Category: Management Notes

Companies with impressive employee retention rates and high employee satisfaction levels, all have one thing in common they understand the importance of a strong workplace culture. They also know that you must truly invest in your people if you want to get the best out of them.

A poor workplace culture could actually end up costing an employer money, as it could result in absenteeism, employee stress, poor health and a high turnover of staff.  Therefore, working hard to achieve a good culture is not only beneficial for those you employ, it’s also good for the productivity of your business.

These things are easy to talk about, but often less easy to achieve. So, what does a good company culture actually look like?

Responsive to employee needs

Aside from salary and pension schemes, employees have become increasingly interested in ‘lifestyle benefits’ that respond to their personal circumstances and aid a healthier work/life balance. These can include things such as flexitime working, work from home options and study days.

Ongoing development

Does your company promote continuous employee growth and development? It’s important for an employee know their employer is invested in their personal and professional development take the necessary steps to do so. Promoting a culture of continuous development can be done so by developing mentoring schemes or training days.

Social calendar

A good balance of social interaction alongside business activity is good for morale. A healthy calendar of social events outside of the office can help instigate inter-team bonding as well as creating a buoyant atmosphere.

Open, honest feedback

Employers need to create an open culture that allows employees at every level to share their ideas, suggestions and concerns. With structured feedback strategies in place, employers can then monitor employee satisfaction levels and help alleviate issues as they arise.

A little extra

Alongside the more traditional benefits, employees usually respond well to other smaller, more personalised perks – such as free breakfast, early Friday finish or a charity partnership that’s chosen by employees.

Innovative approach

This applies to the innovative ways in which the company conducts business, but also the way it engages with its staff. Is your company striving to be a thought-leader in its sector? Do employees have the chance to attend industry events to keep up with the latest trends and advancements in their field? Do they feel able to incorporate new ideas and technology into their work?

Committed leadership

A great workplace needs buy-in from all team members – but particularly from those at management level. Clear, committed and inclusive leadership will be an essential component in maintaining a great company culture. Make sure the leaders in your organisation understand the culture and are able to effectively communicate and uphold it.

The Carrot and Stick Approach of Motivation is a traditional motivation theory that asserts, in motivating people to elicit desired behaviors, sometimes the rewards are given in the form of money, promotion, and any other financial or non-financial benefits and sometimes the punishments are exerted to push an individual towards the desired behavior.

The Carrot and Stick approach of motivation is based on the principles of reinforcement and is given by a philosopher Jeremy Bentham, during the industrial revolution. This theory is derived from the old story of a donkey, the best way to move him is to put a carrot in front of him and jab him with a stick from behind. The carrot is a reward for moving while the stick is the punishment for not moving and hence making him move forcefully.

Thus, an individual is given carrot i.e. reward when he performs efficiently and is jabbed with a stick or is given a punishment in case of non-performance. While giving the punishments, the following points need to be taken care of:

• Punishment is said to be effective in modifying the behavior if an individual selects a desirable alternative behavior.
• If the above condition does not occur the behavior will be temporarily suppressed and may reappear after the punishment is over.
• The punishment is more effective when given at the time the undesirable behavior is actually performed.
• The management should make sure, that punishment is properly administered and does not become a reward for the undesirable behavior.

Thus, carrot and stick approach of motivation should be applied carefully such that, both have the positive motivational effect on the people in the organization.

Meaning and Implications of Carrot and Stick Approach

Carrot refers to rewards, which are offered or promised to individuals to act in the desired way; while stick refers to punishments which are to be inflicted on individuals, for not acting in the desired way. In away, carrot refers to positive motivation; and stick refers to negative motivation.

Following are the implications of Carrot and Stick Approach:

(i) An overdose of ‘Carrot’ element, in the system of motivation invites laziness and fewer attitudes towards work on the part of individuals. This happens, specially, because many- a-times, people get carrot i.e. rewards regardless of their performance e.g. salary increase, seniority based promotions, etc.

(ii) An overdose of ‘stick’ element, in the system of motivation leads to retaliatory behaviour on part of people, strong organisation of labour unions against management atrocities, poor quality workmanship etc.

Points of comment

(i) There are many other techniques of motivation; other than carrots and sticks.

(ii) Management must evolve an ideal mix of ‘Carrot’ and ‘Stick’ elements; in its motivational schemes: F.W. Taylor’s ‘Differential-piece rate system of wage-payment’ is an instance of such a mix.

Specific Carrots (Rewards) and Sticks (Penalties):

A brief account of specific rewards and penalties; which form part of the management motivational system is given below:

1. Carrots (rewards)

(a) Monetary rewards

• Wages/ salaries paid in cash
• Pay increment on a regular basis.
• Cash awards
• Payment of allowances in cash
• Bonus payment
• Granting leave with pay
• Profit sharing schemes for employees.
• Payment of pension rules.
• Incentive schemes of wage payment.

