Creativity, Innovation, Design Thinking: Google & IBM Analysis

This essay examines the roles of creativity, innovation, and design thinking within organizations, emphasizing their importance for achieving a competitive edge in today's dynamic business environment. It explores how companies like Google and IBM foster these skills among employees, recognizing that while creativity and innovation are inherent to individuals, organizations can significantly enhance them through supportive work environments, training, and leadership. The analysis delves into the processes of creativity, innovation, and design thinking, highlighting the significance of employee empowerment, teamwork, and adapting leadership styles such as transformational leadership. The essay concludes that organizations play a critical role in providing the resources and environment necessary for employees to strengthen their creative capabilities and contribute to organizational effectiveness and strategic goals. The study emphasizes the importance of employee satisfaction and the implementation of practices that motivate employees to apply creative and innovative thinking, ultimately leading to improved productivity and success.

Student Details
Creativity, Innovation
and Design Thinking
Processes

CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION 1
Creativity, Innovation and Design Thinking Processes
The organisations effectively focuses on the employee existing skills and competencies
before hiring them within the organisation so that they can be provided with effective training
to enhance their skills while working. The concept of the creativity, innovation as well as
design thinking within the organisation are the key areas which are required by the
organisation to achieve a competitive position within the industry, as with the changing
requirements of the customers within the industry it is required that the employees focus on
implementing creative decision making so that the organisational effectiveness can be
improved and the strategic goals can be achieved.
The analysis is focused on analysing the impact of the organisation on enhancing or
strengthening the creative and innovative thinking within the employees. Utilising the
examples of organisations like Google and IBM it can effectively be analysed that the
organisations play an important role in enhancing the creativeness and innovative thinking
within the employees. The employees possess certain skills but it is required that they apply
their skills and capabilities in order to achieve organisational effectiveness.
The concept of creativity within the organisation is referred to the thinking about a new
perspective which can be introduced in order to enhance the organisational efficiency, the
organisation requires that the employees within the organisation focus on the creative
thinking so that the existing process can be improved and the product manufacturing or the
service delivery can be enhanced. Creativity thinking is a part of the capability that the
human resource of the organisation possesses, it can be enhanced by providing different
opportunities and challenges, as being creative is required so that the organisation can
contribute towards the changes within the industry (M.L. & Alencar, 2012).
On the other hand, implementation of the creative ideas which give an introduction to a
product or service that does not exist within the industry is termed as innovation. As the
needs and preference of the customers are changing and to achieve their satisfaction level it is
required that the organisation focus on creating and developing product different from that of
the competitor or which is existing within the market. Such innovations require employees to
be creative and forward-thinking, so that they can understand the customer's requirements
within the industry and accordingly focus on innovation within the operational process or
innovation within the products or service (Anderson, et al., 2014).

CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION 2
Design thinking process within the organisation is the process of designing the product or the
service that is being offered to the customer as per his needs and requirements so that the
customer can be satisfied and the organisation is able to compete within the industry. As the
customer satisfaction is the major factor that decides the success of the organisation, therefore
the organisations effectively focus on the designing the product so that they can create
innovative solutions that attract the customers within the industry and provide them with the
required or desired products or services to fulfil their requirements (Johansson‐Sköldberg, et
al., 2013).
The analysis can be supported by the fact that the creative or innovative thinking within the
employees can be enhanced by the organisation but cannot be created within the employees.
As they can be provided with training sessions and development programs which helps them
to enhance their existing knowledge, but such sessions or programs can not develop a mind
within the employees through which they can think about such innovations. Therefore, it can
be effectively defined stated that the organisations make a very little impact on developing or
strengthening creativity, innovation and design thinking and such factors are dependent on
the employee self-capabilities (Carmeli, et al., 2013).
The concept that the creativity depends upon the individual employees can be supported by a
study conducted by Jan Dul and Canan Ceylan that reflects, the organisation can focus upon
providing the employees with the supportive work environment and practical tools to utilise
their creativity and to generate results, they cannot provide the employees with the resources
with which they can generate creative thinking. Such creative thinking within the
organisation leads towards the innovation and the growth of the business. As the organisation
requires that the product offered to the customers are creative and be able to satisfy their
needs and requirements, therefore, the employees hired within the organisation should
possess a certain skill set through which they can contribute towards the operational
effectiveness (Ceylan & Ceylan, 2011).
The creativity and innovation within the organisation is also required to ensure employee
empowerment within the organisation in order to improve the job satisfaction, through which
the employees are being motivated and they put more emphasis on providing quality services
within the organisation, as a result, they implement creative and innovative thinking in the
process and leads towards improved productivity. The study effectively concludes that the
management can focus upon applying and implementing concepts within the organisation

CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION 3
through which the employee satisfaction can be achieved and as a result, they focus on
providing the organisation with the improved efforts towards the strategic goal, as the
ultimate goal of the organisation is to maximize the stakeholder's wealth within the industry
(Elnaga & Imran, 2014).
Focusing on the aspect of the Teamwork within the organisation, it is an important aspect to
ensure the success of the organisation within the industry, but in terms of the creative
thinking, the individual aspect of the employee is important, as the effectiveness of the team
depends upon the effectiveness of the members in the team. The research conducted by S
Parjanen reflects that the for being a creative organisation it is required that the organisation
focus on the creativity or the innovative thinking within the candidates during hiring so that
the ultimate team developed within the organisation can contribute towards the effective
creativity and design-thinking to improve the quality of the products and services offered
(Parjanen, 2012).
Design Thinking is gaining importance with the changing customer needs and requirements
and has become a tool for implementing innovations within the organisation, the creativity as
well the innovative thinking within the organisation effectively contributes towards the
design thinking within the organisation. The concept of design thinking within the
organisation depends upon the individual and group level workplace practices. As the
organisations dealing within the international markets, have to face tough competition from
the organisation, therefore they focus on analysing the environment to identify the practices
adopted by the competitors within the industry and provide the data to the creative team to
focus on the aspect and develop strategies to improve the performance. Therefore, it is
required that the employees within the organisation are effective enough so that they can
analyse the data and accordingly develop effective product designs within the organisation
(Gruber, et al., 2015).
Google is an effective example of the organisation that focuses towards the employee
creativity and innovative thinking in the operational processes, the organisation that has
received the award or title for the best corporate culture, the organisation effectively
recognises that creativity within the employees cannot be created, however, it can be
enhanced, and to enhance the employee creativity Google provides them with flexible time
schedules so that they can work from their comfort and contribute towards innovative
decisions within the organisation. The management effectively focuses on the employee

CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION 4
qualification and accordingly provide them with the task or the situation in which they are
required to focus on utilising their skills and capabilities to develop an innovate or creative
idea that may help in the process improvement (Forbes, 2018).
The employee’s creativity within the organisation is the matter of the individual employee
rather than the organisational efforts, as the employees are required to focus on the job
assigned and accordingly deliver results which would result in the development of the
organisation within the industry. The organisations can focus upon fulfilling the needs and
requirements of the employees as per the Maslow need hierarchy theory, and ensure that the
employee is satisfied working within the organisation, such practices result in motivating the
employees to work hard and in an innovative manner. Hence, it can be justified that the
organisation role is to provide the employees with factors through which the employees can
be enhanced within the organisation but cannot be developed (PT & A, 2018).
In terms of design thinking, IBM design thinking is the organisation’s in-house innovation
centre that focuses on creative design thinking to conquer within the industry. The
organisation believes that the employees have specific skills and capabilities to think
innovatively and to design the product as per the customer needs and requirements within the
industry, the management is required to provide them with the proper environment and the
workspace where they can utilise such skills and provide with the effective results. IBM has
effectively developed a team that focuses on the uncertainties within the industry and
accordingly develops creative solutions to provide the customers with improved and satisfied
services (IBM, 2018).
Jianwu Jiang, Shuo Wang & Shuming Zhao conducted a study to identify the relation
between the HRM activities and the creativity among the employees. The results indicated
that the employer focuses on the candidate creative skills an capabilities at the time of hiring
plays a crucial role in defining the impact of the employee performance within the
organisation, as the practices adopted by the human resource management, results in
improving the existing knowledge or the capabilities of the employees and ensure that their
needs and requirements are satisfied within the organisation the employees cannot be
provided with the programs which can develop their thinking (Jiang, et al., 2012).
The organisations can also focus on adapting the leadership theories that help in enhancing
the employee performance within the organisation, as the transformational leadership helps in
providing the employee with effective guidance and motivation within the organisation so

CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION 5
that they can focus on implementing their skills and capabilities within the organisation to
achieve efficiency. Samyia Safdar and Shimin Liu conducted a study to identify the impact of
such leadership practices within the organisation and identified that implementing such
leadership practices results in enhancing the creativity of the employees along with providing
them with a safe and secure workplace that helps in achieving the employee satisfaction. The
transformational leaders within the organisation focus on the inspirational motivation,
simulated tools and techniques to enhance the creativity of the highly committed employees
within the organisation (Safdar & Liu , 2018).
The organisations play an important role in enhancing the skills and competencies of the
employees, as they cannot develop such creative and innovative thinking among the
employees, but can focus upon providing them with the required resources and work
environment where they can focus on strengthening their skills and capabilities. The Maslow
need hierarchy theory effectively defines that the employee's needs and requirements are
required to be satisfied, as a satisfied employee results in contributing effectively towards the
operational activities and focus on creative and innovative decision making. The
organisations also focus on adopting leadership styles and theories within the organisation to
guide the employees and to provide them with a safe and secure workplace, so that they can
concentrate on the creative decision-making process.
The example from the organisations such as Google and IBM, reflects that they effectively
focus on adapting the tools and policies so that they can provide their employees with a
stress-free environment where they can work comfortably and can provide with innovative
solutions to the issues pertaining within the industry. The organisations are also focusing on
establishing teams of the personnel having same thinking level so that their collaborative
effort can result in introducing a creative and a competitive solution to the management to
provide the customers with satisfactory products and services within the industry. Therefore,
it is required that the candidates focus on their creative and innovative thinking practices so
that they can contribute towards the improved efficiency.

CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION 6
References
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State-of-the-Science Review, Prospective Commentary, and Guiding Framework. Journal of
management, 40(5), pp. 1297-1333.
Carmeli, A., Gelbard, R. & Reiter‐Palmon, R., 2013. Leadership, Creative Problem‐Solving
Capacity, and Creative Performance: The Importance of Knowledge Sharing. Human
Resource Management, 52(1).
Elnaga, A. A. & Imran, A., 2014. The Impact of Employee Empowerment on Job
Satisfaction. American Journal of Research Communication , 2(1), pp. 13-26.
Forbes, 2018. 13 Reasons Google Deserves Its 'Best Company Culture' Award. [Online]
Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2018/02/08/13-reasons-google-
deserves-its-best-company-culture-award/#461b6ed93482
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of Management Journal, 58(1), pp. 1-7.
IBM, 2018. The Total Economic Impact™ Of IBM’s Design Thinking Practice. [Online]
Available at: https://www.ibm.com/design/thinking/static/Enterprise-Design-Thinking-
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[Accessed 06 April 2020].
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M.L., E. & Alencar, S. d., 2012. Chapter 5 - Creativity in Organizations: Facilitators and
Inhibitors. Handbook of Organizational Creativity, pp. 87-111.

CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION 7
Parjanen, S., 2012. Experiencing Creativity in the Organization: From Individual Creativity
to Collective Creativity. Interdisciplinary Journal of Information, Knowledge, and
Management, 7(1), pp. 109-128.
PT, W. & A, L., 2018. Improving Workplace Productivity: Applications of Maslow’s Need
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