Restricted By Corporate Culture Commerce Essay Example

interviews with executive managers and mentors - external professionals who are hired to drive change and personal growth within companies.

The text will also analyze the techniques and theories that managers and experts use and the impact of training on corporate culture and vice versa.

Research Questions

Creativity and talent are inherently linked to the self-actualization process (Runco & Pritzker,1999, p353). However, it must be considered in a social context: institutions and social groups establish social roles to be fulfilled by individuals. How can individuals respond to these social expectations in a creative way? Is there room for original ideas and unique attitudes in the workplace environment? Are institutions achieving their goals towards a more inclusive approach to individual performance? And finally, how to develop employees' potentials within an organizational environment and what are the main barriers, resistances, and limitations that can be found in the corporate context, are the main objectives of this thesis proposal.

Literature Review

In the business world, innovation and alteration are crucial for a company's success. These changes are necessary to promote innovation and new behaviors and products that lead to advancements in the organization. Similar to Darwin's Theory of Evolution, companies must constantly adapt to their changing environment in order to stay competitive. While changes in administration can be managed, innovation cannot be easily controlled ( King ; Anderson, 2002, p162 ).

Creativity cannot be controlled but can be nurtured. It is the result of intense human thinking, specifically in the form of creativity. Creativity is crucial for innovation and adds a competitive advantage to any business. However, how can creativity be fostered? What role does a manager play in

promoting creativity among employees? Furthermore, what is the connection between corporate culture and creativity? Creativity is often viewed as an individual characteristic, a fleeting moment of inspiration.

Understanding the phenomenon of creativity depends heavily on societal and cultural contexts. This can be seen in the case of Van Gogh's paintings. Despite not being recognized as a genius during his lifetime, he died alone and poor. However, a re-evaluation under a new aesthetic standard later deemed his paintings to be creative (Csikszentmihalyi, 2006, p7). Creative behavior and thought can either reflect or react against the socio-cultural context. In business administration, creativity is often associated with Marketing and R&D. Nevertheless, every function within an organization can benefit from a creative approach, regardless of job position - from the CEO to operational staff. Creativity has the potential to introduce novel productive methods or foster a more dynamic managerial approach for companies.

Amabile (1996) defines creativity as comprising of three elements: expertise, creative-thinking skills, and motivation. Expertise pertains to an individual's knowledge and capabilities in their specific field. The acquisition of this knowledge can occur through various means such as formal education, practical experience, or collaboration with other professionals. Creative thinking skills involve the capacity to merge novel ideas in order to uncover inventive methods for addressing problems and finding solutions.

According to Amabile (1983), an individual's personality traits and thinking patterns play a significant role in their accomplishments. Additionally, motivation, specifically intrinsic motivation, is crucial for achieving specific goals. The author emphasizes that passion and engagement are more influential in promoting creative solutions compared to external rewards. People are more creative when they are driven by their natural curiosity and satisfaction

in challenging work rather than external pressures (Harvard Business Review, 1999). So, how can directors stimulate creativity? To ignite intrinsic motivation, directors should gather individuals with diverse creative thinking skills and place them in challenging situations to enhance their capabilities.

Autonomy also promotes creativity by allowing individuals to approach their work in their own way, enhancing intrinsic motivation and job satisfaction. Resources, such as limited budget and time constraints, can hinder the development of innovative solutions. Encouragement from leaders for new ideas can also facilitate a creative environment, while overly critical managers can hinder employee initiative. Another factor in implementing innovation in companies is the diversity of employees within workgroups.

The cohesiveness of homogeneous groups can prevent conflicts but also hinder creative problem-solving and decision-making, as diverse perspectives generate more options and greater critical evaluation (Basset-Jones, 2005). Despite Amabile's significant contribution to understanding workplace creativity, the lack of a critical organizational analysis renders her approach incomplete. It is crucial to discuss how the organizational environment can limit or enhance human potential. The corporate structure is the first aspect to consider. Studies suggest that mechanistic structures, characterized by formal relationships and rigid rules that restrict decision-making to top management and minimize employee involvement, often inhibit creativity (Andriopoulos & Dawson, 2009, p228). In contrast, organic structures are better suited for dynamic environments that require innovation.

