The Significance of Creativity and Innovation for Bangladesh's Economy

This report delves into the critical role of creativity and innovation in driving economic growth, specifically within the context of Bangladesh. It highlights creativity as the ability to generate new ideas and innovation as the implementation of those ideas, emphasizing their significance for business success and overall economic health. The report underscores how investing in creativity and innovation can eliminate redundancies, foster new opportunities, and boost the economy, particularly in a dynamic business environment. It explores the benefits of such investments, including job creation, increased income, and a competitive edge in the global market. The report further examines how Bangladesh can facilitate creativity and innovation by addressing issues such as corruption and bureaucracy, encouraging open communication, promoting individual action, and embracing a welfare state model that supports startups and connects them with research institutions. It identifies potential benefits for Bangladesh, such as economic boosts, attracting investors, and creating employment opportunities. Finally, it acknowledges the challenges faced by Bangladesh, including bureaucratic hurdles, corruption, and an outdated work culture, and emphasizes the need to address these obstacles to fully realize the benefits of creativity and innovation.

Running head: IMPORTANCE OF CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION 1
Importance of Creativity and Innovation
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation

IMPORTANCE OF CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION 2
Introduction
Creativity and innovation have become crucial skills for achieving success in the
developing economies. Creativity is the ability to come up with new ideas while innovation
refers to implementing such ideas. The two aspects of entrepreneurship play the key role as they
are the backbones of the business enterprises. While business activities form the key pillar of any
economy which the society depends on, it is important that people embrace new ideas of
developing business and exploring new opportunities and then innovating them. The modern
business world has become more dynamic with management challenges hence a need for
creative insights. Having creativity is what sustains the operations and livelihood of a business.
This report focuses on the importance of investing in creativity and innovation, the benefits, and
the challenges faced by the Bangladesh government as it invests in them. Bangladesh is one of
the developing countries, hence it is important to assess how investing in creativity and
innovation can help the country to improve on their economy.
Discussion
Importance of the Economy and Society Investing On Creativity and Innovation
Creativity and innovation is the core aspect of any growing economy as they help to
eliminate redundancy in business practices. They contribute to a healthy economy especially in
the modern business world which is faced with a lot of dynamics. The two aspects provide an
approach to developing new opportunities and advantages through the production of new
products and services which improve effectiveness. The World Development Report indicated
that the industries which are a creative help to boost the economy and development. A creative
economy involves the use of new media, audiovisual products, and performing arts and
contributes much in terms of job creation, income generation, and export earnings. For instance,

IMPORTANCE OF CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION 3
in 2013, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) reported that the developing
countries earned an annual growth of 10% from the exports of creative goods. A creative
economy provokes the creation of job opportunities for its citizens which in return means an
improvement in the overall well-being of the communities and quality of life hence promoting a
sustainable development. Creativity and innovation enhance the livelihoods of the citizens as
they open up wider opportunities for business transactions (Mesquita & Sarmento, 2011). Social
innovation helps to solve certain challenges such as unfair trade, restorative justice, and mobile
money transfer. It enables people to avoid the narrow ways of thinking about business
engagement and social enterprises and make them realized the interconnectedness of various
stakeholders and business factors. It is through creativity and innovation that a country will
invent new and improved products which will earn a competitive advantage in the global market,
hence advancing the income earned thereof.
How Bangladesh Can Facilitate the Creativity and Innovation
Creativity is a continuous process which has no limits. For the country to facilitate the
process, it is important to identify the problems facing the economy such as corruption, poverty
in rural areas, poor infrastructure, and poor tax collection rates, unemployment, poor education
standards, and inequality in the distribution of resources. Some practices can make the process
systematic. Communication is a key aspect of growing the economy. The government can
encourage open communication among the owners of companies to ensure that business people
are aware of what their fellow business associates are dealing with. This can lead to the
generation of new ideas due to the stimuli they receive. The idea of a company hiding
information concerning what they deal with and how they do it from other people is not
professional. Thus, the government should encourage sharing of information to stir up creativity

IMPORTANCE OF CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION 4
and innovation and hence expand the companies to new markets. Encouraging individual action
is also essential in provoking creativity and innovation.
Encouraging the use of the internet by building the basic digital infrastructure whereby
companies can take the resources and invent new products and services. The government should
capitalize on the nation. It should embrace a welfare state model whereby the government invests
in the creativity initiatives by giving start-ups capital and connect its people with research labs
and universities. This will ensure that the business enterprises in the country are linked with the
new scientific knowledge and facilitate maximum growth potential. This welfare state model of
innovation should encourage the infusion of entrepreneurship and capital at all the stages of
growth. By linking the investors with the global research institutions, they will be able to explore
in a wide capacity and enumerate new ideas of innovation hence implement them in their
businesses and help in developing the economy in the long run.
By implementing policies such as the intellectual property rights policy which promotes
the awareness of the social, cultural, and economic benefits of IPRS (Lundstedt & Colglazier,
2013). This policy stimulates enhancing the environmental protection so that the resources are
put into beneficial and maximum use, food security to avoid exploitation of the consumers and
access to healthcare.
Benefits Bangladesh Could Get If It Invests On Boosting the Creativity and Innovation
It will boost the economy of the country in a great way. When the companies in
Bangladesh embrace creativity, the value brought forth by every new product invented cannot be
measured. A new product may face challenges at first implementation and release into the
market. However, as it gains prominence and when its benefits win the customers’ confidence,
they tend to ignore the old products and embrace the new ones. This is not only in the producing

