внимание за рубежом уделяется созданию соответствующей творческой среды в организациях, осуществляющих научно-исследовательские и опытно-конструкторские разработки, иными словами -прикладным внедрением достижений фундаментальной науки. Здесь можно упомянуть работы T.M. Amabile и R. Conti [11], K.J. Boudreau, K.R. Lakhani [12], K.J. Boudreau, N. Lacetera, K.R. Lakhani [13], D.R. Smith, N. Di Tomaso, G.F. Farris, R. Cordero [14], M. Hrakhouskaya, H. van Schuppen [15], R.B. McAllister, C.E. Vandlen [16]; P. James, V. Holton [18]. ...
Article
A new socioeconomic and educational situation, a qualitative change in the means of labor and the content of activities in working professions necessitates a change in the content of the activities of teachers of professional educational organizations. In particular, research and creativity should become its integral component. The optimal tool that contributes to the formation of readiness for scientific activity and its implementation among the subjects of the educational process in PEO is the creation of a specific creative environment. Creating a creative environment, including in research organizations and organizations involved in research and development, is a widely used practice in foreign organizations. The system of incentive allowances used in Russia according to the results of scientific activity does not have sufficient developing potential. The article describes an example of creating a system for the organization of research activities (RA system) in professional educational organizations (PEO) of the Khabarovsk Territory. The methodological basis for the development of such a system is a metasystem approach. The RA system has hierarchical levels of organization (metasystem, system, subsystem, component, elemental). The systemforming goal is to create an enabling environment conducive to the scientific and creative activities of the subjects of the educational process in PEO. The subsystem level of the RA system is an extensive network of scientific teams and associations, including scientific associations of teachers and student scientific societies. The components of the component level are teachers, PEO students, employees, etc. At the elementary level, the RA system is represented by the conditions of scientific activity in PEO, facilitating factors, as well as constraining factors. The metasystem in which the RA system is ontologically included is the education system of the Khabarovsk Territory. The paper presents some intermediate stages and elements of the formation of the RA system, which are, inter alia, intermediate results of this process. Новая социальноэкономическая и образовательная ситуация, качественное изменение средств труда и содержания деятельности в рабочих профессиях обуславливает необходимость изменения содержания деятельности преподавателей профессиональных образовательных организаций. В частности, научноисследовательская деятельность и творчество должны стать ее неотъемлемым компонентом. Оптимальным средством, способствующим формированию готовности к научной деятельности и ее осуществления среди субъектов образовательного процесса в ПОО является создание специфической творческой среды. Создание творческой среды, в том числе в научных организациях и в организациях занимающимися научными исследованиями и разработками широко используемая практика в зарубежных организациях. Применяемая в России система стимулирующих надбавок по результатам научной деятельности не обладает достаточным развивающим потенциалом. В статье описан пример создания системы организации научноисследовательской деятельности (система НИД) в профессиональных образовательных организациях (ПОО) Хабаровского края. Методологической основой разработки такой системы является метасистемный подход. Система НИД имеет иерархические уровни организации (метасистемный, системный, субсистемный, компонентный, элементный). Системообразующая цель создание благоприятной среды, способствующей научной и творческой деятельности субъектов образовательного процесса в ПОО. Субсистемный уровень системы НИД представляет разветвленную сеть научных коллективов и объединений, в числе которых научные объединения преподавателей и студенческие научные общества. Составляющими компонентного уровня являются преподаватели, студенты ПОО, сотрудники и др. На элементном уровне система НИД представлена условиями научной деятельности в ПОО, фасилитирующими факторами, а также сдерживающими факторами. Метасистемой в которую онтологически включена система НИД является система образования Хабаровского края. В работе представлены некоторые промежуточные этапы и элементы формирования системы НИД, которые в том числе являются промежуточными результатами этого процесса.
... When people are motivated, their brain-reward systems are activated, releasing dopamine (Wise, 2004), which enhances learning, promotes creative thinking, and the ability to make novel connections between ideas. To be creative and innovative, individuals must engage in activities they love (Amabile & Conti, 1997). Innovation is an iterative process that requires persistence (Andreini et al., 2022) and risk. ...
... By taking risks, one may have a greater chance to achieve creativity than others who adhere to more conventional and safe procedures. Moreover, the positive relationship between risk-taking and creativity has been supported in both theoretical (Amabile & Conti, 1997;Barron & Harrington, 1981) and empirical ways (Beghetto, Karwowski & Reiter-Palmon, 2021;El-Murad & West, 2003;George & Zhou, 2001;Graciano et al., 2022;Shen et al., 2018;Taft & Gilchrist, 1970). ...