Employees here interact with each other in a more participative and informal manner. A corporate structure that promotes freedom and teamwork enhances creativity. The leadership style also plays a crucial role in either boosting or impeding employees' creative potential. The general consensus supports the democratic-participative leadership style as it fosters creativity and innovation. In uncertain

situations, leaders with high levels of technical skills and expertise are essential to assist employees in achieving organizational goals. Additionally, the leader's ability to effectively communicate their vision and inspire people can enhance employees' motivation and commitment.

The ability to enable employees to find their own paths is another desirable trait for innovative leaders. Effective leaders need to balance freedom and control, structure and flexibility - empowering people without losing sight of the strategic direction (Andriopoulos & Dawson, 2009, p203). The corporate culture is the core of organizational creativity and innovation. Culture serves as a form of social control characterized by shared beliefs and values, evident in visible artifacts and mission statements as well as subconscious levels.

Members of the group learn it through a process of socialization and it remains relatively stable (Andriopoulos & Dawson, 2009, p267). Advanced companies value flexibility, promote freedom in the workplace, and encourage collaborative teamwork. This includes taking risks, finding non-standard solutions, and using unconventional teamwork methods. It also supports a culture of continuous learning, tolerance for mistakes, and handling conflicting situations. In corporate cultures that encourage creative thinking and innovation, the process of change becomes part of normal behavior.

Nissan's president, Yutaka Kume, acknowledged that reforming the corporate culture was a challenging task he faced when he took office. He believed that the source of their problems lay within Nissan itself. According to Cameron & Quinn (1999), organizational cultures can be classified into four categories based on two axes: introversion-extroversion and flexibility-control. These categories are Kin, Adhocracy, Market, and Hierarchy. The Adhocracy culture, which embraces openness to new technologies and change, risk-taking, flexibility, and innovative problem-solving approaches, is most conducive to

fostering creativity. Burbiel (2009) supports this view and identifies it as the ideal corporate culture for promoting creativity. Given these factors within organizations that affect creativity development, one may wonder why creativity is particularly important in today's age.Andriopoulos (2000) provides the following reasons:
1) Technology: Companies must keep up with rapid technological advancements to remain competitive.
2) Demanding Customers: A consumer market that seeks low prices and high product quality fosters low brand loyalty.

Companies must constantly adapt and update their strategies and knowledge to stay innovative in the face of global competition, transforming into learning organizations. To meet high employee expectations, organizations must find ways to motivate and develop their talented staff. This essay examines the relevance of external executive managers' functions in promoting creativity among employees and analyzes how it can be observed. Coaching is defined as a process that provides assistance and support to individuals in a competitive environment to enhance performance, develop skills, and maximize potential. There are four types of coaching, including skills coaching where the manager helps improve job-related skills such as sales or IT abilities.

Performance coaching emphasizes raising the coachee's level of performance rather than acquiring accomplishments. Development training focuses on long-term growth of skills and capabilities for future roles and challenges. Both types of training can be conducted by directors or internal managers. Transformational coaching, also known as executive coaching, involves a one-to-one meeting with the goal of developing a leader's skills, led by external managers. These external managers provide an outside perspective to companies, with less influence from internal sources. Since they are not part of the organization, their actions are not influenced by the organizational beliefs and

emotional climate.

According to Hawkins ; Smith (2006, p25), individuals who have extensive preparation and experience in training in various contexts and at different levels of development are more likely to be better suited for providing transformational coaching that has an impact on the entire organization.

Research Methodology

The research will focus on external managers. The analysis of executive managers' performance can provide valuable insights into transformational changes in senior management, which can subsequently influence corporate culture and mission. These structural changes offer interesting data regarding employee development and the effectiveness of managerial processes. The objective is to investigate how changes in upper management can foster creativity, also known as talent management among employees. It is crucial to introduce the research methodology that will be employed in this thesis first and foremost.

According to Easterby-Smith et al. (1991), social science research can be conducted using two approaches: positivism and constructionist or phenomenological. The positivist approach assumes the presence of an external world that researchers can objectively measure. On the other hand, phenomenological researchers view reality as a social construct that is comprehended solely through human perception and is not easily quantifiable. Positivist researchers employ quantitative methods for data collection and analysis in order to validate a hypothesis.

