Date of Award

1998

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Business Administration

Department

Business

First Advisor

Daniel W. Kemper

Second Advisor

Joe Ancona

Third Advisor

Skip Moreland

Abstract

As businesses become more lean in the future they will have to do everything to gain a competitive advantage. People are the biggest resource and many times the biggest expense in an organization. Many experts are of the opinion that the single most effective way to insure a companies longevity is by having high output employees. There are many proven techniques in workforce motivation. Most managers and educators think higher production is the result of better motivation techniques. A normal motivation plan is designed to increase production in the employees ' current job under the same set of rules and ideas.

Paradigm shifts in business are happening at a faster pace than ever before. When a paradigm shift takes place, all the rules and perceptions that a business operated under are now invalid. These shifts in thinking drive the need for business to motivate and foster creative and entrepreneurial thinking in their employees, Older techniques to motivate are useless in getting employees to find creative solutions to problems or invent new products or services.

American business managers are in a race for ideas to make products more innovative. How can managers set up an atmosphere and a reward system that encourages, and more importantly produces, new ideas to flow like the assembly lines of mass production in the past?

This is an idea that has rarely been focused on. Managers have been more interested in controlling and directing major duties under the old paradigm. The new paradigm of business is getting employees thinking out of the box of business as usual. Many studies have not focused on the importance of creativity and innovation. Measuring the results of creativity and innovation is difficult. The culture of the business has to change and open up to promote , encourage and measure creativity. The purpose of this study is research what managers and employees should do to gain a new perspective on the ways they do business.

Hopefully this study will reveal the need for management emphasis in the creative and innovative area. Along with the need, the study will show what types of people tend to have the qualities that managers must look for in their recruitment. The people who tend to exhibit traits for creativity and innovation are driven by things that are very different than other employees and the two groups can not be managed using the same set of rules. The study will l show what will drive these people in a direction to keep the ideas flowing and keep them focused on the current business problems . The study will identify creative and innovative behaviors and give insight into what others are doing to stay ahead of competition by developing new products or improving procedures and services.

The hypothesis of this study is that innovation is important for businesses to grow and to improve productivity. Cameron's study showed an increase in economic growth was directly related to innovation. Many of the other articles and studies supported this hypothesis. This research focused on two primary areas for creativity and innovation. Programs and leadership initiatives from management and understanding what creative people are looking for in their careers. Knowledge can easily be spread among people with time and some effort, while creativity and innovation has to develop from within a person based on their experiences and environment. The previous studies, and this study are strong evidence that business will be well served to keep creativity and innovation in the culture or their organizations. Their competitive positions will require growth, and much growth comes from creative and innovative employees. The conclusion of this study is that innovation and creativity have been shown to increase a company ' s value and improve growth. Innovative and creative companies have been more successful at hiring and retaining employees.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

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