Article
Full-text available
Research has demonstrated the crucial role of creative metacognition and risk-taking in creativity. However, little empirical research has examined how creative metacognition and risk-taking work on creative performance in educational practice. This paper explored the moderating effects of creative metacognition on the relationships between different types of risk-taking (i.e., propensity for taking a risk, willingness to take a risk) and creative performance (i.e., general creativity, originality, usefulness) in a middle school context. The sample consisted of 350 7th- and 8th-grade students from three middle schools. They completed a survey and a creative performance task. Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that creative metacognition moderated the relationships between willingness to take a risk and both originality and usefulness. The results indicated that creative metacognition reinforces the positive effect of risk-taking on originality and mitigates the negative effect of risk-taking on usefulness. Our findings suggest a potential role for creative metacognition in enhancing curriculum-based creative performance in middle schools. In the end, practical implications, limitations, and future directions are discussed.
... Where intrinsic reward has consistently exerted influences on organizational innovation, extrinsic reward shares an occasional positive relationship with innovationrelated outcomes and even shares a negative relationship with innovation (Bock et al., 2005;Cabrera et al., 2006;Foss et al., 2009). To explain these unintended consequences, scholars argued that extrinsic reward undermines intrinsic motivation and diverts attention from autonomy, freedom and self-realization to economic gain and due formal compliance (Amabile & Conti, 1997). External rewards exert a negative effect on knowledge sharing by 'crowding out' the influence of intrinsic motivation (Osterloh & Frey, 2000). ...
Article
Full-text available
Though current scholarly interest generates a sustained growth of literature on open innovation, we need to learn more about human resource practices relating to open innovation. Building on the ability-motivation-opportunity (AMO) framework, we demonstrate the differential impact of human resources practice bundles on open innovation. We also find evidence that motivation-enhancing and competency-enhancing practices share a compensating effect on open innovation. Using firm-level data from 2540 Italian manufacturing firms, our study, if not first, contributes to the growing bodies of research on open innovation by bringing forth the human dimension to the forefront and offering a drilled-down practice-level view that needs to be addressed in the literature.
... Researchers argue that the motivation to get better, to hone one's ability, or to practice is necessary for both the emergence of artistic talent and for highly creative performance [138,139]. Amabile's [140,141] studies also showed a positive relationship between intrinsic motivation and assessed creativity, and especially argued that when one is intrinsically motivated one experiences more interest and is thus more likely to produce a creative output. In support, Silvia et al. [142] showed that individuals scoring higher in creativity expended more cognitive effort in a divergent thinking task, leading to more creative outcomes. ...
Chapter
Full-text available
This book, of which this chapter is a part, is about people who changed the ways in which they related to being visually creative or made art. Maybe they suddenly found themselves with a heightened interest in producing artworks, ramping up, greatly, their artistic production. Maybe they found themselves spontaneously able to see or think in novel ways, to make new associations, act with new confidence or courage; without inhibition. Maybe they found themselves producing in new media; in different styles or colors. Maybe they started up as artists for the first time ever. Or, maybe they felt their artistic interests and abilities slipping, changing, becoming something different—whether worse or better. Within the forthcoming chapters, these changes serve as the basis for a number of intriguing discussions of the equally changing lives, bodies, and especially brains of individuals living with neurological diseases, and with the overarching possibil- ity, if not explicit hypothesis, that these changes may be connected. Whether in the emerging body of case studies, discussions of caregivers, causative approaches, or even the reflections of artists about their lives and output, it is this bridge that holds the promise of this book’s very topic. Might—by changing our brain or our actions— we reveal something about what it means to have these disorders, about how we typically think and perceive; about how and why we make art? Similar interests, given the existence of this book, are evidently held by clinicians, neurologists, and working artists. However, this also begs a fundamental question: In order to discuss individuals becoming more, less, or differently involved in art, we must first have an idea of from what and to where these changes might proceed.
... Researchers argue that the motivation to get better, to hone one's ability, or to practice is necessary for both the emergence of artistic talent and for highly creative performance [138,139]. Amabile's [140,141] studies also showed a positive relationship between intrinsic motivation and assessed creativity, and especially argued that when one is intrinsically motivated one experiences more interest and is thus more likely to produce a creative output. In support, Silvia et al. [142] showed that individuals scoring higher in creativity expended more cognitive effort in a divergent thinking task, leading to more creative outcomes. ...