Rewards capable of measurement in terms of money:

• Travel concession
• Reimbursement of medical expenses
• Subsidized food, housing etc.
• Free uniforms
• Education to employees’ children-free or subsidized.
• Job security.

(b) Non-monetary rewards

• Promotions
• Delegation of authority
• Assignment of challenging work
• Certificates of merit
• Status symbols like, providing a separate room, peon, private Secretary, telephone facilities etc.

2. Sticks (penalties or punishment)

(a) Monetary punishment

• Loss of job (meaning loss of regular income)
• Fines
• Penalties
• Withholding annual salary increment

(b) Non-monetary punishment

• Demotion
• Transfer to an inconvenient work place.
• Taking unfit for delegation of authority
• Not allowing an individual to participate in decision-making.

Point of Comment

Promotion (carrot) and demotion (stick) may have monetary implications also e.g. in form of increase or decrease of pay, respectively.

Change is inevitable in the life of an organization. In today’s business world, most of the organizations are facing a dynamic and changing business environment. They should either change or die, there is no third alternative. Organizations that learn and cope with change will thrive and flourish and others who fail to do so will be wiped out. The major forces which make the changes not only desirable but inevitable are technological, economic, political, social, legal, international and labour market environments.

In very simple words, we can say that change means the alteration of status quo or making things different. “The term change refers to any alterations which occurs in the overall work environment of an organization.”

“When an organizational system is disturbed by some internal or external force, change frequently occurs. Change, as a process, is simply modification of the structure or process of a system. It may be good or bad, the concept is descriptive only.”

There are a number of factors both internal and external which affect organizational functioning. Any change in these factors necessitates changes in an organization. The more important factors are as follows:

1. External Forces

Every organization exists in some context; no organization is an island in itself. Each must continually interact with other organizations and individuals- the consumers, suppliers, unions, shareholders, government and many more. Each organization has goals and responsibilities related to each other in the environment. The present day environment is dynamic and will continue to be dynamic. Changes in social, political, economic, technology, and legal environment force organizations to change themselves. Such changes may result in organizational changes like major functions production process, labour-management relations, nature of competitions, economic constraints, organizational methods etc. In order to survive in the changing environment, organization must change. How the change in various environmental, organizations, must change. How the changes in various environmental factors necessitate change in the organization may be seen in following context:-

(a) Technology

When there is a change in technology in the organizational environment and other organizations adopt the new technology, the organizations under focus become less cost effective and its competitive position weakens. Therefore, it has to adopt new technology, its work structure is affected and a new equilibrium has to be established.

(b) Marketing conditions

Since every organization exports its outputs to the environment, an organization has to face competition in the market. There may be two types of forces which may affect the competitive position of an organization —other organizations supplying the same products and, buyers who are not buying the product. Any changes in these forces may require suitable changes in the in the organization. For example, when Indian economy was liberalized, there were many foreign organizations that entered the Indian market. This forced many Indian organizations to realign themselves with the new situations. The result in that there have been many cases of divesting the business and concentrating on the core business, acquiring core business, and developing competitive competence to face competitive threats. Similarly, there may be changes in buyers in terms of their needs, liking disliking and income disposal for a product. These changes from the organizations to bring those products which meet buyer’s requirement.

(c) Social changes

Social changes reflect in terms of people’s aspirations, the needs, and their ways of working. Social changes have taken place because of the several forces like level of education, urbanization, feeling of autonomy, and international impact due to new information sources. These social changes affect the behavior of people in the organization. There, it is required to make adjustment in its working so that it matches with people.

(d) Political and legal changes

Political and legal factors broadly define the activities which an oganisation can undertake and the methods which will be followed by it in accomplishing those activities. Any changes in these political and legal factors may affect the organization operation.

2. Internal Forces

It is not only the changes in external factors, which may necessitate organizational changes; any change in organization’s internal factors may also necessitate changes. Such a change is required because of two reasons: changes in managerial personnel and deficiency in existing organizational practices.

(a) Changes in the managerial personnel

Besides environmental changes there is a change in managerial personnel. Old managers are replaced by new mangers, which necessitated because of retirement, promotion, transfer or dismissal. Each new manager brings his own ideas and way of working in the organization. The relationships, more in the organization. The relationships, more particularly informal ones, changes because of changes in managerial personnel. Moreover, attitude of the personnel change even though there is no changes in them. The result in that an organization has to change accordingly.

(b) Deficiency in Existing organization

Sometimes, changes are necessary because of deficiency in the present organizational arrangement ad process. These deficiencies may be in the form of unmanageable span of management, large number of managerial levels, lack in co-ordination between various departments, obstacles in communication, multiplicity of committees, lack of uniformity in policy decisions, lack of cooperation between the line and staff, and so on. Beside these internal factors, there are two more internal factors that give rise to organizational changes.

