Westford School of Management: Creative & Innovative Management Report

This report provides an in-depth analysis of creative and innovative management practices within organizations, using Amazon as a primary case study. The report begins by evaluating Amazon's current innovative management processes, emphasizing its focus on empowering innovation at all levels, embracing failures, and fostering a culture of systematic decision-making and flexibility. It then explores the influence of mission and vision on the creative and innovative management process, examining the use of analytical tools like SWOT analysis and organizational structure to identify potential ideas. The report further delves into the risks and benefits associated with creative and innovative management, and presents change models such as the McKinsey 7S and ADKAR models to support the implementation of creative ideas. The report also discusses how to influence stakeholders to effect change, including stakeholder analysis and communication strategies. Finally, the report addresses barriers to implementing creative ideas and outlines a strategic plan to overcome these barriers, concluding with recommendations for effective communication with stakeholders. The report offers comprehensive insights into fostering a culture of innovation and managing change within an organization.

ELECTRONIC ASSIGNMENT COVERSHEET
Course/Unit Information
Course Pearson BTEC Level 7 – Diploma / Extended Diploma in Strategic
Management & Leadership
Unit No. Unit 6
Unit Name Creative and Innovative Management
Schedule Name CIMONL2003B/CIMONL2003C
Instructor Information
Name Raman Subramanian/Bincy Kaluvila
Assignment Information
Full/ Part Assignment Full Assignment
Date Assignment Issued 15/03/2020
Date Assignment Due 11/04/2020
Student Information
(To be filled by the student prior submitting the assignment)
Name Mani Karan
Student ID ONL1002003B07
Email [e-mail]
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1STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP
STUDENT DECLARATION
I hereby confirm that this assignment is my own work and not copied or plagiarized. It has not
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Table of Contents
LO1: Importance of creative and innovative management in the organisation...............................5
1.1 Evaluation of the current innovative management process...................................................5
1.1.1 Empowering innovation in every level...........................................................................5
1.1.2 Embracing failures and facilitate learning......................................................................6
1.1.3 Innovative and systematic decision making...................................................................7
1.1.4 Focusing on organisational flexibility............................................................................7
1.1.5 Encouraging creativity....................................................................................................8
1.1.6 Future orientation in innovation.....................................................................................9
1.2 Lead others to embrace innovation and change...................................................................10
1.2.1 Effective leadership......................................................................................................10
1.2.2 Financial benefits..........................................................................................................10
1.2.3 Skill development.........................................................................................................11
1.2.4 Employee encouragement programs.............................................................................12
1.2.5 Open communication....................................................................................................12
LO2: Support creative and innovative management process for organisations............................13
2.1 Influence of mission and vision on creative and innovative management process.............13
2.1,1 Mission statement.........................................................................................................13
2.1.2 Vision statement...........................................................................................................15
2.2 Analytical tools to identify potential creative and innovative management ideas..............17
2.2.1 SWOT analysis.............................................................................................................17
2.2.2 Organisational structure................................................................................................20
2.2.3 Training and development............................................................................................21
2.2.4 Employee involvement.................................................................................................21
2.3 Risks and benefits of creative and innovative management ideas.......................................21
2.3.1 Potential benefits..........................................................................................................22
2.3.2 Potential risks................................................................................................................22
2.4 Change models to support implementation of creative and innovative ideas.....................24
2.4.1 McKinsey 7S model.....................................................................................................24
2.4.2 ADKAR model of change management.......................................................................27
LO3: Influence others to effect change in organisation.................................................................28

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3.1 Rationale to persuade stakeholders for creative and innovative management idea.............29
3.1.1. Stakeholder Overview.................................................................................................29
3.1.2. Stakeholder Analysis...................................................................................................29
3.2 Communicate a creative and innovative management idea to stakeholders........................32
3.2.1. Mode of communication with stakeholders of Amazon..............................................32
3.2.2. Important Aspects of Communication.........................................................................34
3.3 Establish key goals and priorities for creative and innovative management idea...............35
LO4: Plan to overcome barriers in creative and innovative management ideas............................37
4.1 Assess the barriers of implementing creative and innovative management idea................37
4.2 Strategic plan to overcome the barriers...............................................................................38
4.3 Explanation of the chosen plan............................................................................................40
4.4 Communication with the stakeholders.................................................................................41
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................42
Reference...................................................................................................................................44

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Executive summary
Amazon is one of the innovative and creative organisations across the world. The company
successfully maintains its innovativeness in product or service in order to focus on the major
principle of satisfying the needs of the customers. It is important to note that there are certain
risks that the organisation is facing in terms of uncertainty of the market, financial crunches and
aggressive organisational culture for continuous innovation and creativity. Therefore, the report
puts emphasis on the different change management models like McKinsey 7s Model and the
ADKAR model so that it will be effective to implement a change for Amazon to gain better plan
to overcome the barriers. Therefore, the research firstly defines and explores the innovation
process in Amazon and then finds out the risks. Finally, propose a change management model
that can help to meet the mission and vision of the company effectively.