Chapter
Full-text available
For a book devoted to the overlap of visual art making and creativity with the putatively changing brain, it makes sense to talk about what we know of the typical artist and the artistic brain. What are the regions of interest—in fact, are there any—that can be connected to the specific production of art? Are there any particular areas or neurobiological aspects that show differences between more or less successful artists? What, thinking more broadly, techniques, perceptual abilities, cognitive processes, or cultural or life factors may contribute to shaping artistic production and development? What, so to speak, makes an artist? And, returning to the aim of this book itself, might we find some overlap when considering the changing circumstances—be they behavioral or biological—in neurodegenerative disorders? In this chapter, we review these topics, providing a walk-through of the present state of knowledge on art making, as it relates to the brain, but also considering theories and factors underpinning artistic production as well as current arguments on specific factors that may contribute to making art and relatively more successful artists. This is geared primarily at the researcher interested in artistic creativity and/or neurodegeneration but who may not be well-versed in current empirical art study. By putting this collection of findings together, however, it is also our hope that this chapter will be of use to a broader audience and serve as a guide and a set of sign-posts and ideas to navigate the discussions throughout this book.
... However, more recent psychologists have addressed the effects of environmental factors on creativity. For example, Amabile (1982Amabile ( ,1983Amabile ( ,1996; Amabile & Conti (1997) stated that creativity should be understood as a behavior resulting from the interactions among personal characteristics, cognitive abilities and social environments, and that all social and environmental factors including the social context, culture and environment have a cumulative effect on one's creativity. Simonton (1984Simonton ( , 1994 also suggested that historic time and social environment play an important role on fostering creativity. ...
... Gerade Management-Modewellen zeigen die Gefahren ungeprüfter Selektion bei der Nachahmung: Beim "Business Process Engineering" wird von bis zu 70% Fehlschlägen gesprochen und trotzdem stand es mehrere Jahre hoch im Kurs (Kieser, 1996). Beim personellen "Downsizing", das ja an der Börse zunächst oft honoriert wird, zeigte eine großangelegte 15-Jahres-Studie an amerikanischen Unternehmen, dass es die finanzielle Situation letztlich nicht verbessert, im Unterschied etwa zu gezielten Desinvestitionen von Unternehmensteilen (Morris, Cascio & Young, 1999); besonders die Arbeitsmotivation, die Kreativität und die Innovationen leiden darunter (Amabile & Conti, 1997). Die im Verwaltungsbereich von Firmen häufig angewendete Personalreduktionsmethode Methode der "Overhead Value Analysis" bzw. ...
Book
In diesem Buch geht es um gelungene und misslungene Innovationen aus deutschen Unternehmen und um die wissenschaftlichen Erkenntnisse und praktischen Lehren, die man daraus ziehen kann. Diese Betrachtung ist in mehrerer Hinsicht einzigartig: In der Innovationsforschung werden entweder einzelne Innovationsfälle ausführlicher recherchiert oder Breitenerhebungen zu ausgewählten Fragen von Innovationen durchgeführt. Hier haben wir die Vorzüge beider Verfahren kombiniert: Wir haben intensive Fallstudien erstellt, gewonnen aus ausführlichen Interviews mit den Hauptbeteiligten, so dass die spezifische Entwicklung jeder einzelnen Innovation erfasst werden konnte. Dies geschah nicht nur bei Einzelfällen, sondern bei insgesamt 42 Produkt- und Verfahrensinnovationen. Ergänzt wurde es durch eine anschließende Fragebogenerhebung bei den befragten Hauptbeteiligten, so dass wir auch vergleichende Auswertungen machen konnten, um Hypothesen bzw. Erklärungen statistisch abgesichert zu prüfen. Dabei haben wir gelungene und misslungene Innovationen aus denselben Unternehmen verglichen, so dass die ermittelten Unterschiede direkt die Innovationsprozesse widerspiegeln und nicht etwa Unterschiede zwischen Unternehmen, Branchen oder Marktbedingungen. Aus den recherchierten Innovationsfällen wurden 21 ausgewählt und jeweils als Beispiel für die untersuchten Thesen dargestellt (im Inhaltsverzeichnis kursiv gedruckt). Diese Fallgeschichten sind nicht, wie sonst oft üblich, als Heldentaten oder Schurkenstücke ausgemalt, sondern sie geben einen realistischeren Einblick in die Vielgestaltigkeit und Verschlungenheit typischer Innovationsprozesse als üblich.
... Zakłada się, że środowisko pracy najsilniej i najbardziej bezpośrednio wpływa na skuteczność ludzkiego działania. To właśnie skłoniło badaczy [Ekvall 1971;Ekvall i Ryhammar 1999;Amabile 1983Amabile , 1996 do podjęcia badań kontekstu społecznego twórczości w organizacji. W psychologii organizacji twórczość bywa definiowana w zasadzie analogicznie do definicji przytoczonej na początku tego rozdziału. ...