(c) Nature of the work force

The nature of work force has changed over a passage of time. Different work values have been expressed by different generations. Workers who are in the age group of 50 plus value loyalty to their employers. Workers in their mid thirties to forties are loyal to themselves only. The youngest generation of workers is loyal to their career. The profile of the workforce is also changing fast. The new generation of workers has better educational; they place greater emphasis on human values and questions authority of managers. Their behavior has also become very complex and leading them towards organizational goals is a challenge for the managers. The employee turnover is also very high which again put strain on the management.

(d) To avoid developing inertia

In many cases, organizational changes take place just to avoid developing inertia or inflexibility. Conscious manager take into account this view of organization that organization should be dynamic because any single method is not the best tool of management every time. Thus, changes are incorporated so that the personnel develop liking for change and there is no unnecessary resistance when major change in the organization are brought about.

Kurt Lewin’s Three Stages model or the Planned Approach to Organizational is one of the cornerstone models which is relevant in the present scenario even. Lewin, a social scientist and a physicist, during early 1950s propounded a simple framework for understanding the process of organizational change known as the Three-Stage Theory which he referred as Unfreeze, Change (Transition) and Freeze (Refreeze).

According to Lewin, Change for any individual or an organization is a complicated journey which may not be very simple and mostly involves several stages of transitions or misunderstandings before attaining the stage of equilibrium or stability.

For explaining the process of organizational change, he used the analogy of how an ice block changes its shape to transform into a cone of ice through the process of unfreezing.

Stage 1: Unfreezing

This is the first stage of transition and one of the most critical stages in the entire process of change management. It involves improving the readiness as well as the willingness of people to change by fostering a realization for moving from the existing comfort zone to a transformed situation. It involves making people aware of the need for change and improving their motivation for accepting the new ways of working for better results. During this stage, effective communication plays a vital role in getting the desired support and involvement of the people in the change process.

Stage 2: Change

This stage can also be regarded as the stage of Transition or the stage of actual implementation of change. It involves the acceptance of the new ways of doing things. This is the stage in which the people are unfrozen, and the actual change is implemented. During this stage, careful planning, effective communication and encouraging the involvement of individuals for endorsing the change is necessary. It is believed that this stage of transition is not that easy due to the uncertainties or people are fearful of the consequences of adopting a change process.

Stage 3: Freeze (Refreezing)

During this stage, the people move from the stage of transition (change) to a much more stable state which we can regard as the state of equilibrium. The stage of Refreezing is the ultimate stage in which people accept or internalize the new ways of working or change, accept it as a part of their life and establish new relationships. For strengthening and reinforcing the new behaviour or changes in the way of working, the employees should be rewarded, recognized and provided positive reinforcements, supporting policies or structures can help in reinforcing the transformed ways of working.

The three stages of Change Management can be aptly explained through the aid of an example of Nissan Motor Company which was on the stage of bankruptcy due to the issues of high debts and dipping market share.

During that period, Carlos Ghosn took charge as the head of the Japanese automaker who was faced with the challenge of implementing a radical change and turning around the operations of Nissan, yet by keeping the resistance to change under control which was inevitable under such circumstances by forming cross-functional teams to recommend a robust plan of change in different functional areas. For facing the business challenges, he developed a change management strategy and involved the employees in the process of change management through effective communication and reinforcement of desired behaviours. For refreezing the behavioural change of the employees, he introduced performance-based pay, implemented an open system of feedback for guiding and facilitating the employees in accepting the new behaviour patterns at work.

According to Branch (2002, p. 4), Lewin’s change management model can be implemented in three ways:-

• Changing the behaviour, attitudes, skills of the individuals working in the organization.
• Changing the existing organizational structures, systems and processes
• Changing the organizational climate, culture and interpersonal style.

Lewin’s model stressed on the interdependence of various units as well as subunits in an organization. This model assumes that organizations function under static conditions and move from one state of stability to another state of stability in a planned way, but the present day organizations function in turbulent scenarios and uncertain business environments. Furthermore, several critics criticized Lewin’s planned approach to change management for the following reasons:

• It was criticized for being too simple and mechanistic, as a result of which it may not be applicable for the present organizational scenario.
• Lewin’s Planned change model fails to take into consideration the radical or transformational change; it is only useful if incremental change is implemented in an organization
• This model ignores the role of Power & Politics and conflicts. Moreover, it ignores the importance of feelings and experiences of employees which play a crucial role in the entire change process. The model is very plan or goal driven.
• This model supports top-down approach to change management and ignores the importance of bottom-up approach in the change management process.

Lewin’s Force Field Analysis

Kurt Lewin’s Force Field Analysis attempts to explain how the process of change works by diagnosing the driving and the restraining forces that lead to organizational change. One side of the model represents the driving forces, and the other side represents the restraining forces. The driving forces push the organizations towards the new state, and the restraining forces are the factors which provide resistance to change or are regarded as the behaviours of the employees that block the process of change. According to Lewin, stability can be achieved when both the driving and restraining forces reach a stage of equilibrium, which should be approximately of equal strength from the opposite directions.