Research workers who utilize this approach often use qualitative methods to gather data, and the analysis can involve both qualitative and quantitative methods. The creativity being studied is not a rigid, predictable, or controllable phenomenon; it is unstable, dynamic, and personal. To obtain the necessary information and provide validated empirical evidence within a social context, a phenomenological approach using qualitative methods should be employed (Watt, 2004, p37). It was determined that the semi-structured

interviews with managers and coachees in the UK would be the chosen method for data collection. Additionally, observing talent development workshops among employees would be a valuable source of information.

The use of semi-structured interviews allows for flexibility in the interviewee's responses, deviating from a set agenda. The interviewer can ask additional questions that are not included in the guidelines, based on the interviewee's answers (Bryman & Bell, 2007, p474). This study aims to investigate how executive managers promote change among employees by questioning them about their techniques and methods. Additionally, interviewing managers can provide valuable insights into the effectiveness and validity of the executive coaching approach.

Coaches will receive an email requesting an in-person interview regarding their professional roles. They will be asked questions about organizational development, barriers to innovation, and managers' resistance to change, among other possible limitations. Additionally, coaches will be asked if it is possible to interview managers who are undergoing training. The importance of studying how coaching techniques effectively facilitate change and its relation to personal development will be explained. Interviewing both sides of the coaching process can provide a more reliable understanding of this technique. The researcher acknowledges the difficulty in reaching out to the managers' clients due to privacy procedures.

At the beginning of each interview, the interviewer will stress the confidential nature of the interview, explain the country being investigated, and state the research objectives. Additionally, participants will be informed that the interviews will be recorded to encourage openness and interaction without fear of retaliation. All recorded interviews will be transcribed with source permission, although names may be changed to ensure confidentiality, upon request of interviewees. Approximately 10 interviews are

anticipated, including five from executive managers and five from their clients. The reliability of qualitative data may be subject to scrutiny due to the subjective nature of creativity.

According to Strauss & A ; Corbin ( 2008, p11 ), qualitative methods can be used to investigate areas of knowledge that are not well known or to gain new understanding about topics that are already well known. Qualitative methods are particularly effective in capturing detailed information about complex phenomena such as feelings, thought processes, and emotions, which may be difficult to access through conventional research methods. The phenomenological approach to studying data emphasizes that the interpretation of reality is based on the interviewee's perspective, as they are the only ones who can measure the significance of their own experiences and create meanings and directions. Phenomenology involves exploring and describing the fundamental aspects of the experiential world, aspects that cannot be observed empirically.

Phenomenology differs from empirical scientific disciplines in that it approaches the universe by focusing on the necessary conditions for the coherence of societal existence rather than on matters of fact (Arbnor; A; Bjerke, 2009, p 41).

Timetable

Initially, a 12-week timeframe was allocated for the thesis. While additional time may alter the schedule below, the main process will remain unchanged.

Reference

1. Andriopoulos, C. (2000) - Mind Stretching: A grounded theory for enhancing organizational creativity. PhD thesis. Glasgow: University of Strathclyde.
2. Andriopoulos, C.; A; Dawson, P. (2009) - Managing Change, Creativity, and Innovation. London: Sage Publications.
3. Amabile, T. (1996) - Creativity in Context.

USA: Westview Press.

Amabile, T. (1983) - The Social Psychology of Creativity. New York: Springer-Verlag.

Arbnor, I.; A; Bjerke B.

(2009) - Methodology for making business knowledge, 3rd edition. Los Angeles: Sage Publications.

Journal of Business Science and Applied Management, Volume 4, Issue 2.

(2008) - Management Research, London: Sage.

3rd edition. London: Sage Publications.

Runco, M. ; A ; Pritzker, S. ( 1999 ) - Encyclopedia of creativeness.

Vol.2. San Diego: Academic.

• Strauss A.; A; Corbin J. (2008) - Basicss of qualitative research: A techniques and processs for developing grounded theory. California: Sage Publications.
• Watt, C.

(2004) - Creativity in Modern Business: Stakeholders, trust, and the design procedure. PhD thesis. Bristol: University of the West of England.