IMPORTANCE OF CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION 5
country but to the global market. Thus, after gaining a world-wide fame, the foreign income it
earns will improve the economy of Bangladesh (Abrahamson et al, 2013). Promoting creativity
and innovation will also attract new investors who will earn the country foreign income. As the
country promotes creativity and innovation, global investors will also get attracted to hire
innovative ideas from India and earn foreign income as well.
Creation of Employment.
Creativity leads to the invention of new products. While new products are invented, their
demand for labor increases which means the creation of employment opportunities. The creative
industries will always have opportunities for new employees hence this will curb the problem of
unemployment. Additionally, creativity always enables to reach new opportunities for production
and emerging competitive businesses (Mesquita & Sarmento, 2011). This is because it will turn
the country into a place where people can work with no boundaries. While people are allowed to
exploit new ideas, they get new opportunities to exploit and this enlarges their global capacity to
transact businesses hence the creation of greater job opportunities (Sachs, 2011). This is because
the employees will not be stuck in unproductive ruts which limit the boundaries of employment
opportunities. Thus, as people exploit new opportunities, more gaps in the production process in
the companies are created which call for more workers.
Challenges Faced By Bangladesh in Investing On Creativity and Innovation
Bureaucracy
Bangladesh operates under a bureaucratic system which was formed during the industrial
era of military and economic crisis about a century ago. Although some changes have been made
to correct it, there are still many areas which need to be rectified in order to reduce the severity
of the system (Abrahamson, Ryder & Unterberg, 2013). This system makes the potential

IMPORTANCE OF CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION 6
investors both local and foreign to withdraw the ideas due to the prolonged delays in approving
the projects by the authorities. Some of the challenges induced by the bureaucratic system
include political interventions, lack of government incentives, and freedom in decision making
(Beule & Nauwelaerts, 2013). While various business associates may have great ideas for
innovation, they may just withhold them and fail to innovate them due to fear of bureaucracy.
Corruption
This is a vice facing the country as it is ranked high in corruption at the global level. An
entrepreneur may have great creative and innovative ideas but the bribes demanded by the
authorities to enable him or she implement the idea becomes a challenge. Scams and dishonest in
the government authorities instills fear and redundancy to the aspiring business innovators (Grant
& Grant, 2016). Thus, however, an investor may be creative and innovative, there are no
motivating factors to boost their ideas in the business sector.
The work culture in Bangladesh demands that people appear physically at workplaces
more than what their output is (Isar & Anheier, 2009). In the modern world, people are allowed
to work from home or wherever they want as long as the value of output is maintained to the
relevant standards (Aurifeille, 2005). This allows them to have free time from workplaces which
are a great opportunity to explore new ideas of innovation. However, in Bangladesh, the
presence at the workplace is valued more than what the employees are able to produce and this
becomes a challenge in creativity and innovation (Cruickshank, 2014). A person who is forced to
stay at work for the stated amount of time is less to be creative and innovative than one who is
allowed to work from their place of choice, as they are free to do their research of innovative
ideas.
Conclusion

IMPORTANCE OF CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION 7
Creativity and innovation go hand in hand in promoting the operation and expansion of a
business enterprise. A creative company is a flourishing company as it enables a company to
explore new ideas, markets, and technology and when invented, bring forth increased
productivity for expansion of the economy. A country like Bangladesh can facilitate creativity
and innovation through maximizing the use of the internet for exploration and implementing
supportive policies. This will benefit the country by creating job opportunities and improving the
economy. However, the country is faced with various challenges such as corruption,
bureaucracy, and old-fashioned work culture which hinders creativity and innovation. For the
country to realize the benefits of these two aspects of entrepreneurship, it is important to address
such challenges.

IMPORTANCE OF CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION 8
References
Abrahamson, S., Ryder, P., & Unterberg, B. (2013). Crowdstorm: The future of innovation,
ideas, and problem solving.
Aurifeille, J.-M. (2005). Leading economic and managerial issues involving globalisation.
Hauppage, NY: Nova Science.
Azam, M. M., & Open Book Publishers. (2016). Intellectual property and public health in the
developing world. Cambridge: Open Book Publishers.
Beule, F. D., & Nauwelaerts, Y. (2013). Innovation and creativity: Pillars of the future global
economy.
Cruickshank, L. (2014). Open design and innovation: Facilitating creativity in everyone.
Grant, A., & Grant, G. (2016). The innovation race: How to change a culture to change the
game.
Isar, Y. R., & Anheier, H. K. (2009). Cultures and globalization: Cultural expression, creativity
and innovation. London: SAGE.
Lundstedt, S. B., & Colglazier, E. W. (2013). Managing innovation: The social dimensions of
creativity, invention and technology. Burlington, VT: Elsevier Science.
Mesquita, A., & Sarmento, A. (2011). Technology for Creativity and Innovation: Tools,
Techniques and Applications. Hershey: IGI Global.
Sachs, J. (2011). The End of Poverty: How We Can Make it Happen in Our Lifetime.
Qun, B., Gill, I. S., Huang, Y., & Kharas, H. J. (2007). East Asian visions: Perspectives on
economic development. Washington, DC: World Bank.
World Development Report 2016: Digital Dividends. (2016).