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LO1: Importance of creative and innovative management in the organisation
1.1 Evaluation of the current innovative management process
The current discussion is going to discuss the innovative practices in Amazon. It is
important to note that the Amazon is very famous for its innovative management ideas. From the
report of Tucker (2018) it can be stated that there is a strong innovative culture in Amazon that
guides the management to encourage creativity and innovation in management process. The
official website of the company also corroborates the same fact that innovation and creativity are
the guiding principles of Amazon to serve better to the customers. The primary focus of the
organisation is in its customer satisfaction measures (blog.aboutamazon.com 2019). Therefore,
innovation and creativity in the management process is highly relevant and significant for the
company to implement the culture of innovation within workplace and ensure meeting the
satisfaction of the customers’ properly. Therefore, some creative and innovative steps have been
followed by Amazon in order to continue its innovative management process.
1.1.1 Empowering innovation in every level
Innovation is considered to be the driving factor for the success in business for Amazon.
The organisation encourages its employees to come up with new ideas. In fact, the employees are
also empowered to identify the problems and resolve it with new solutions. The purpose of
infusing innovation in every level of the business is to get high customer satisfaction. From the
research of Satell (2018) innovation and creativity in business practice are mostly manifested to
meet the needs and demands of the customers. It is definitely considered to be one of the crucial
part for the organisational sustainability and value creation. Companies that offer unique and
innovative experience to the customers, get enough competitive advantage in the market.

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Customer obsession is identified as one of the guiding principles of Amazon. Therefore, the
company is highly interested to engage its customers through offering unique and innovative
experience. For this, it is pertinent to continue the innovation process and ideas in every level of
the workplace. In order to continue the innovation and creativity in every level of the
organisation, Amazon follows some process. For instance, once an employee of any level comes
up with a big idea, he or she has to write a working backwards plan that is known as PRFAQ
(blog.aboutamazon.com, 2019). It is a press release outlining the vision of the plan and the
customer benefits by it. Therefore, a well planned innovation and creativity framework has
already been existed in Amazon.
1.1.2 Embracing failures and facilitate learning
The long term planning is also played significant role in creating and executing an
effective innovation and creative process in Amazon. It is important to note that the company is
highly interested in taking calculated risks for long term benefits and commences a number of
pilot testing. It does not mean that all those tests are successful. Many of them are scrapped or
failed. However, it is not a problem for Amazon because the company believes in the proverb of
“failures are the pillar of success”. Therefore, it becomes easier for the employees to think out-
of-the-box and implement it as a pilot testing. As a matter of fact, the embracing failure also
motivates the Amazon employees to think more creatively without bothering about the
execution. This flexible workplace culture definitely supplements the innovative and creative
management practices in Amazon. According to the research of Mejia (2018) it can be stated that
creative environment is a very important part for motivating the employees for innovative
thinking. Otherwise, it will never be possible for the workers to think freely if the risks and

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limitations are haunting in the back of the mind. Therefore, Amazon provides a psychological
assistance to the employees to think differently and make it a success.
1.1.3 Innovative and systematic decision making
In the decision making process also there are certain specification and techniques that
Amazon follows in order to balance it with the creative and innovative management practice. As
per the official website, it can be stated that the organisation follows two types of decision
making in terms of the one-way doors and the two-way doors. In other words, it can be stated
that the organisation mainly emphasizes on the reversible and irreversible decision making
process. Most of the innovative and creative programs in Amazon are associated with two-way
doors policy (blog.aboutamazon.com, 2019). It means if any of the experiment does not work
and fails to get the customer attention then the workforce is ready to change it and replaced with
something better. It is a genuine example of continuous improvement where the organisation is
strictly focus on innovation and creativity. It can be stated that the continuous changing practice
is highly effective for the business companies to ensure the success in business. At the same time
the continuous changing practice is also relevant in the context of facilitating creativity and
innovation in workplace. Through the continuous change process the organisation can design and
execute new ideas and it is pivotal for the organisation to shape its organisational culture
accordingly.
1.1.4 Focusing on organisational flexibility
As per the research of blog.aboutamazon.com (2019) it can be argued that flexibility in
workplace is a determining factors for creating an innovative and creative workforce. The
purpose of organisational flexibility is to develop the knowledge and skills of the employees by
providing them different assignments. Organisational flexibility can be defined as a practice