According to the Force Field Analysis model of Kurt Lewin, effective change happens by unfreezing the existing state of affairs or the current situation, moving to a changed or a desired situation and then refreezing for making the change relatively permanent. During the stage of Unfreezing, the driving forces should be made stronger to motivate a change in the behaviour or ways of working, while the restraining forces should be made weaker or removed. Driving forces create a sense of urgency for the change. The driving forces from the external environment could be Globalization, Technological Development and IT revolution, changes in the workforce, etc. Apart from this, the driving forces may originate within the organization through the efforts of the corporate leaders.

Any change process should start with informing the employees about the influence of the external driving forces like competitors, changing trends in the consumer demands and preferences, regulatory compliances and various other factors. Apart from this for implementing change effectively, the restraining forces should be reduced or removed.

The restraining forces or the resistance from the employees can be controlled by way of effective communication and involvement of the employees in the process, training initiatives for strengthening the new set of knowledge and skills, implementation of stress management techniques to help employees in coping with the stressors, negotiation for ensuring compliance and the last method is implementation of coercive measures if all the other measures fail and the need for change is urgent in nature.

Creativity is a phenomenon whereby something new and somehow valuable is formed. The created item may be intangible (such as an idea, a scientific theory, a musical composition, or a joke) or a physical object (such as an invention, a printed literary work, or a painting).

Scholarly interest in creativity is found in a number of disciplines, primarily psychology, business studies, and cognitive science, but also education, technology, engineering, philosophy (particularly philosophy of science), theology, sociology, linguistics, and economics, covering the relations between creativity and general intelligence, personality type, mental and neural processes, mental health, or artificial intelligence; the potential for fostering creativity through education and training; the fostering of creativity for national economic benefit, and the application of creative resources to improve the effectiveness of teaching and learning.

Qualities of a Creative Person

When you hear the word “creative” what do you think of? Creativity can come in all shapes and forms, bring all sorts of ideas to the surface, and inspire change in the world. But creativity is also a vague term because of how many outlets there are, and with that comes two things: a challenge and an opportunity. For example, it is very easy to walk beside a creative group of people, and become blind to seeing whose intentions are genuine. It is even easier to become blind to your own. Examining personal characteristics from time to time is a cool opportunity to see what traits of yours are being practiced creatively, because we all know humans have plenty of traits in other departments. This can not only help you to gain perspective, but to see what really constitutes as a creative characteristic, which in return may help you see if your ‘creative’ intentions are being practiced or forgotten. I know, a mouthful right? The truth is, sometimes we lose sight of ourselves, sometimes we lose sight of what our purpose is, and sometimes we lose sight of what true creativity is. Creativity stands out, it doesn’t have a certain definition, and it just exists as it is. So what are the characteristics of creative people? And are you one of them? Here’s ten that might put some things into perspective.

1. Energetic

Creative people have a certain energy surrounding them. They tend to radiate a great deal of energy and put their whole heart into what they expend their energy on. This type of energy is different than lets say, hyper-ness, in that it drives the creator into a positive direction and isn’t aimlessly expended. Energy helps the creator to pour passion into their creation and spread energy to others when they see what they have created. Being energetic is often contagious, and creative people love to rub their energy off on other individuals. Trust me, this energy is unlike anything else and if you’ve felt it before, then you’ll know what I am talking about.

2. Intelligent

Being intelligent is another characteristic of being creative. There is an array of wisdom within the mind of a creative person, much like a gift that is hard to find. Creatives are smart and know how to utilize it in all the right areas. They are quick to come with ideas, and resourceful with their surroundings. Intelligence can come in many forms, but creative people tend to practice the abstract, artistic side of intelligence more often than not. Wisdom is a strong characteristic in the mind of a creative, because more intelligence naturally leads to more creative success.

3. Sensitive

While being intelligent is a dominant characteristic, creative people also have a submissive side to them. They are sensitive to many things, because their hearts are constantly open to the world. Being emotional comes easy to them and many things make them cry. Creatives easily see both the joy and pain in everyday life which makes them sensitive to the whole spectrum of living. Being sensitive and vulnerable allows a creative to rip away any self doubt and spill their complete passion and effort into their work. A sensitive heart may be perceived as submissive, but it truly is a gift for a creative to possess.

4. Ambitious

Creatives are highly ambitious in their pursuits. They are always looking for the next project and have an eager hand. Almost nothing discourages their preference to try something new. Constant creating causes creatives to look for more, and ambition gives them more. They seek and seek and eventually find what they are looking for. Whether that be in the smallest part of their day or the biggest event of their life, there is always something to pull from their experience to inspire their work.

