Creativity And Innovation Management Commerce Essay

Innovation is at the heart of every business enterprise. With the advancement in technology, businesses have adopted new production processes which have enabled them to increase their productivity as well as remain competitive in the market. In order for a business to be innovative, it needs to be creative in the practices that it conducts thus helping it to emerge successful. It is therefore important for an organization to invest funds in latest technology products to enable it be at par with other competing organizations (Afuah, 2009).

In the case of Procter and Gamble (P&G), the company invests $2 billion every year to enable it hire competent staff that would enable it to conduct thorough research in the field that it specializes. In order for the organization to emerge successful, it must be willing to invest a lot of funds in innovation and research thus enabling it to come up with the best strategies for managing its production processes and employees. This way, P&G has been able to set clear goals which have enabled its employees to remain focused to the objectives that the organization strives to achieve.

Companies should study global organizations and what enables them to conduct their operations in an effective manner. As a result, it would be possible for an organization to know the kind of practices that it should adopt thereby enabling it to compete effectively with other leading organizations internationally. In the case of P&G, the company obtains its employees from different parts of the world who in turn conduct research of the various forms of innovation that other organizations adopt thereby enabling it to embrace the latest technology and practices which then enable it to increase the overall productivity of the organization.

In order for a company to be successful in the technology market, it needs to analyze the core areas of technology and decide the best form of technology to adopt depending on the production processes that it adopts. This way, a company is able to realize the areas that need more emphasis thereby enabling it to become more efficient in its areas of specialization. To ensure that it is efficient in its production processes, P&G hires more than 1.5 million researchers so that it can manage to invest in the different areas of technology that can enable it to increase its productivity significantly. This number of researchers enables the organization to focus on the more than 150 core areas of technology thereby enabling the organization to cope with the challenges that are present in the modern world in an efficient manner.

Explain how you will lead others to positively embrace innovation and change

Innovation is essential for every organization to survive since the global market has become competitive. Moreover, most companies are finding it appealing to adopt innovation since it acts as a form of investment. Companies are competing severely so that they can be able to meet the overall needs of their customers. Since most markets are becoming global, it is important CEOs to ensure that they devise ways in which other members of the organization can embrace change and innovation (Afuah, 2009).

To be successful in enabling other employees to embrace innovation and change, there are various practices that the CEO should emphasize on in order to ensure that the employees adapt to change in an efficient manner. The CEO at P&G should therefore make it his responsibility to ensure that the innovation champions in the organization have up-to-date information regarding the types of change and innovation that other organizations around the world adopt thereby enabling the organization to be on the frontline with regard to innovation change.

Most organizations have managers who are risk averse and this makes it difficult for them to adopt change in an effective way. Most of the middle managers are always busy doing their jobs thereby limiting their ability to implement change. Since the jobs of middle managers are easier to fill, they often end up being risk averse. In the case of P&G, the CEO can make it his duty to reduce the risk that is associated with change in order to enable the managers to be more innovative. Therefore, it is the duty of the CEO to ensure that he sets up incentives to the managers so that they adopt innovative attitudes. This would make the organization to stand ready for any opportunity that is associated innovation.

Adopting innovation in every department is a very important factor to consider while implementing change. The innovation in the 21st century targets an entire organization and not specific department s in an organization. An organization should also hire professional personnel who can help an organization to identify the best areas that it should invest in (Brown, 2005). P&G should therefore focus on hiring people whose fulltime responsibility is to drive innovation within the company.

Basic training with regard to technology adoption is essential in that the CEO would be in a position to select the employees who are given professional training in innovation change. The trained people would act as self-sustaining innovation processes thereby enabling the company to stay ahead in terms of embracing innovation and change.

Assess the influence of vision and mission on generation of creative and innovative management processes in an organization

Vision and mission statements play an essential role in terms of enabling an organization to be effective in terms of adopting innovation, creativity and change. It is not possible for CEOs to establish an organization without setting clear objectives within it. An organization needs to define its vision and mission statements in an effective manner thereby enabling it to achieve its reasons for existence. Vision and mission statements therefore act as a catalyst for enabling an organization to adopt change and innovation (Anthony, 2012). It is therefore important for the CEO of P&G to ensure that the organization sets clear vision and mission statements to enable it achieve its objectives.

The various forms of innovation that an organization engages in usually take time to generate sufficient revenue. Companies therefore need to focus on enhancing their reputation in the community so as to acquire a large customer base. Therefore, the strategies that organizations adopt need to be balanced in order to enable an organization to be effective in terms of adopting the best strategies for the organization.