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where the organisation reshuffle its employees through different departments so that the
employees can gather more knowledge and ideas regarding the overall business operations. In
Amazon, an internal flexibility practice is prevalent where the managers are entitled to reshuffle
the positions of the employees and send them to different departments. It is obvious that the
employees are allocated to different department on the basis of their skills and knowledge.
Putting emphasis on the skill development s identified as another key aspect for maintain
creativity and innovation in workplace. Therefore, Amazon follows the leadership principle of
“hire and develop the best”. The official website of the company claimed that in 2018, more than
10,000 employees were shifted internally to different business departments. Therefore, it is
highly imperative and crucial for the organisation to continue the internal flexibility as a part of
facilitating continuous improvement and innovation.
1.1.5 Encouraging creativity
The innovative organisational culture cannot be developed without the moral and
psychological support from the senior management. Tucker (2018) opined that it is the
responsibility of the senior management to push and motivate the employees to enrich their
intellect and use it for the betterment of the business. Companies that are completely depend on
its innovation and creativity are always concerned about the richness of the workforce and its
out-of-the-box thought process. In addition to this, proper infrastructure is also required to
facilitate the creative and innovative thought process. According to the research of Pisano (2019)
by encouraging creativity business companies provides some relation to its employees so that
they can get the space to think and implement it for better innovation. In Amazon also the same
kind of approach has been used where the management provides an expression lab, a workshop
where the employees can implement their innovative ideas and engage them with innovation. It

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also renders a personal space for the employees to nourish their minds and stay focused to think
properly. Moreover, the Amazon Symphony Orchestra is also created as a recreational program
for the employees where they can participate and clear the minds and burn out all the frustrations
and tensions.
1.1.6 Future orientation in innovation
It is evident that Amazon is very much aware of its potential and its future business
success. The support and creativity of the employees lead the organisation for a successful
business orientation through not only earning high profitability but also develop the society to a
great extent so that it will be beneficial for the organisation to enhance its sustainability practice.
Customer retention and satisfaction is also a part of the future orientation of Amazon. In this
regard, the organisation puts a great deal of emphasis over its innovation and at the same time
ensures the next generation business practice that is identified as one of the major characteristic
features of Amazon. Helping the children and the young adults is considered to be a major
program that Amazon follows (Tucker 2018). The purpose of the program is to prepare the next
generation for advanced innovation in science and technology. The Amazon Future Engineer
program is one of such big initiative where the future generation can learn and envisioned in a
more creative manner so that the future will be better and suitable for everyone. The program
provides scholarships to more than 10 million youngsters to pursue their academic career all the
way through college. It is a very inspiring and noble act that Amazon introduces and contributes
to the future development in the society.

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1.2 Lead others to embrace innovation and change
1.2.1 Effective leadership
Leadership in Amazon is the most effective driving factors to encourage the employees to
go for more creativity and innovation. It can be stated that the leadership style of the CEO of
Amazon Jeff Bezos is very promising and inspiring that attracts most of the employees
genuinely. The leadership style of Jeff Bezos is basically based on the charismatic leadership
style. As per the leadership characteristics of Jeff Bezos, it can be argued that the charismatic
leadership style is entitled to provide eloquent communication, persuasion and a positive impact
of the personality that drives the workforce to a great extent. According to Shamir and Howell
(2018) the charismatic leaders are highly skilled in communication. Their speeches are very
persuasive and inspiring that the audience can easily be moved and follow the leaders blindly. In
case of amazon as well, the charismatic leadership style of Jeff Bezos leads the entire workforce
to follow and maintain creativity and innovation in business. Moreover, Sy, Horton and Riggio
(2018) advocated that the charismatic leaders are very compassionate and followers are
compelled to incline towards believes and visions of the charismatic leaders. They start believing
in the same way as the leader directs them to think. In case of Amazon also the personality and
presence of Jeff Bezos is so graceful that no one can overlook his presence. Therefore, the
leadership ability of Jeff Bezos is considered to be the most effective tool to embrace innovation
and change.
1.2.2 Financial benefits
Financial benefits is also considered to be one of the pertinent aspect for motivating the
employees and satisfied their needs. The article of Garcia (2018) corroborated the fact that
financial rewards and benefits have a great impact over the satisfaction level of the employees

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and it generates motivation to work hard and earn more. Therefore, in case of Amazon also the
employees are highly satisfied with their salaries and devoted to their work highly. There are
several monetary benefits that the management provides to the employee in terms of incentives
or other reward opportunities. The financial benefits are also associated with influencing the
employees to accept any change in the organisational process. Ezzat, Le Masson and Weil (2017)
articulated that financial benefits helps the business organisations to retain its skilled employees
and in return the continuous change in business can be done effectively. As a matter of fact,
Amazon also provides a hike in salary from 5% in the first yea to 20% at the end of the
completion of 4 years. For a technology driven company like Amazon, employees are considered
to be the asset for the organisation and the organisation is highly focused on its continuous
creative and innovative practice by convincing and influencing the employees with lucrative
financial benefits and rewards.
1.2.3 Skill development
It is important to note that many companies are willing to engage employees in skill
development programs so that they are able to develop their skills as per the requirement. It also
generates a positive motive from the end of the organisation as the companies are highly focused
on the quality of product and service. The skill development program definitely pushes the
employees to bring more efficacy into the operations and bring sustainability to the
organisational development. In respect to this, it can be stated that Amazon follows the same line
of skill development program with the intention to prepare its workforce for more innovation and
creativity (Chen and Hou 2016). In Amazon, the employees can get the chance to go back to
school and learn the required skills that are much needed in workplace. For encouraging the
employees, Amazon initiates the Amazon Career Choice program where the employees can get