5. Naive

Another submissive characterisitc many creatives have is to be naive. Being naive can be a very dangerous thing in this world, and creative people tend to fall into that naive pool quite often. But being naive isn’t entirely dangerous, it can help creatives learn from their mistakes and grow. It can help them open certain doors accidentally which helps them flourish from new discoveries. There is a certain amount of childlike innocence in a creative person because they look at the world with hopeful eyes and try to see the best in humanity. Being curious, or having a wandering spirit, goes hand in hand with being naive; The world is your backyard, but beware of dog, the world might bite back sometimes.

6. Rebellious

Creatives are alot more rebellious than one may think. They take lots of risks and often. They aren’t afraid to mess up because they tend to see the good in it if they do. They may have lots of bruises and scars to prove their mistakes, but their rebellion keeps their heart alive with fire. With a heart full of fire and daring spirit, nothing can hurt a creative, not even the nastiest response from the world. Being rebellious means stepping out of the box and trying something out even it is results in failure, because creatives choose to look at is at an opporunity to grow either way it turns out.

7. Extroverted and Introverted

Can one person be both extroverted and introverted? Creatives sure can! Creative people have two sides to them, the private side and the public side. They can be social and personal, talkative and silent, shy and confident, all in the same body. Being extroverted has its perks and so does being introverted. Creative people are very willing to embrace things, and see the benefits in balancing just the right amount of extroverted, introverted-ness in order to reap all of its benefits.

8. Playful

Being playful is what creatives are all about. They play with ideas until they get the result desired. They play with paints to achieve the right color, play with lens to capture the perfect photo, play with metal to build the right model, and you know quite well creatives ‘play with fire’. Being playful allows a creative to have fun. It allows them to take what they do less seriously and put the joy into it by simply having a good time. And sometimes the best things come by mistake, or by accident, or by playing with fire.

9. Open minded

If there is any person that is open minded, it’s your creative friend, or anyone that is creative in this world for that matter. This is a big one, considering how open to possibilities creatives have to be to reap success. Being open minded allows creatives to climb mountains and venture into secret lands. It allows people to see through another lens without captivating themselve into a box of boundaries or restrictions. Being open minded helps creatives to be set free, and a creative that is free has the sky as their limit.

10. Dreamer

Creatives never stop dreaming. They dream in the day, in their minds constantly, in the evening, in the night and all over again the next day. Creatives dream because of how goal oriented they are, and they dream of these goals realistically in order to motivate them. Creatives can also get carried away, however, just like any individual. But for the most part, this dreaming we are talking of, its untouchable, Because when a creative person wants something they go for it  full heartedly, even if it did start out as a dream.

Creativity means creating something new. In the context of business, it means creation of new ideas, new method or new product/service.

Creativity is the “cognitive process of developing an idea, concept, commodity, or discovery that is viewed as novel by its creator or a target audience.” :Max H. Bazerman

“Creativity is not a quality of a person; it is a quality of ideas, of behaviours or products.” :Teresa M. Amabile

Creativity improves the quality of decisions. It increases the scope of alternatives to be considered for problem-solving. It is essential to deal with problems which are no-repetitive and novel as such problems cannot be solved by pre-defined solutions. They require imaginative thinking for their solution. As no problem has a single solution, creativity helps in generating new ideas that help in taking the final decision.

The creative approach to problem solving assumes the following:

1. There is always a better way of doing things. Past precedents, habits and conventional ways of doing things cannot always guide the future courses of action.
2. Problems have diverse perspectives. Each perspective should be probed, questions should be raised and answers should be found.
3. Things should not be taken for granted. Problems should be redefined and obvious facts should be challenged.
4. There is always scope for improvement. Managers should move from traditional ways to modern, computer-aided ways of managing organizations.
5. Managers should not be afraid of failures. Initial failures will lead to ultimate success.

Creativity in decision-making results in organizational innovations, new technology or new products.

In the era of globalization, competition is so intense that creativity is essential for organizations to take decisions that help in their survival and growth.

The creativity process requires:

1. Convergent thinking
2. Divergent thinking

In convergent thinking, the problem is solved according to pre-defined method or course of action. It pre-supposes solution to the problem and rationally moves towards that solution. Divergent thinking does not solve the problem in a pre-defined way. It analyses different aspects of the problem, views it in different ways and searches for alternative courses of action to solve that problem.

Components of Creativity

Teresa M. Amabile enumerates three components of creativity.

1. Domain skills

A manager can be creative in decision-making if he is theoretically and conceptually aware of the problem and its relevance to the environmental factors. In other words, he must have knowledge of the problem area and also the talent and ability to solve that problem. This is known as domain skill.

2. Creativity skills

The skills to do creative things; to think of new ways of doing the work, to think of new avenues of marketing are the creative skills that help to carry out the decision-making process.

3. Task motivation

Managers do not perform organizational tasks for earning only financial rewards. Money or financial considerations are not the only motives for taking up a novel task. Ego satisfaction and morale boost up are also the considerations that lead to creativity in decision-making.