... The finding is not in line with the results of previous studies by [19], who revealed that the work environment significantly affects the motivation of the workers. In [20], [38] also revealed that the environment has a positive and significant influence on the work motivation of employees. Table 4 shows that the p-value of the effect of leadership on employee job satisfaction is 0.454 ≥ 0.05. ...
Article
Full-text available
This research aimed to examine the effect of leadership and work environment on motivation and its impact on employee job satisfaction. The sample of this research is 100 people from 403 employees of Malang Centerpoint Department Store, Malang City, East Java, Indonesia. The analysis employed the Structural Equation Model (SEM) with the Smart PLS 3.2 program. Measurement of variables using questionnaires with a test of validity and reliability. The results showed: (1) Leadership significantly affects work motivation. (2) The work environment does not affect work motivation. (3) Leadership does not affect job satisfaction. (4) The work environment significantly affects the employee job satisfaction. (5) Work motivation significantly affects employee job satisfaction. From the results of mediation analysis and total effect, employees' work motivation significantly mediated the effect of leadership on job satisfaction. Employees' work motivation also significantly mediated the effect of the work environment on job satisfaction. While the most significant total effect is 0.362, located in the pathway of the work environment, motivation, and job satisfaction. The managerial implications for increasing job satisfaction are the most effective by increasing variables on the path to the work environment, work motivation, and job satisfaction.
... Šliogerien_ e and Valūnait_ e-Oleškevi cien_ e (2017) emphasize the teachers' role in enhancing creativity among students. Social environment (including society's educational system, overall classroom climate, school environment & family) encourages self-directed learning, competence, task involvement as well poses challenge contributing positively to creativity (Amabile and Conti, 1997;Simonton, 1984). Csikszentmihalyi (1988) suggests that schools and societies have a nurturing effect on creative performance on their members. ...
Article
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Purpose Over the past few decades, Indian education system has witnessed a paradigm shift, leading to replacement of the traditional education system. The traditional education system focused on the holistic development of the student, with a focus on enhancing the student creativity and capability to innovate. This shift leads us to ask whether the modern education system still nurture creativity? In this manuscript, we examine the impact of organizational culture in colleges on the creativity of students in India. Design/methodology/approach A questionnaire survey was administered to 174 students from public and private colleges. The relation between creativity and locus of control of students was examined and discussed. Findings The results demonstrated that the organizational culture did not impact creativity of students in India. The Indian higher education system will have to first overcome other systemic issues and bottlenecks to encourage creativity among students. Research limitations/implications The self-report questionnaires used in the study can at best assess aptitudes or tendencies, but may not be the most appropriate method to capture actual events or dynamic processes. Self-report questionnaires must be supported and corroborated by recording actual study behavior to establish validity. Originality/value The findings of this article are useful for practitioners and policy makers to develop a culture conducive to creativity in students.
... Csikszentmihalyi's (1988Csikszentmihalyi's ( , 1999 longitudinal study of art students found that some of the most creative children ended up pursuing occupations that had little to do with creativity or art, whereas others who had shown less potential persevered and experienced artistic or creative achievements. Amabile's (1996;Amabile & Conti, 1997) studies also showed a positive relationship between intrinsic motivation and assessed creativity, and especially argued that when one is intrinsically motivated one experiences more interest and is thus more likely to produce creative output. ...
Chapter
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In this chapter, we review research on creativity with visual art, and, specifically, how this has been addressed within the psychology of art. We begin with a brief review of the history of psychology of art and the unique challenges associated with studying artistic creativity and expression. We then review current creativity studies that touch on art making and that focus on techniques and methods that provide the foundation for current research. We conclude with a consideration of important questions that hold particular intrigue for future study, such as questions related to artistic development, approaches to assessing art making, and the artistic brain.
... In conceptualizing these learning impacts of WLB provision in the IT sector, it is useful to draw on an established, parallel research literature in organizational and social psychology that demonstrates how learning is enhanced when individuals and teams have relatively high autonomy in the day-today conduct of their work, with individuals producing more creative work when they perceive themselves to have choice about how to go about scheduling and accomplishing allocated work tasks (e.g., Amabile and Conti, 1997;Bailyn, 1985). Additionally, this same literature has also highlighted how undesirably high time pressure, overwork and stress undermine creativity amongst knowledge workers (e.g., Amabile et al., 1996), a problem also recognized by IT managers and workers in Dublin and Cambridge: Some tech places, they'll turn every project into another big death march: long hours 'til it's done. ...
