Creativity and Innovation in Organizations: Theory, Practices, and Case Study of Zappos

This essay explores the concepts of creativity and innovation in organizations, including theories and practices, and a case study of Zappos. It discusses the difference between creativity and innovation, the key factors for success, and the role of creativity and innovation in building a successful organization.

RUNNING HEAD: CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION
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Creativity and Innovation
Essay
Student Name
4/16/2019

Creativity and Innovation
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Table of Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................2
Creativity and Innovation............................................................................................................................2
Theory and Practices of Creativity and Innovation in an Organization........................................................5
Key factor for success creativity or innovation............................................................................................6
Case study: Zappos......................................................................................................................................7
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................................8
Appendices..................................................................................................................................................9
Appendix: 1 Key to Success.....................................................................................................................9
Appendix: 2 Mind Map..........................................................................................................................10

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Introduction
Creativity is transforming ideas, imagination and thinking differently for a problem to
solve it from a complete different perspective. Creative people mainly do things differently
rather than doing different things. Some authors define creativity as “a crucial source of
meaning in a person existence, most of the things that are interesting are result of human
creativity and when a person involved in it , they feel that they are living fully than during the
rest of life” (Csikszentmihalyi, 2013, p. 1).
Innovation is a process that leads to change the imagination and idea into a product that
gives value for which people will pay. Innovation is implication of ideas and information with
the resources so that all this can be converted into a useful product. In view of Kahn, a new idea
or any new method that helps in creating a new product or new process and that includes
invention, work and efforts by the person to bring that idea into a reality (Kahn, 2012, p. 454).
This essay states the difference between these two concepts and gives the insight about
the theories and practices of creativity and innovation in an organization and the role of
creativity and innovation in building a successful organization with help of a case study on
Zappos.com, an online retailer of shoes and clothing on the basis of an idea that was came in
the mind of founder. The concept of creativity and innovation is an important part in success of
any business without it no business can survive or sustain in the market for a longer time.
Creativity leads to differentiation of product and process from others and bring value in the
existing business.
Creativity and Innovation
Innovation and creativity get attention in current scenario in the organizations in
different fields. In common, innovation is defined as the solution for different problems that an
organization faces. Whereas, creativity is defined as a process of finding an idea then
innovation is transforming that idea into an observable product. The level of innovation
depends on the individual thinking and judgment for recognizing the product as an innovation

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in the market. Sometimes all products and ideas are not considered as creative by most of the
people (Beule & Nauwelaerts, 2013, p. 276).
Walt Disney once said that if a person can imagine it, they can create it. On the view of
this statement the difference between innovation and creativity is highlighted below. The main
factor of difference between creativity and innovation is focus. Creativity is subjective, it is
difficult to measure and innovation is measurable and includes work done to make an idea
feasible. Innovation and Creativity work together, creativity is not implemented will not be
resultant into innovation, and innovation cannot be done without getting any creative idea so
creativity and innovation are dependent variable that work in same direction (Sarooghi, Libaers,
& Burkemper, 2015, p. 715).
When creativity starts then only innovation can be done, creativity is beginning and if
implemented successfully it become the innovation. Creativity is an important factor in success
of any organization it helps in managing task in creative manner, delivering qualitative product
to the customers and making the company image in the market. In this technological scenario
creativity changes the way the company works and make employees creative to do the things
differently and inspire or encourage them to come with new ideas to increase the productivity
(Alexander, 2017, p. 154).
On other side innovation is simply the way in which theoretical plan will be converted
into action. Innovation is also important in the business because that promotes a product and
makes it different from the competitors. To attract the customers, innovation is the key and
that make the company successful in the market. There are many organizations that are
creative but lack innovation because they are not able to convert their ideas into a practical
plan by utilizing their resources fully (Mann & Chan, 2011, p. 17).
Some of the businesses are successful due to their innovation and evolutionary change in
the industry that benefits the customers and also uplift the standard of living. Airbnb is the
innovative startup that changes the accommodation industry, Amazon changed the way the
customer shop in the retail segment, social media sites like Snapchat, Facebook, Youtube are