Process of Creativity

The process of creativity consists of the following steps:

1. Problem finding or sensing

The entrepreneur faces a problem and selects to work on it. He feels curious to solve that problem. He thoroughly familiarizes himself with the problem, analyses its importance for the business and its relationship with other segments of the business.

This helps in identification of the problem as close as possible to reality so that alternatives can be generated which analyse the problem and provide solutions in the right direction. Curiosity leads to development of ideas.

2. Preparation

Once the problem is identified, the decision-maker concentrates on the problem and starts working on it. He collects information, analyses how others are using it and formulates hypotheses to work on. Information may be collected on the basis of past experience, through experience of others and also through study of new researches and innovations done in that field. If he wants to introduce a new product in the market, he studies the consumer buying behaviour before converting that idea into reality.

3. Gestation or Incubation

If, in the preparation stage, the decision-maker is not able to arrive at creative solution to the problem, he moves away from conscious deliberation to sub-conscious development of ideas. He moves away from the problem and engages in other routine activities while still thinking of the problem in his sub-conscious mind.

He thinks over collected information and makes decisions in his sub-conscious mind. He appears to be idle but actually he is trying to correlate what runs in his sub-conscious mind with the happenings around. As lot of information and ideas are already stored in his mind, sub-consciously they are combined and related to each other and help in generation of new ideas important for solving the problem.

4. Insight or Illumination

He thinks of all possible solutions at all times. He thinks of ideas while eating, walking or going to sleep. These ideas are put in writing so that he does not forget them in his conscious mind. In this process, there is flash of ideas in his mind.

These ideas come and go at the speed of light, some of which are spontaneously rejected while others are accepted for further analysis. Sometimes, it results in ideas which the decision ­maker may not have even thought of in his conscious mind.

Social gatherings and meetings may also result in new ideas. Compaq computer company was found as a result of social encounters. Rough sketch of portable computer was drawn on a paper napkin by three friends over lunch which turned into setting up of Compaq computer company.

5. Verification and application

The entrepreneur proves by logic or experiment that the idea can solve the problem and, therefore, can be implemented. He tests the ideas empirically through mathematical models and experimentation. If it is feasible, he applies it to solve the problem. Verification is an essential step in the creativity process because an idea that cannot be implemented is of no use howsoever good it may be.

Climate for Creativity

Managers create a climate that encourages creativity in the following ways:

1. Recognize the need for change

Though people are generally resistant to change, accepting the need for change is necessary to promote creativity. People must feel that they will be benefitted by change.

2. Encourage new ideas

The manager should welcome new ideas. Listening to new ideas and implementing the profitable ones encourages a creative climate in the organisation.

3. Interaction

Interaction with people within and outside the enterprise encourages exchange of useful information and generation of new ideas.

4. Tolerate failure

New ideas may prove to be failures. People should not get disheartened. They should consider time, money and energy in ideas that have failed as investment for bright future prospects.

5. Clear objectives

Managers must have purpose for creativity. They should know what ideas to be tried, when and for what. Clear objectives will optimize the use of time, energy and money.

Creative Problem Solving (CPS) is a method that attempts to approach a problem or a challenge in an innovative way. The process helps redefine problems and opportunities to come up with new responses and solutions.

There are many variations on the basic Creative Problem Solving process, some of which work nicely in group meetings. The simplest form of the process includes these steps:

• Clarify (the objectives, the problem, the facts, the opportunity)
• Generate Ideas (come up with possible solutions or approaches)
• Solve (develop ideas into solutions or experiments)
• Implement (create a plan and secure commitment to next steps)

Creative problem-solving (CPS) is the mental process of searching for an original and previously unknown solution to a problem. To qualify, the solution must be novel and reached independently. The creative problem-solving process was originally developed by Alex Osborn and Sid Parnes.

The process of creative problem-solving usually begins with defining the problem. This may lead to finding a simple non-creative solution, a textbook solution, or discovering prior solutions developed by other individuals. If the discovered solution is sufficient, the process may then be abandoned.

A creative solution will often have distinct characteristics that include using only existing components, or the problematic factor, as the basis for the solution. However, a change of perspective may in many cases be helpful. A solution may also be considered creative if readily available components can be used to solve the problem within a short time limit (factors typical to the solutions employed by the title character in the television series MacGyver).

If a creative solution has broad application: that is, uses that go beyond the original intent, it may be referred to as an innovative solution, or an innovation (some innovations may also be considered an invention).

“All innovations [begin] as creative solutions, but not all creative solutions become innovations.” :Richard Fobes

Techniques and tools

Many techniques and tools employed for creating effective solutions to a problem are described in creativity techniques and problem-solving articles.

Creative problem-solving technique categories

1. Mental state shift and cognitive re-framing

Changing one’s focus away from active problem-solving and towards a creative solution set.