Article
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The everyday challenges faced by workers ‘struggling to juggle’ competing commitments of paid work, home and family remain stubbornly persistent and highly gendered. Reinforcing these problems, many employers regard work–life balance (WLB) provision as too costly. In response, this paper explores the learning and innovation advantages that can result from WLB provision in knowledge-intensive firms, as part of a WLB ‘mutual gains’ research agenda. These synergies are explored through a case study of IT workers and firms in two high-tech regional economies — Dublin, Ireland and Cambridge, UK — prior to (2006–8) and subsequent to (2010) the economic downturn. The results suggest that by making available the kinds of WLB arrangements identified by workers as offering meaningful reductions in gendered work–life conflicts, employers can also enhance the learning and innovation processes within and between firms, which are widely recognized as fundamental for firms' long-term sustainable competitive advantage. Keywords: work–life balance; gender; learning; innovation; knowledge economy
... Creativity can be defined as the generation of new ideas, which leads to innovation, or the translation of these new ideas into useful new products, and creativity is commonly believed to arise as a function of an interaction between the person and the situation (Amabile, 1997;Scott & Bruce, 1994). Although the terms creativity and innovation are not the same in the strictest sense, for the purposes here the terms will be used interchangeably. ...
Article
Technology is growing exponentially, and there is no time to waste for organizations in designing and implementing a creative climate strategy. This study was conducted to explore the relationship between organizational citizenship behaviors (OCB) and organizational climates that promote creativity. By collecting data from working undergraduate and MBA students (N=201), multiple significant positive relationships were found between several of the dimensions making up both of these constructs. The results of this study show that employee perceptions of creative climates are moderately related to pro-social behaviors. For employees, working in organizations that promote a creative climate relates to having supportive social-exchange relationships and intrinsic motivation to do their jobs. Moreover, practical implications from this study suggest that organizations benefit as well. Employee perceptions of organizations with climates fostering and supporting creativity were strongly related to reports of creative output and productivity. Additionally, these perceptions were related to participants' self-reported discretionary efforts targeted toward both the organization and their fellow co-workers.
... Several psychologists have proposed theories to address the effects of societies on creativity. Amabile and her colleagues (1982, 1983Amabile & Conti, 1997) spent the better part of two decades conducting experimental studies of the effect of the environment on students' intrinsic motivation and creativity. From this work she has concluded that the social environment, including a society's educational system, overall classroom climate, school and work environment, and family could be important factors that either facilitate or inhibit an individual's creativity. ...
... Bailyn 1985;Paolillo and Brown 1978), as a function of individuals producing more creative work when they perceive themselves to have choice about how to go about scheduling and accomplishing allocated work tasks (e.g. Amabile and Conti 1997). Additionally, this same literature has also highlighted how undesirably high time pressure, overwork and stress further undermine creativity amongst knowledge workers (e.g. ...
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Over the last decade, the desirability and means of successfully integrating paid work with other meaningful parts of life has received widespread attention. Despite the profound moral and social significance of work-life balance (WLB), economistic ‘business case’ arguments claiming the benefit of WLB provision for firms' organisational performance continue to dominate the neoliberal policy agenda. However, there remains a paucity of empirical evidence to support the WLB business case. At the same time, conventional business case analyses sideline social equity concerns of workers and their families, and in their focus on revealed output measures of firm performance, say little about the underlying determinants of firms' competitive performance in the New Economy. In response, this article presents new qualitative evidence from Dublin's high-tech regional economy to develop an alternative socioeconomic analysis focused on: (i) gendered experiences of work-life conflict in the Irish IT industry; (ii) the arrangements that different groups of IT workers and their families find most useful in ameliorating those work-life conflicts; and (iii) the mechanisms through which workers' use of those preferred WLB arrangements helps foster and support routine learning and innovation processes within knowledge-intensive firms. As such, the article responds to earlier calls by WLB commentators to develop a ‘dual agenda’ that moves beyond either/or thinking to consider both business and social imperatives in pursuit of optimal work-life balance outcomes.
... Moreover, the downward trend may have an impact on other behaviors of the same persons, and even spill over to the team and organizational levels. An example is the loss of organizational commitment among employees after a downsizing operation , which may negatively affect collaboration in teams, organizational innovation, and so on (Allen, Freeman, Rus- sell, Reizenstein, & Rentz, 2001; Amabile & Conti, 1997). For these reasons it would be highly desirable if applied psychological research would investigate the occurrence of relapse and relate it to antecedent as well as consequent phenomena. ...