The CEO of P&G needs to devise a way in which the strategies, mission and vision statements can be communicated to other members of the organization with regard to the long-term goals that a company hopes to achieve. Mission and vision statements should help managers to build positive relationships with employees so that they can serve as powerful motivation tools to employees. The managers at P&G need to communicate the vision and mission of the organization in order to arouse a sense of organizational purpose among the employees.

The employees should be made to understand why the business environment is changing and why the new direction is needed so as to win their commitment and perseverance. This would make it possible to move an organization towards the chosen path (Anthony, 2012). In this perspective therefore, it is important for the CEO at P&G to ensure that he monitors vision and mission statements within the organization and determine whether they are in line with the overall innovation strategies that the organization desires to adopt.

Elaborate on how you would use analytical tools to identify potential creative and innovative management ideas

In order to determine whether an organization is on the right path towards adopting change and innovation, there are certain tools that the CEOs need to use. These tools are essential in that they can enable an organization to determine whether there are any weaknesses in the strategies that it adopts and therefore enable it to take corrective measures to enable it remain innovative and competitive. An organization needs to map its financial schemes and determine whether its funds are sufficient in terms of enabling it to implement the strategies that it desires to implement (Stevenson, 2002).

A quick competency test needs to be adopted within an organization in order to determine whether it is ready for the change. In this case, the employees within the organization should be evaluated on whether they are capable of coping with the change that the organization wishes to adopt. Moreover, the systems within the organization need to be tested in order to determine whether there would be any need to conduct replacements or whether the existing systems can cope with the change that the organization desires to implement.

Assess risks and benefits of creative and innovative management ideas

When an organization desires to invest in innovation, there are various benefits and risks that it can face. In terms of risks, an organization is likely to constrain its resources in such a manner that it would be unable to conduct its operations in an efficient manner. Lack of time is also an issue that an organization is likely to face. The time when an organization desires to implement change may be too late to have any impact on the consumers. Even though an organization may desire to implement change, the employees working in it may fear failure thereby making them to refrain from adopting the innovation that the organization wishes to implement. Moreover, the leadership in an organization may be unclear thereby making it difficult to implement change in an efficient manner (Stevenson, 2002). In this perspective, the employees might not be aware of the roles that they are supposed to play within the organization thereby limiting their ability to implement the change.

Insufficient incentives towards the employees also limit the employees from adopting the change. In this perspective, the employees may be unwilling to adopt the various forms of innovation that the managers stipulate unless they are awarded incentives and other forms of financial remuneration. In addition, lack of sufficient training and talent may also hinder the employees’ ability to implement creativity and innovation in the organization.

However, though creativity is associated with certain risks, there are also benefits that the organization may come across as a result of engaging in change practices. In his perspective, the modeling behaviors of the employees is likely to change and the support of the management grows significantly. Moreover, the management is able to set up the right team to perform certain duties within the organization. This way, an organization is able to increase its productivity and competitiveness in the market. This is because, as an organization invests in innovation and creativity, it improves on its production processes thereby enabling it to become efficient and more productive.

Use change models to support the implementation of creative and innovative management ideas

All businesses must exercise change in order for them to remain competitive in today’s business environment. There are various models of change that businesses need to adopt to enable them implement creative and innovative practices. The Kurl Lewin model of change can therefore be used to support the implementation of creative and innovative management within P&G Company.

The first stage in the model is the unfreeze stage. In this stage, it is the duty of the organization’s management to ensure that they prepare the organization for the change that is essential for it. In this case, the managers need to ensure that the existing modes of operation are broken down to before they decide on whether they will adopt the new ways of operating inside the organization. In this case, the managers should demonstrate to the employees the reason as to why the new ways of operating cannot be continued. In this perspective, the CEO at P&G can be able to understand why an organization is experiencing a reduction in sales as well as why the organization experiences poor financial results (Gerybadze, Hommel, & Reiners, 2010).

The unfreeze state usually creates uncertainty within the organization. However, in the change stage, people start looking for uncertainty and looking for new ways in which they can resolve any forms of uncertainty. The employees in the organization start looking for new ways in which they can support the new direction that the organization hopes to achieve. The managers of the organization need to understand that the transition from unfreeze to change does not happen overnight. Employees usually take time to adjust to the new change. Therefore, in order to ensure that the employees embrace the change, the CEO and the managers should make the employees understand how the change will benefit to them since not everyone falls for the changes that the company hopes to achieve.