2. Multiple idea facilitation

Increasing the quantity of fresh ideas based on the belief that a greater number of ideas will raise the chances that one of these is valuable. This may include randomly selecting an idea (such as choosing a word from a list) and thinking about its similarities to the situation. In turn, this random act may inspire a related idea that would lead to a solution.

3. Inducing a change of perspective

Efficiently entering a fresh perspective may result in a solution that thereby becomes obvious. This is especially useful for solving particularly challenging problems.[6] Many techniques to this end involve identifying independent dimensions that differentiate closely associated concepts.[6] Differentiating concepts helps overcome a tendency to use oversimplified associative thinking, in which two related concepts are so closely associated that their differences are overlooked.

7 Ways to Improve Your Creative Problem-Solving Skills

1. The first step is self-awareness

Simply being aware of and acknowledging the fact that our creative problem skills are limited by the way we think and process information is the first step to breaking some of those patterns. Doing so will then encourage you to find tools, techniques and tricks to overcome those biases and increase your problem solving skills, some are listed below.

2. Detach yourself from the problem

The way we look at a problem is limited by the way we frame it, which in turn is influenced by our past experience, our beliefs and our mental processes. Framing matters, so it is not a surprise to us that 10 out of the 26 Positioning-Roulette approaches to brand positioning focus on the frame of reference and re-framing the brand (that’s almost 40% of all potential approaches). Re-framing the problem or looking for solutions from various perspective (or adjacent fields) is a great way to overcome some of the mental biases that plague us. In our experience the most effective “creativity techniques” use a two-step approach. The first step usually consists in moving away from the problem to facilitate new ideas, the second step then consists in translating those ideas back into solutions that could solve the original problem.

3. Use a framework, a system, to guide your thinking

Most people still don’t seem to realize that there is a method to creativity. Creativity doesn’t just happen. One significant benefit of a more methodic approach is that it helps drive and guide the idea finding process and thus helps overcome the biases and limitations mentioned above. This is where tools like Positioning-Roulette come into play. They help guide your thinking and by doing so act as a distraction from many of your limiting biases. Obviously, I believe that Positioning Roulette is the best and most rigorous framework for the development of positioning platforms and brand stories but the truth is any framework (for example the Maslow hierarchy of needs is another effective framework) will lead to better results than not using any.

4. Show empathy

Empathy is the ability to put yourself in someone else’s shoes without judging. This “someone else” can be a consumer you are trying to convert or another team member during an ideation session. This is a very difficult thing to do but is also a very powerful way to unleash new solutions to a problem. Empathy doesn’t mean that you necessarily agree with the other person’s point of view, it just means that you can see things from their point of view for long enough to consider new solutions that may emerge from this perspective. A simple way to start is to practice empathy with your significant other. You’ll find this improves not only your ability to be creative but also your relationship.

5. Promote diversity of point of views- avoid groupthink

I believe better solutions are generated when developed by a diverse group of people. If you are an intuitive thinker add a more rationally minded person to your ideation session, even if it feels uncomfortable at first. If you’re a team of business people add a creative minded person or artist to your ideation team. The trick here however is not just to add people that have a different working style than you, but also to listen to them and allow their perspective to influence the thinking and ideation process (see point 4). As someone told me once, the best leaders are “integrators”, they are able to listen to various points of view and incorporate those into the final solution. The tremendous side benefit: everyone involved in the process feels heard and takes ownership in the solution.

6. Focus on the right input and stimuli

Using thought starters and inputs from other fields or categories also helps short-circuit your own thinking patterns and boost your creative problem skills (see point three). However, not all thought-starters are created equal. Some will be more relevant to the type of problem you’re trying to solve than others. Looking at the world of ants and how they are organized and trying to draw conclusions on how to position a brand of yogurt might sound like a fun exercise (and it is) but it’s in my opinion a complete waste of time.

7. Expand your own knowledge and experience

The more diverse marketing problems you have worked on, the more cases in different categories you’ve been exposed to, the more flexible and agile your thought processes will become. You’ll be able to pull from a broader pool of know-how and experiences and make more meaningful connections, ultimately leading to new types of solutions. This is where case studies come in handy as a short cut to “experience” (Positioning-Roulette for example is based on over 1200 case studies of effective marketing problem solving from around the world, across many different categories and spanning a time period of 125 years). Knowing how a beer brand solved a trial generation problem in Australia might trigger an innovative solution on how to generate trial for a brand of mouth wash in the US.

Organizational development is a technique used for bringing change in the entire aspect of the organization, rather than focusing attention on the individuals, so that change is readily absorbed.

According to French and Bell, “Organizational development is a long range effort to improve an organization’s problem- solving and renewal processes, particularly, through a more effective and collaborative management of organization culture with special emphasis on the culture of formal work teams with the assistance of a change agent or catalyst and the use of the theory and technology of applied behaviour science, including action research.”

