| Unit name | Organisational Creativity |
|---|---|
| Unit code | MGRCM1000 |
| Credit points | 15 |
| Level of study | M/7 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
| Unit director | Ms. Marini |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
None |
| Co-requisites |
MGRCM1001 |
| School/department | School of Management - Business School |
| Faculty | Faculty of Social Sciences and Law |
This is the introductory unit and sets the scene for the whole programme. It will be highly interactive and will cover three main aspects: Individual creativity - the stereotypes of the individual genius, mad inventor, organisational maverick and entrepreneur are contrasted with the students own view of creativity. Students will be expected to apply a range of tools and techniques used to encourage creative thinking and improve problem solving. Group creativity - an exploration of the issues of managing for creativity and innovation and the transfer of creativity from the individual to groups. Organisational creativity and innovation - focuses on how organisations can help or hinder creativity and innovation and will consider the impact of systems thinking and organisational culture on the process.
Aims:
This unit aims to develop students thinking about organisational creativity at three levels: personal, group or organisational and societal or community-based. It enables them to critique the narratives around creativity as a magic bullet for fixing organisational and societal underperformance. It stresses the importance of creativity in approaching wicked (term used in Strategic Management to characterise intractable) problems. It also equips students with a working knowledge of techniques and exercises for increasing organisational creativity and thus improves their practical skill levels.
On completion of this unit students will be able to:
This will be a highly interactive unit and will consist of a combination of group work, case studies and lectures, including sessions with guest speakers.
Summative assessment, consisting of a three-person group problem-solving challenge. The summative assessment will consist of a group presentation (worth 10% of the mark) and a portfolio of work (worth 90% of the mark) to include the following elements (see a-c below). The assessment as a whole underlines and reinforces a central theoretical component of the unit which is the dilemma of how to operationalise creativity and take it from an individual good idea to an organisationally operational proposition. Thus the assessment models the main pedagogic aim.
a) The first part of the portfolio which will comprise 5000 words will be an analysis of a wicked problem. It will be designed to get students to explore the problems with which organisations come face-to-face when seeking to design their own particular and hopefully 'creative' response to what could be understood as 'wicked problems' (Rittel and Webber, 1973) or 'wicked messes' (Holt, 2004) - that is, situations in which organisations are faced with the prospect of doing something 'new', or changing in some way, but where multiple stakeholders and shifting targets and constraints are involved.
b) The second part of the portfolio will be a reflective section, including 500 words group reflection and 500 words of individual reflection per student (a total of 2000 words). Where it is necessary to have a group of four the extra 500 words will be accommodated. The reflective element of the group work in which each person reflects on what they have learned during the unit is also a core element of the teaching in which we aim to induct a wide range of students with varying educational backgrounds into the extraordinarily important concept of the reflective practitioner in contemporary organisations.
c) A section to include evidence of the creativity processes which they have undertaken, individually and as a group, in order to fulfil the problem-solving and reflective elements of the assignment. Such evidence may include mind-maps, collages, photographs, etc.