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the examples of creativity and innovation. Gopro camera is a result of creativity. Netflix changes
the entertainment industry that is an innovation in this segment as people attracted towards
the web series and shows. All these product and organization impacted the society living in
greater extent and now all these products become the part of people’s life.
The concept of Intrapreneurship is based on the creativity level in an organization. An
intrapreneur is a person who brings the innovative ideas in the organization and is responsible
for encouraging the innovation in the organization (Desouza, 2011, p. 55). The
intrapreneurship works on the traits of an entrepreneur as thy think out of the box and
possesses the leadership skills to present their idea in front without any risk of failure. The
person who made innovation and proves to be the creative asset for the organization is totally
dependent on the resources of the organization in order to bring its creativity into action. This
concept is totally related to the level of creativity and innovation in the organization and for
encouragement of innovativeness to make the organization successful for long run (Gawke &
Bakker, 2017, p. 22).
Moodle is an innovative idea that changes the education segment by providing learning
platform for universities and educators worldwide. The application is free to all users and prefer
by schools and universities. The key success factor from the innovation perspective is that
Moodle has a large sharing community that generates new users and a creative way of learning
for the people. Moodle changes the way of learning and proves to be the best rated learning
management system (Kronk, 2019).
Innovation transforms so many segments in the world and helps in bringing the new phase
to the industry and also help in setting the standard for the industry. Creativity and innovation
transform the whole industry. For an example, Tesla is the connection between creativity and
innovation in the workplace and this is the main reason of the success of the company. The
founder of Tesla is a creative person who used his knowledge and creativity to start the
company and build a induction motor and technical appliances that creation became the
innovation. Hence, it can be said that creativity is the first step towards the innovation on other
side innovation is the practical form of the creativity. For that reason the organization promotes

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creativity as an important factor of the innovation process which is of utmost essential for the
growth of any business (Yoon & Kim, 2016, p. 757).
Theory and Practices of Creativity and Innovation in an Organization
To understand the concept of creativity and innovation in a theoretical perspective,
some theories are develop that includes, Componential theory of organizational creativity and
innovation, Interaction perspective of organizational creativity and model of individual creative
action (Runco, 2010, p. 30).
The theory state the relationship between the work environment and creativity. There
are three aspects to judge creativity level of the people that are knowledge, creative thinking
skill and intrinsic motivation (Rietzschel & Ritter, 2018, p. 25). The main component in the
workplace that boosts the creativity in employees is motivation to give ideas and change in the
practices so that it encourages the creativity in the organization. In looking into the theory main
focus is on the motivation level and other components are not as important in increasing
creativity in the organization.
This theory focuses on the concept that creativity is an interaction between the
individual and their working environment. Creativity differs from level to level in the
organization as employees at higher level get more freedom and space to think and implement
new ideas in different ways. At individual level, creativity is affected by the individual
characteristic, divergent thinking, personality traits, knowledge, social influence and some
motivation factors. At team level, creativity is reflected in the team members, group
interaction, brainstorming and the organization culture. At organization level, innovation in an
organization is efforts of individual and team creativity, individual contribute through creative
thinking and group contributes in the team creativity and coordination. This theory is amongst
the most used conceptual frameworks that give the clear picture about the organization and
individual factor that enhance the level of creativity in a workplace (Goller & Bessant, 2017, p.
244).

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In relation to the model of individual creative action that states that the employees in an
organization has to choose two options rather to work in a habitual manner or try to be
different and creative by thinking and doing out of the box. According to this theory there are
three influencers in the group that are motivation, knowledge and skills. Thus, individual
creative action is result of the mix of these factors and if these factors are not present in an
individual that leads to non-creative action. To enhance a creative action some of the
motivation factors are determined goals, confident in the person ability and emotions.
Although this model is a complex one that focuses mainly on the individual creative action that
leads to creativity and innovation in the organization (Oeij, Rus , & Pot, 2017, p. 358).
Key factor for success creativity or innovation
The connection between creativity and business success is an important concept to
understand. Businesses need creativity in order to be successful in the modern competitive
environment, and innovation is factor in creativity. Creativity is the beginning of any innovation
and creative idea will result in innovation. Basically creativity in business is coming up with any
idea that is revolutionary and useful to solve the problems. On other side innovation in business
perspective is implementing those revolutionary ideas in a systematic manner (Amabile & Pratt,
2016, p. 158). The connection between these two terms is that in an organization creativity can
be done to the greater extent without much of innovation because creativity is a beginning and
innovation is its end result. In an organization where there is lack of motivation and systems are
not in place, they face lots of difficulty to make a business successful.
For the success of any organization, a business cannot have innovation without a sound
blend of creativity on the front end and a strong framework in place to foster the creativity. It
can be said that creativity and innovation work together and has key contribution in the success
of any organization, without creativity there is no chances of innovation and without innovation
the creativity is incomplete. To foster the creativity in the organization it is necessary to
transform it into innovation then only it brings value to the firm. These are two dependent
concepts in the modern scenario that cannot be separated (Fay & Patterson, 2014, p. 3).