According to Burke, “Organizational development is a planned process of change in an organization’s culture through the utilization of behavioural science technology, research and theory.”

Need for organizational Development

organizational development is a dynamic technique. It uses the behavioural science knowledge to assist the organizations in adjusting easily to the changes. Every organization has a need to remain viable and to survive in the world of change. OD has grown rapidly in response to this need of the organizations. For this purpose it uses the systems approach.

There are two important factors which cause the use of OD for the purpose of implementing planned change:

(i) Training for Change

Employees need training to adjust with the changes. Training for change does not work properly only through reward structure on the job. There should be a proper change in the environment of the organization in which people work, to make the training work proper. Thus, the basic objective of OD is to bring about change in the organizational structure so that it supports training.

(ii) To Help in Making the organizational Culture More Responsive

In a dynamic environment, changes take place very rapidly. This requires a highly receptive and effective organization so that changes are implemented and absorbed to make organizations survive and grow. OD can help a lot in this direction. OD reaches into all aspects of organization culture in order to make it more responsive.

Benefits of organizational Development

Newton Margulies and Anthony Raia have given the following benefits of organizational development.

1. Provides opportunities for people to function as human beings rather than mere resources in the production process.
2. Give each member of the organization opportunity to develop to his full potential.
3. Seeks to make the organization more effective in meeting all its goals.
4. Tries to create an environment in which exciting and challenging work can be found.
5. Gives people in the organization the chance to influence how they relate to work, the organization and the work environment.
6. Treats each human being as a person with a complex set of needs, all of which are important in his work and life.

Assumptions of organizational Development

organizational development is based on certain assumptions which are explained as follows:

1. Most of the individuals are motivated by personal growth and development. However, the work habits of a person are a response to work environment rather than personality traits. The attitude of a person towards his job will depend upon his growth potentials, in most of the cases. Therefore, efforts should be made to change the way a person is treated in the organization rather than attempting to change the person. The work habits of a person will change positively only if we change the work environment to suit his requirements.
2. Highest productivity can be achieved only if there is effective integration of individual goals with the organizational goals.
3. OD tends to assume that co-operation is more effective than conflict. In healthy organizations, efforts are made at all levels to treat conflict as a problem subject to problem solving methods. This is because of the reason that conflict tends to erode trust, prohibit collaboration and eventually limit the effectiveness of the organization.
4. Free expression of feelings is an important ingredient for commitment to work. Suppression of feelings adversely affects problem solving, personal growth and satisfaction with one’s work.
5. The level of interpersonal trust, support and co-operation should be as high as possible: because growth of individuals is facilitated by relationships which are open, supportive and trusting.
6. There should be a sense of commitment among the employees in the organization. Agreeing to do something is totally different from committed to do something. Sense of commitment makes it easy to accept change and the implementation of change is even easier when this commitment is based upon participation in the process.
7. Organizational development cannot be implemented in isolation. It must be reinforced by the organization’s total human resource system.

Values of Organizational Development

Tannenbaum and Davis prescribed the values that organizations should develop to undertake OD efforts.

They specify that organizations should move:

1. Away from a view of human beings as essentially bad toward viewing them as basically good.
2. Away from avoidance or negative evaluation of individuals to confirming them as valuable human beings.
3. Away from a view of individuals as “fixed” (i.e. being) toward seeing them as “being in process” (i.e. becoming).
4. Away from resisting and fearing individual differences toward accepting and utilizing them.
5. Away from utilizing an individual primarily with reference to his/her job description to viewing the individual as a whole person.
6. Away from walling off the expression of feelings toward making possible both appropriate expression and effective use of feelings.
7. Away from marksmanship and game playing toward authentic behaviour.
8. Away from use of status for maintaining power and personal prestige towards use of status for organizationally relevant purposes alone.
9. Away from distrusting people to trusting them.
10. Away from avoiding facing others with relevant data toward making appropriate confrontation.
11. Away from avoiding risk taking toward willingness to take risks.
12. Away from a view of process work as being unproductive effort to seeing it as essential to effective task accomplishment.
13. Away from primary emphasis on competition towards a much greater emphasis on co-operation.

From the above values, we can clearly understand why these are considered absolutely essential for the success of an OD programme.

Limitations of organizational Development

OD is an important technique of introducing change. But as a method of inducing change, it has certain limitations also. These are as follows

1. OD is based on the behavioural sciences concepts. Behavioural sciences themselves have many limitations, which are passed on to and applicable to OD also.
2. OD requires the use of certain diligent and highly motivated persons, who can take initiative to bring about change. But in organizations, people are, generally, complacent who are not willing to make the required efforts and they are not helpful in implementing organizational development.
3. OD cannot be applied without giving due consideration to the circumstances existing within the organization. The local circumstances may pose a problem in adapting to change. Task of the organization and the characteristics of its membership also put limitations on the effectiveness of OD.