The refreeze stage is also important to consider. The organization is usually ready to refreeze once the changes are observed to be taking effect. In this case, the organization becomes stable whereby the job descriptions appear to be consistent. This stage normally helps the employees and the institution to internalize the changes proposed. In this perspective, the changes need to be used all the time and be incorporated in the daily operations that the organization engages in. Once the organization starts realizing stability, the employees become comfortable with the new ways of working. Therefore, by incorporating the model in its operations, the organization would be able to implement innovation successfully (Gerybadze, Hommel, & Reiners, 2010).

Task 2

Produce an appropriate rationale to persuade stakeholders of P&G of the benefits of a creative and innovative management idea

Before the CEO and the managers of an organization decide to implement change and innovation, they need to assure the shareholders that the change will benefit the organization and the employees in diverse ways. It is therefore the duty of the CEO and the managers to ensure that they develop a rationale that will demonstrate to the shareholders that the change will be fruitful.

As a CEO at P&G, one needs to demonstrate to the shareholders that the change will tackle the various strategic challenges within the organization and enable it to be resourceful and adopt more creative solutions. The organization would be able to draw on ideas that are generated from other organizations thereby improving its outcomes. This can be done by ensuring that the senior managers within the organization are able to disseminate knowledge to the employees thereby providing an avenue for development of new production mechanisms. This enables an organization to adopt innovation in an effective manner.

When an organization implements innovation, the managers are able to take responsibility for any form of innovation and change. This way, they are able to identify the critical areas that should be changed. Moreover, investing in change demonstrates the commitment by the members of an organization to change (Kaplan & Norton, 2004). Moreover, the CEO and the managers are able to assess the benefits of innovation before it is implemented. In addition, the decision to change encourages the employees to question the methods adopted therefore creating room for them to propose other change mechanisms that would be more effective.

By deciding to invest in new technology and innovation, an organization is able to come up with new ways which enable it to invest in technology in its area of specialization. This way, an organization is able to come up with new ways that can enable it to overcome any forms of resistance as a result of allowing the employees to be involved in the change process. This has the effect of encouraging the employees to identify the various forms of improvements to the services that an organization delivers thereby enabling the organization to succeed through original thinking. Moreover, the organization is able to draw on new methods and techniques of conducting its operations. This way, the employees are able to understand the fear of change thereby encouraging them to welcome the change that the organization desires to implement.

As a CEO how will you communicate a creative and innovative management idea to stakeholders of the organization?

The CEO is the one who decides whether change in an organization should be implemented. In this perspective, the CEO is the one who is supposed to demonstrate to the shareholders the manner in which change and innovation will impact an organization. The CEO therefore needs to devise effective means which can enable him convey the message regarding change and innovation to the shareholders. For communication to be effective, it is important for the CEO to conduct thorough research pertaining to the change process thereby enabling him to have a basis on how to explain to the shareholders why the change in necessary (Galavan, Murray, & Markides, 2008).

An effective way of conducting effective communication is through facts. It is therefore important for the CEO to ensure that he gathers sufficient facts relating to the change and innovation that he desires to invest in the organization. While communicating to the shareholders therefore, the CEO should gather facts on how the change process has worked in other organizations and the benefits that the change process brought to the organizations that have ever adopted that kind of change.

Demonstrations are an effective way of enabling people to understand how a certain concept works. In this perspective therefore, it is the duty of the CEO to demonstrate to the shareholders the manner in which he hopes that the change and innovation initiative will work in the organization. The demonstration that the CEO adopts should be realistic such that the shareholders would believe that the investment will work when applied to a real world scenario.

The CEO needs to have gathered sufficient information regarding the initiative. In this perspective, the CEO should be prepared to answer the questions raised by the shareholders in an effective way. This means that the CEO should be confident enough to enable him answer the questions raised in an effective manner. Once the CEO demonstrates effective way of communicating with the shareholders regarding the change process that the organization wishes to invest in, the shareholders can embrace the idea. However, if the CEO is unable to communicate effectively to the shareholders regarding the impact that the innovation will have towards the organization, the shareholders are likely to reject the idea thus limiting the organization from adapting to the current changes that are happening in the business environment (Brown, 2005).

Establish key goals and priorities for implementation of a creative and innovative management idea using feedback from stakeholders

Before deciding to invest in innovation, there are certain things that should be prioritized. The essential things are the ones that should be given more emphasis. In this perspective, the CEO of the organization should gather sufficient information on the operations of an organization and determine the ones that have more impact towards the productivity of the organization. He should then decide on the way in which innovation will be implemented in the company. Innovation should be carried out in phases starting with the sections within the organization that are regarded as more essential.