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The key to successfully encourage innovation and creativity in the organization is to use
the organization culture and processes to get the ideas from employees and make it applicable.
This can be done through suggestion boxes, brainstorming activities, clear instructions from the
boss and a flexible organization structure help the employees to showcase their talent and
creativity. With above case analysis it is seen that creativity and innovation
Case study: Zappos
Zappos.com is a startup that is a solution for the finding a pair of shoes that on time
according to the demand and need of the customer. The company was come into existence in
1999 by Nick Swinmum. The idea of selling shoes through online platform is the reason behind
starting the company and then the company launched as “shoesite.com”. After sometimes
company named as Zappos. In few years the company doubled their annual revenues and
ranked 23rd in Forbes most preferably company to work. Zappos sales are accounted for 80% of
shoes and remaining 20% from clothing and handbag segments (Zappos, About us , 2019).
An idea and determination and efforts of a person bring the innovative products or
services. Creativity is result of an idea and this come from finding the problem of a solution as
did by the founder of Zappos. The company is leading in the retail segment just because of its
innovation in the digital era. Zappos is a different concept that is built from the scratch and
primarily focuses on providing qualitative products to the customers, with different ranges and
for free shipping. The company is also known for their creative corporate culture where there
are no job titles or any organization structure; the company adopted a radical self-governing
system in order to promote creativity and flexibility in the organization (Zappos, 2019).
Innovation and creativity is dependent that can be observed through the case of Zappos,
a company face many challenges at the time of implementing the idea but that is the process of
innovation and only completed when idea is feasible and implemented in the most appropriate
way. The founder of the Zappos has that skill to take action on his idea and imagination and
make it possible in the practical way. Now the company takes steps to make it survive in the

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market through implementing innovative strategies that help in differentiating the company
product from others and make it a leader in online retail segment in footwear industry.

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Conclusion
Creativity is an idea or imagination of a person that resultant in some unique product or
process. All human being are creative and has skills to do something unique in his/her own way,
most of the creativity is come when people get time and space to think and work on or by
solving the problems that are never solved. Innovation is a process that is mainly the
implementation of the idea or making the practical use and creates a product or service worth
valuable. Innovation covers the creativity, both these concepts are different but interrelated to
each other, without creativity there is no innovation and without innovation there is no sense
of creativity. There is difference in both the terms that is creativity starts the process of
innovation and includes only subjective aspects whereas innovation includes the logical and
practical aspect. There are some theories and practices that give the insight on the concept of
creativity in an organization and how the level of innovation changes the scenario of
competition.
With the help of case study on the Zappos the concept and importance of creativity and
innovation is well understood. The company was started on the basis of an idea and that idea of
founder transformed to the working structure and resultant to the existence of Zappos. It is
concluded that creativity and innovation are dependent to each other and innovation is a
broader concept that include creativity. To begin this process creativity is the beginning and the
innovation is its end result. Both the concepts have equal importance in an organization and are
the key factors to compete in the market in current competitive scenario.

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Appendices
Appendix: 1 Key to Success
Figure: 1 Key of Successful organization
Source: (Koutstaal & Binks, 2015, p. 148)
Creativity Innovation Desired
Change
Inventiveness,
New Ideas and
New concepts
Transform creativity
into Products,
Processes and
Services
Successful
Organization in
modern competitive
scenario

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Appendix: 2 Mind Map
Figure: 2 Creativity Mind Map
Purpose
Solving
Problems
Generating
ideas
Techniques
Process
Group
Process
Imagination
Incubation
Illumination
Verification
Selection

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