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Abstract. Against the background of a growing awareness of time among researchers, this articles sets out to assess the current position of time in applied psychological theory and research. A critical analysis of recent publications in The Journal of Applied Psychology and Applied Psychology, An International Review reveals that with some noticeable exceptions, the role of time in human behavior is still largely neglected. It is posited that this state of affairs can be explained by a conceptual bias among researchers, which makes them think in terms of "what is" rather than "what happens." A proposal is made for an alternative way of conceptualizing, designated as temporalism, which starts from the concept of phenomenon, which is defined dynamically and operationalized with the help of time. A plea is made for a research strategy that comprises the identification of the dynamic features of phenomena, an analysis of their temporal relations, and an assessment of long term stability and changes of temporal parameters. It is argued that such an approach leads to theoretical innovations and to a substantial expansion of possibilities for intervention. This is illustrated by a discussion of three prototypical patterns of development referred to as improvement, bifurcation, and relapse, which underlie a broad range of practical problems known from social and organizational settings. Finally, attention is directed to the role that time plays when psychological knowledge is applied to such practical problems. It is concluded that time should not only be addressed in the study of behavior of other people but also in the complex interactions between psychologists and clients involved in the application of psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved) (journal abstract)
... Previous research has shown that organizing people in cross functional teams to work around projects, having people change from jobs within and across functions, and facilitating their informal interaction for example through an open office plan (see extensive case study of IDEO by Hargadon and Sutton, 1997) can foster improvisation, encourage exploration of new ideas without impeding exploitation of existing knowledge, and contribute to the emergence of innovation (e.g., Nonaka, 1994; Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995; Amabile et al., 1996; Amabile and Conti, 1997; Cummings and Oldham, 1997). The combination and recombination of existing knowledge is another source of new ideas. ...
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The fifteen years following the introduction of the seminal construct of absorptive capacity (AC) by Cohen and Levinthal (1989, 1990) have seen the proliferation of a vast literature citing the AC construct in over 1500 published papers, chapters and books and interpreting it or applying it in many areas of organization science research, including organization theory, strategic management, and economics. However, with very few exceptions, the specific organizational routines and processes that constitute AC capabilities remain a black box. In this paper we propose a routine based model of AC that also operationalizes the AC construct. We decompose the construct of AC into two components, internal and external AC capabilities, and identify the configuration of meta-routines underlying these two components. The meta-routines are expressed within organizations by configurations of practiced routines that are observable and measurable. The ability of organizations to discover and implement complementarities between practiced AC routines may explain why some firms are successful early adopters and most firms are imitators. Success as an early adopter of a new management practice or an innovation is expected to depend on the extent to which an organization designs and implements the configuration of its internal and external absorptive capacity routines.
... Working around projects and multidisciplinary teams, rather than according to the hierarchical functions, might for example constitute a better environment that increases employees' motivation to provide innovative efforts. Actually, a work environment where differently skilled people cooperate in a relatively non rigid structure has been found by Amabile and Conti (1997) to be positively related to creativity and innovation. Promoting the rotation of staff further increases knowledge sharing among workers. ...
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The objective of this paper is to assess whether large firms' organizational competencies affect their innovation performances. About 40 organizational sub-competencies are defined and measured through an original survey questionnaire answered by 148 large firms in Belgium. The sub-competencies are grouped into seven broad organizational competencies associated with the inovation process. For each broad competence a principal component analysis is run to illustrate whether the sub-competencies are related to three innovation performance indicators, including R&D intensity, the number of patents and the share of sales accounted for by innovative products and processes. The empirical results show that the output related innovation performance indicators (innovative output and the number of patents) are closely related with most organizational competencies, whereas R&D intensity is only correlated with two competencies (developing an innovation culture and using internal funding for innovation). Innovation performance is not only a function of the investment devoted to the creation of new products, processes or services, but also a function of the organizational process underlying innovative activities.
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Purpose: Based on the Dynamic Capabilities View (DCV) and Knowledge-based View (KBV), this study investigates the relationships between intellectual capital (IC) resources and dynamic innovation capabilities in the context of new ventures. Design/methodology/approach: Data for the study is collected from 311 start-up firms in Turkey and is analysed via Structural Equation Modelling. Findings: The results indicate that the effects of human capital and social capital on dynamic innovation capability are fully mediated by innovation orientation (IO). Besides, dynamic innovation capability is found to be strongly associated with innovation performance. Practical implications: In the study, IO is suggested as a useful mechanism for encouraging the deployment of an innovation focus in all functions of a firm for attaining long-term sustained competitiveness. Thereby, the findings are expected to present important implications for start-up founders and policy-makers, by highlighting the importance of knowledge management and investing in human and social capital resources for generating the capability to innovate. Originality/value: The most significant contribution of the study is the development of a model suggesting IO as a mediating variable between the IC resources and dynamic innovation capability relationship in the context of start-up firms. Furthermore, the findings indicate a positive and significant association between the dynamic innovation capability and innovation performance in these economic units.