The financial resources that a company has should also be considered. An organization might deem it necessary to invest in a particular form of change but fail due to insufficient funds. Innovation should therefore be carried out in those areas that the company can afford adequately. In this perspective, the manner in which the funds are used should be carefully monitored so as to ensure that the sections that change has been implemented are operational in an effective. There are instances whereby an organization might decide to invest in a particular change but funds may be insufficient thereby putting the company at the risk of failing to function as expected (Afuah, 2009). In this perspective therefore, the stakeholders need to be notified of the change that the organization desires to invest in and then determine whether the funds available are sufficient. This is in order to ensure that the shareholders do not complain of funds misuse whenever they realize that a particular strategy did not work.

Before deciding to invest in any form of innovation, it is important for an organization to ensure that the employees are ready for the change being implemented. There are certain times when an organization may invest in a form of innovation where the employees are not adequately prepared. In this perspective, the organization would deteriorate in performance instead of improving. As a result, the employees need to be given sufficient training regarding the change being implemented. Moreover, the employees must be willing to accept the change especially if the change would improve the manner in which they operate within the organization. The shareholders therefore need to be notified on the training being conducted on the employees (Galavan, Murray, & Markides, 2008). This is because training employees requires funds. Therefore the shareholders must be notified so that they do not assume that it is a form of funds misappropriation.

Innovation needs to be consistent with the operations that an organization conducts. The innovation should be an improvement and not a change of the organizational practices. In case innovation is a form of change in organizational practices, most employees would not manage to handle the new operations and this would therefore require the organization to look for a team of new employees. However, given all the experience that employees have regarding the operations of the organization, a change in the organizational practices would make the organization to deteriorate in its production processes thereby making the customers to disregard the reputation of the organization. The priorities that the CEO sets regarding the form of innovation to be adopted therefore need to be communicated to the shareholders for analysis and to determine whether innovation change is viable towards the organization.

Assess the barriers to the implementation of a creative and innovative management idea at P&G

Every organization is susceptible to barriers when deciding to invest in any form of innovation. The CEO of P&G therefore needs to be aware of the various barriers that he can encounter while deciding to implement any form of change within the organization. This is because the barriers can lead to the failure of the entire project if they are not monitored in an adequate manner. Employee unpreparedness is one of the major barriers that the organization is likely to face while deciding to invest in any form of change. This is because most employees are used to the normal operations that an organization engages in. In this perspective therefore, in case an organization engages in any form of innovation, the employees would not be in a position to cope with the prevailing state of affairs. This would have the effect of lowering the productivity of the organization thereby making it to be outdone by the competitors (Galavan, Murray, & Markides, 2008).

The financial soundness of an organization matters a great deal when an organization desires to invest in any form of change. For example, the environmental conditions might require an organization to invest in change but, due to financial constraints it may fail to implement the change in an effective manner. By investing in change processes halfway, an organization may end up failing totally because of inefficient innovation practices. This would lower the reputation of the company as well as reduce its productivity significantly. It would therefore be difficult for the organization to rise from this form of failure.

The managers, CEO, and the shareholders might desire to invest in change management but the organization might not be ready for the change being implemented. For example, there are certain change practices that might require an organization to change its infrastructure completely. However, changing the infrastructure of an organization is an expensive undertaking. As a result, an organization would be required to invest a lot of funds in changing its infrastructure thereby making the company to suffer financial loss. Since most managers, shareholders, and the CEO would not be willing to carry out such an exercise if the organization does not have sufficient capital base, this would therefore be a major barrier towards implementing the change.

Shareholders play a very essential role in terms of facilitating the decision making process within the organization. In this perspective therefore, the CEO may propose to the shareholders that a particular form of innovation is important in order to increase the organization’s productivity as well as sustain its competitiveness. However, if the CEO is unable to convince the shareholders effectively on the reason as to why a particular form of innovation is essential, the shareholders are likely to reject the whole idea thus acting as a barrier towards the adoption of innovation inside the organization.

In order for any form of innovation to be successfully implemented in an organization, it is important for the CEO to look for a team of experts who would facilitate the implementation of the change in the organization. However, with the competitiveness that is present in the modern business environment, there exists a group of professionals who are not adequately trained to guide an organization on the best form of innovation to adopt. In this perspective therefore, there are CEOs who look for non-qualified professionals to facilitate in change implementation in organizations. Such people often make the wrong predictions regarding the form of innovation that the organization should adopt. They therefore end up misleading the organization which then leads to its collapse (Stevenson, 2002).

