Innovation and creative work environment 1

Innovation and creative work environment

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Introduction
Innovation and creativity are the most important factors for the success of an organisation. In the
present scenario, the organizations reward to encourage employees so that they bring innovative
ideas for the company. However, the demand for creativity and innovative ideas is increasing
rapidly. With the help of innovation and creativity, the organization can achieve a competitive
advantage. The innovative organizations are more likely to cope with the dynamic environment
and deliver great products to customers (Ghasemzadeh, Nazari, Farzaneh, & Mehralian, 2019).
Innovation helps to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the organization.

Innovation means using new technology and new ways of thinking and to add more value to the
existing idea or products. The right innovation is very useful is developing a unique product or
service (Wesley & Barczak, 2016). With the help of the right innovation, the company can
differentiate itself from other competitors. The current business scenario is highly dynamic and
challenging for the companies, continuous innovation is needed to survive in the current business
environment. Majority of the organizations agreed that innovation is crucial for success. Several
pieces of evidence indicate that the long term strategies depend on the ability to develop new
ideas (Cook & Wankhade, 2017). The real-world example of Apple clearly states that innovation
is highly crucial for the business. Apple is one of the most innovative companies in the world.
The innovative ideas provide major opportunities for further growth and development. However,
the support and recognition of the manager are necessary to promote innovative work
environment. Innovation is not about creating new products and services, but it is more about
improving the efficiency of existing business procedures (Rousseau, Aubé, & Tremblay, 2013).
By focusing on innovation, any organization can find new customers, increase profits and
eliminate the waste. If a company continually innovate itself then it may also attract new talents.
Innovative business easily finds the opportunities and provides innovative products and services
which are able to fulfill the changing needs and preferences of the potential customers.
Consequently, customers are more attracted to an innovative company which adds value to their
products and services. By using innovative ideas the company can increase its revenues.
Innovation creates positive change for organizations. Innovation is directly associated with a
competitive edge. The report of Deloitte highlighted that 12 percent of the fortune 500
companies are still in business and half of the S& P will be replaced in the next ten years (Wirtz
& Daiser, 2017). Hence, it is very important for a company to respond to the external challenge.
The organizations should be able to utilize the innovations in the most effective manner.
Innovations should be directed towards providing a competitive advantage to the company. The
innovation strategy of the company should be effective enough to provide valuable services to
customers. Moreover, innovations provide a confident attitude to take risks. The right innovative
approach helps to save the time and money of the organization and also helps in business
expansion.

Furthermore, innovation and creativity will be helpful in dealing with external uncertainties.
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Components of a creative work environment

A company needs to develop a creative work environment. Creativity helps to identify the more
effective solutions for the existing problem. Creative work environment gives freedom and
independence to the employees. The four major components of creative work environment are:

Challenging work: complex tasks are an essential part of a creative work environment. In the
creative work environment, the work is strategic, problem-solving and evaluative in nature
(Agarwal, Selen, Roos, & Green, 2015). It also helps to nurture positivity in the work
environment.

Ideal time: The creative work environment is characterized by the observation that an employee
has enough time to spend on creativity and ambiguous endeavors. It is difficult to understand
how much time is needed in solving a complex problem. The most innovative companies like
Apple, Google, and 3M are famous for providing enough time for creative thinking.

Freedom: It is important to provide freedom and time to employees so that they may develop
innovative ideas for the company. Freedom and flexible work may significantly help employees
to develop creative ideas. A basic reality of the creative work environment is that it is associated
with the inherent uncertainty. There is no guarantee about the success or failure of the new idea
and innovation. Sometimes creative ideas may not be practical enough to implement in the
development of new products and services.

Supervisory encouragement: The support of management is very crucial for the effective
implementation of a creative work environment. The top management of the organization should
support innovation, creativity, experiments and risk takings. However, the management should
provide useful resources and money required to innovate the products and services.

Difficulties in implementing innovation

Most of the organization failed to develop a creative and innovative work environment for their
business. Some barriers can be the perception or attitude of the organization leadership.
Furthermore, the rigid structure of some of the organization did not allow flexibility and
creativity. Hence, these barriers have the ability to eliminate the creativity and innovation in the
organization. Moreover, the companies should try to resolve these issues as non-innovative
organizations cannot survive in the complex business environment. Innovation and creativity
directly impact the productivity of the organization. Some of the organization have developed a
perception that creative work environment is not useful for them. There are various organizations
which are not focusing majorly on innovation and creativity. Furthermore, the majority of
organizations are using new technologies to achieve competitive advantage (Stojcic, Hashi, &
Orlic, 2018). Organization s failed to develop a culture of innovation; as a result, they face
various uncertainties. In the creative work environment, some ideas failed but it does not mean
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that creativity and innovation are not effective. It is necessary to provide complex tasks to the
employees in order to enhance their creative thinking abilities.

There are several strategies through which a company can implement innovations and creativity.
The major thing is that the top-level management of the organization should display a positive
and optimistic attitude. Leaders also play an important role in enhancing the creative work
environment. Organisation should try to provide flexibility and independent work environment to
the employees. Furthermore, if management effectively nurtures a creative and open
environment then innovation will happen naturally. Recognition is considered as one of the
powerful tools for promoting innovation and creativity in the organization. If employees are
motivated then they will try to provide the best ideas for innovations. Innovative organizations
always try to identify ideas for solving customer problems. Moreover, the organizations should
try to communicate the complaints and problems to the employees so that they will develop
effective solutions for them. The organization should try to build a creative work environment as
it is associated with various opportunities and benefits (Poutanen, Soliman, & Ståhle, 2016). By
developing a creative work environment, the organization will be able to attract the new
employee and retain the existing ones. Innovation and creativity help to increase the problem-
solving ability of the organizations. Creativity boosts productivity and enhances the working
environment (Fitzjarrald & Johnson, 2016). Organizations operate in a highly competitive
environment, which makes creativity and innovation the most important aspects of success.
Moreover, a creative leader is more comfortable in dealing with the obscurity. The changing
needs and preferences of the customers provide various disadvantages to the business. Hence the
companies should focus on developing innovative products to fulfill the changing needs and
preferences of the customers. Every major sector is focusing on creating innovative products to
achieve a competitive advantage. Failure, prejudice, impatience, and negativism are some of the
aspects that affect the implementation of creative components.

Conclusion
It can be concluded that innovation and creativity play a very important role in providing a
competitive advantage to the company. Organizations should focus on developing innovative
products to survive in a highly competitive environment. However, creative work environment
reduces the limitations and solves the complex issues of the company. With the help of
innovation, any organization can differentiate itself from competitors. Furthermore, it is not easy
to encourage creativity in the organization, but companies should try to encourage their
employees through rewards and recognition. Moreover, the leader and managers also play an
important role in encouraging creativity in the company. The organization should try to
challenge the employee so that they may increase their innovative skills. Creativity and
innovation provide numerous benefits to organizations. However, the development of creative
work culture takes time and efforts of top management. The organization should allow the team
members to develop their creativity in the organization. Flexibility and freedom are keys to finds
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optimum solutions for the problem. Leaders also focus on developing a creative work
environment and utilize the creativity of their team members. Furthermore, it is essential to focus
on innovation by developing a creative work environment. Hence, the organization can achieve a
competitive edge by using innovation. With the help of strategies that encourage innovation and
creativity, the leader can foster growth among teams and employees.
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