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The monograph presents issues related to the barriers to creativity, creative behaviours and the development of media organizations. Basic goals were set: identification of barriers to creativity, examination of the determinants of these barriers and creative behaviours as well as determination of their impact on the development of the organization. One of the main theses was the assumption that media organizations differ when it comes to the level of barriers to creativity and that this level will be lower there than in non-media organizations. It was also assumed that the identification of barriers and conducting action research may affect the development of the organization. The monograph consists of two parts: the first part presents the identi- fication of barriers to creativity (the most important ones are: Authoritarian Management and Restriction of Freedom of Action, Communication Breakdown and Lack of Resources) and creative behaviours in media organizations and their determinants. The research used questionnaire tools, including own tools. Among the personality factors, three represented by styles of creative behaviour and factors of self-description of creative dispositions revealed relationships with the perceived level of barriers to creativity. Moreover, a reliable and accurate tool was obtained to study the barriers to creativity in the organization. In addition, the results of the first part of the study were compared to the results of questionnaires carried out in other organi- zations (public and business organization). The results of action research carried out in media organizations were presented. After the interven- tion, the level of barriers related to, but only to, the factor Authoritarian Management and Restriction of Freedom of Action, decreased. The results allowed for the creation of recommendations and practical conclusions for media organizations.
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Teachers’ crucial role in realising creativity within their subject and providing more opportunities to foster creative abilities in pupils have been widely recognised. However, few studies have focused on what constitutes creativity in a particular subject such as English. This research explored teachers’ conceptions of creativity in primary EFL classroom, with a particular focus on the Chinese context. Questionnaires and interviews were conducted to explore how EFL teachers conceptualised creativity in their practice using the phenomenographical approach to categorise teachers’ conceptions. The findings showed that most of the teachers valued creativity in EFL, and regarded fostering creative thoughts as being important for personal development as well as effective EFL learning. Teachers’ conceptions of creativity in EFL were categorised into creative products, cognitive development, creative teaching approaches and freedom in choice and expression. Favoured approaches to facilitate creative teaching included the use of art forms and playful activities, and the establishment of a stimulating classroom environment for creative ideas. However, some teachers tended to have limited conceptions and were uncertain about the relationship between creativity and foreign language learning. Challenges included an overcrowded curriculum, limited teaching time, exam pressures and a social and cultural context characterized by lack of support. The findings are discussed in terms of their educational implications.
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The purpose of this study was to examine students’ creativity when writing open-ended stories—across ethnicity, gender, and grades. Participants were 139 students, including 67 males and 72 females, from urban and rural areas of the southwestern United States. The students were in third, fourth, and fifth grades and included three ethnicities: White, Mexican American, and Navajo. Written stories were selected from the Discovering Intellectual Strengths and Capabilities while Observing Varied Ethnic Responses (DISCOVER) project’s archives. Creative products were scored by using the Consensual Assessment Technique (CAT) by five experts. No significant differences were found between boys and girls; also, no significant differences were found across the three grade levels. The differences among the three ethnic groups were significant: the White students were more creative. Future researchers should focus on implementing comprehensive teaching methods to meet all students’ needs (e.g., the DISCOVER project). Teachers who work at schools with minority students should establish an early childhood program for teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) to help young students use the language and adapt to the culture.
Chapter
Environmental problems, such as pollution or the destruction of forests, are among the most serious challenges of today’s society. In recent years, increasing emphasis has been given to global phenomena, such as ozone layer depletion and climate change (e.g., Rayner and Malone, 1998a). These phenomena constitute global environmental risks, and it is one of the major problems for scientists as well as for policy makers how to assess, communicate, and manage these risks. Many of these environmental problems are anthropogenic, that is, they originate from human activities. Hence, the ultimate causes of global risks can be found in decision making processes -- on individual, organisational, and societal levels -- that lead to environmentally relevant behavior. Environmental problems arise from the fact that many individual choices are detrimental for the environment in the long run, such as car driving or overfishing, but are hard to change.
Chapter
This chapter provides an overview on the methodology and introduces the step-by-step development of a performance management system via a series of in-depth case studies. The analysis approach aims at developing a model for performance management systems built on the basic components found in practice such as organizational department goals and individual KPIs. The model is extended with additional components that allow us to compare the various performance management systems and to identify relationships between these components. Performance clusters (i.e. groups of KPIs), which represent one significant component of our developed model, are introduced. Furthermore, the goals are analyzed for the similarity of their sub-components. Altogether, Chap. 4describes a preliminary approach on how to deal with the individual elements of performance management, that is, with KPIs, KPI classes, performance clusters and finally organizational department goals.