Plan a strategy to overcome identified barriers to the implementation of a creative and innovative management idea at P&G

Despite the existence of a broad range of barriers towards implementing innovation in an organization, there are various strategies that P&G can adopt to enable it implement change in an effective manner. In this perspective, it is important for the CEO to consider certain barriers that prevail within the business environment so that he can be able to devise effective strategies and plans on how to cope with them.

Most organizations face challenges while implementing change because they fail to conduct a thorough study of the market. Without a proper understanding of the way in which the market operates, the managers, CEO, and the shareholders of P&G are likely to adopt innovation strategies that are not consistent with the requirements of the organization. In this case therefore, it is important for the CEO to ensure that he conducts a thorough study of the business environment whereby P&G operates so that he can manage to get a clear picture of the way in which strategies are essential in the organization. This way, the CEO can be able to collect sufficient information on the form of innovation that P&G should adopt thereby enabling it to succeed in its operations.

Creativity and innovation fail in an organization because most employees are not adequately prepared for the change. Most employees therefore find it difficult to adapt to the new production processes that an organization adopts because of lack of experience in new technology. Therefore, in order to ensure that the employees welcome a change initiative within their organization of work, it is important for the CEO to ensure that he liaises with the shareholders and the other managers at P&G in order to ensure that the employees receive adequate training regarding type of change that the organization desires to adopt. The employees should be trained in advance before the change has been implemented so as to ensure that they are ready to proceed once the change has been implemented (Gerybadze, Hommel, & Reiners, 2010).

Unqualified professionals are the leading cause of failure in many organizations with regard to creativity and innovation management. In order to avoid being misled by unqualified professionals, the CEO of P&G should ensure that he conducts thorough research on the most qualified personnel in the market and who have a proven track record with regard to creativity and change management. Such a person would be able to direct P&G on the most effective forms of innovation to invest in by analyzing the trends in the market.

Inadequate funds often act as a barrier towards implementing change in an organization. Therefore, in order for an organization to be able to implement creativity and innovation in its practices, it is important for it to devise means through which it can gather sufficient funds to enable it cope with the changes in the business environment where it operates. Therefore, the organization can mobilize funds in form of profits, loans or through capital investments to enable it raise funds to facilitate creativity and innovation.

Explain how a strategy plan for overcoming barriers will ensure innovative change is achieved

Every organization hopes to overcome barriers found in its operating environment so that it can emerge successful while implementing innovative changes in its systems. By adopting strategies to overcome the various barriers that are present in the operating environment therefore, a business has the potential to ensure that it achieves change. Therefore, in the case of P&G, change can be achieved if the managers, CEO, and the shareholders show commitment to addressing the various barriers that hinder the implementation of innovation change in an effective manner. For example, once the employees are trained adequately on how to cope with the change before it is implemented, they can be able to embrace the change in a more efficient manner as opposed to when the change is implemented when employees are not well prepared for the change. Most organizations that prepare their employees well in advance before innovation change management is implemented are known to be good performers (Anthony, 2012). This is an indication that proper planning has the effect of improving the overall performance of an organization

With advancements in technology and the popularity of globalization catching on in many organizations, it is important for businesses to set aside sufficient funds to cater for such issues. In this perspective, most CEOs and managers of businesses usually ensure that all funds within the organization are accounted for since the business environment is not predictable. This state of affairs enables businesses to be prepared for any changes that occur in the business. The businesses that do not set in place sufficient funds for innovation change are known to fail due to lack of sufficient finances when the time to be innovative comes.

It has also been noted that most business enterprises today are designed in such a manner that they can be able to cope with innovation change regardless of whether the change requires a business to change its infrastructure. Moreover, businesses that consult their shareholders before investing in any form of innovation change and hire professionals to guide their investment activities perform better than those organizations that do not follow such procedures. It is therefore true that the strategies that are adopted for overcoming barriers are effective in terms of making it possible for an organization to achieve change.

Communicate a strategy for overcoming barriers to relevant stakeholders in an organization

The stakeholders within an organization play an essential role in terms of ensuring that change is achieved in an organization. Therefore, it is important for the stakeholders of P&G to understand that the means through which the barriers can be overcome is through prior training of employees, keeping adequate finances, hiring reputable professionals, conducting thorough research regarding the state of the business environment, and seeking for opinions from other stakeholders within the organization (Brown, 2005). Once these strategies are adhered to keenly, an organization would be able to implement its change management practices in an effective manner unlike the case of those businesses that are ignorant to barriers that prevail in the business environment.