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A human resource recruitment and development policy aimed at enhancing qualifications improves organizational creativity by developing slack resources. In this process the organization builds up qualified resources beyond current needs to ensure flexibility and innovative competence in an unstable market environment. Improved organizational creativity, as a result of developing qualified resources, indirectly leads to better corporate results as it improves the creativity atmosphere. This study of 102 medium-sized companies from the financial services and consulting sector shows that a personnel recruitment and development policy based first and foremost on ensuring a wide range of qualifications correlates significantly with a creative climate.
Chapter
Organizations need managers who are able to contribute significantly to the attainment of organizational goals. It is therefore necessary for organizations to select, train, develop and promote people who will be able to make such a contribution. The question “what makes a manager effective” remains largely unanswered, despite numerous studies of managerial behavior, management styles and managerial effectiveness. Such studies have shown us what managers do and how they do things, but the effectiveness of these actions is still elusive. Important conclusions from these studies are firstly that situational factors are generally considered important in determining effectiveness. Secondly, effective managers have a broad repertoire of behaviors at their disposal. Finally, effective managers use situational factors to determine which behavior is appropriate in a particular setting. These conclusions, however, do not give an insight into the covert processes behind effective managerial behavior. In other words, we are interested in the creative decision making process leading to a behavioral choice. In order to learn what makes a manager effective, we would like to know why managers do things the way they do. An analysis of this type of managerial decision making will lead to enhanced insight into the effectiveness of managerial behavior and to recommendations for researchers and practitioners regarding the selection and development of managers.
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This paper reviews six articles (W. C. Byham, see record 2001-14416-002; N. A. Cummings, see record 2001-14416-003; M. K. Gowing, see record 2001-14416-004; J. E. Langhorne, see record 2001-14416-005; R. B. Smith III, see record 2001-14416-006; and G. W. Watts, see record 2001-14416-007) that, along with two commentaries (H. Levinson, see record 2001-14416-008); G. R. VandenBos and E. Q. Bulatao, see record 2001-14416-009), constitute a special section of The Psychologist-Manager Journal on "The Psychologist-Entrepreneur." Common themes of the psychologist-entrepreneurs represented in this series are identified and compared with findings from the empirical research literature. Conditions that are conducive to, and that distract from, the entrepreneurial enterprise in organizations are also discussed, including the "dark side" of entrepreneurialism. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved)
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Two studies were designed to compare (a) the rated creativity of artworks created by American and Chinese college students, and (b) the criteria used by American and Chinese judges to evaluate these artworks. The study demonstrated that the two groups of students differed in their artistic creativity. American participants produced more creative and aesthetically pleasing artworks than did their Chinese counterparts, and this difference in performance was recognized by both American and Chinese judges. The difference between the use of criteria by American and Chinese judges was small, and consisted mainly of the American judges' use of stricter standards in evaluating overall creativity. Moreover, in general, there was a greater consensus among Chinese judges regarding what constitutes creativity than among American judges. The study also revealed, but preliminarily, that the artistic creativity of Chinese students was more likely to be reduced as a function of restrictive task constraints or of the absence of explicit instructions to be creative. The results of this study seem to support the hypothesis that an independent self-oriented culture is more encouraging of the development of artistic creativity than is an interdependent self-oriented culture. Other possible explanations, such as differences in people's attitudes toward and motivation for engaging in art activities, or socioeconomic factors might also account for differences in people's artistic creativity.
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Some may still scoff at the apparent “softness” of the concept of emotional intelligence. But, way back before the term had entered the popular vocabulary, American Express Financial Advisors benefited from recognizing the role of emotional intelligence in business success. And the story of how the organization went about this groundbreaking work can offer a model for other early adopters of unconventional and passing solutions. It especially illustrates the critical need for leadership commitment in major change efforts. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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Governance in organizations according to traditionalagency theory is based on the premise that managersand employees do not have identical goals. As aconsequence, employees need to be monitored andcontrolled. If legal contracts are not sufficient forproper control, incentive contracts should be used. This paper argues that incentive contracts are notsufficient to solve governance issues in organizationsdue to problems in measurability and enforceability ofpresumed contract violations. Such problems arecomplicated by asymmetries in power, perspectives andaspirations between managers and employees. Acognitive argument is advanced suggesting that timeconstraints and bounded rationality render the idea ofmonitoring relatively ineffective. Governance ideasthat focus on communication flow and informationsharing are described. The role that other cognitiveelements such as memory play in a more comprehensiveand interdisciplinary framework for understandinggovernance relations is discussed.
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