How Employees Drive Creativity, Innovation, and Design Thinking

This essay explores the crucial role of employees in fostering creativity, innovation, and design thinking within organizations. It argues that while technology and resources are important, the human element is indispensable for generating and implementing innovative ideas. The essay uses examples like Tesla, Google and IKEA to illustrate how engaged and motivated employees drive innovation and contribute to a company's competitive advantage. It emphasizes that employees are not just implementers but also the source of new ideas and that organizations that prioritize employee satisfaction and engagement are more likely to achieve success through innovation. The paper concludes that successful innovation, creativity, and design thinking are directly and completely dependent on the employees of the company for its successful completion. Desklib offers a wide range of solved assignments and past papers for students.

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Creativity, Innovation and Design Thinking 1
“Importance of Employees in Conducting Creative Activities in an Organization”
The purpose of this essay is to enlighten the readers about the information about creativity
innovation and design thinking activities in an organization that are dependent on the workforce
only. Creativity, design thinking and innovative activities in different organizations differ on the
basis of their manpower and the requirement of the organization (Laursen, and Foss 2003).
Further, the essay is going to argue on the facts using relevant theories that whether innovative
activities in an organization are entirely dependent of individual employees of the company.
In my perspective, individual employees in of an organization completely affect the design
thinking and innovative activities of an organization. It would be wrong to say that innovation is
dependent on the human resource of the company but the fact is that without the labour force, the
organization cannot make effective use of innovation as well. Further, before analysing the real
world facts, theories and justifications regarding the case, it is important to understand the
meaning of creativity, innovation, design thinking, and find out difference between them as well
(McLean 2005). So, creativity refers to the act of conceiving something different or unusual. It is
an immeasurable effort that helps the business to use the imagination or original ideas to create
something different for the business. Further, innovation refers to the process of making or
producing a new product, feature for the business that has never been invented or used by any
other organization. Innovation can be easily measured by analysing the changes and relative
outcomes from production. Design thinking refers to the process that helps the business in
solving complex problems and providing desired outcomes as well. Design thinking is an
innovation strategy itself that helps the business innovate things to solve the complex situations
into simpler ones (Amarakoon, Weerawardena, and Verreynne 2018).
The fact is true that not all the three above listed functions can complete without the help and
hardwork of the employees of the company. However, it is also correct to say that the human
resource complete the innovation and other practices of the company. It is believed that the
employees in an organization are mediators that help the company to make use of resources,
combine them with business objectives and provide the desired results (Serrat 2017). With the
elimination of such mediators from the organization, the management will not be able to meet
the first phase of the process that is creativity and innovation with the last phase or expected
result of the process. Considering an example of Tesla Motors, it is believed that Elon Musk with

Creativity, Innovation and Design Thinking 2
his team of innovators has helped company to reach to certain heights. Without the interference
of the employees, the resources and innovation cannot complete itself to produce successful
outcomes for the company. Many of the people would say that Tesla has technology equipped
resources that help the company to grow but it should also be noted that such resources are
ultimately used by the employees only to achieve its desired outcomes. That is why it is said that
employees are the biggest and most important resource for an organization (Brewster, Chung,
and Sparrow, 2016).
Globally competitive organizations compete on the basis of uniqueness of their human resource
management in effectively managing the business functions to become successful in the
environment. Employees are the biggest corporate assets that ensure proper availability of other
resources in the business that are helpful in driving innovation. The employees in an organization
are concerned with developing skills and motivation to adequately make use of resources in such
a way that the organization achieves competitive advantage in the target market. Again looking
at the essay statement that states that successful creativity, innovation and design thinking
activities within organizations are dependent on the work of individual employees only, it should
be noted that the stance is purely true (Noe, et. al., 2017). The fact should also be noted that
innovation and technology itself also plays a huge role in motivating the employees to make use
of it. The human resource of the company is only resource that has brains to correctly do the
work. Although, artificial intelligence, technology etc. are some of the features that organizes the
work for the employees and reduces their workload by sharing their work as well. Nevertheless,
such intelligence can never replace them in the business. The human resource management
produces all the work in an organization and they get motivated with the working environment
and culture, like Google provides opportunity to employees to relax in sleeping pod, take their
pets to office etc. that prompts them to work better for the company. The idea of innovation is
proposed by the employees and in a company and is further conducted by the employees of the
company only (Lu, Zhu, and Bao 2015).
Talking about the company IKEA, it’s not the resources of the company that has provided them
esteemed growth and expansion in the market but the human resource management that is helped
them to innovate the business structure and grow repeatedly in the target market. Today no
organization can come even close to the market reputation of IKEA present in the worldwide

Creativity, Innovation and Design Thinking 3
industry. All organizations competing with IKEA make use of same type of resources to
manufacture furniture but the efficient human resource management of the company works in
such a way that the products are presented differently in the market. The organization that are
excelling in the target market like Tesla, Google, IKEA etc., are growing not because they have
differentiated raw material or infrastructure etc. in the market but because the employees of the
company work hard to engage these common resources in successful and innovative products in
the market (Chandran 2017). Innovation, creativity and design thinking does not always require
new and rare resources but it requires new and un-captured ideas from the brains of the
employees of the company. So, it can be said that the employees are the sources through which
successful in innovation and creativity and design-thinking activities are delivered and
implemented by the organization. Let’s suppose that employees of an organization does not act
as a source between the use and delivery of innovation in the business. Then the company needs
to find various other options to deliver innovation in their business and then to customers as well.
Front line as well as back line employees of the company work together to implement innovation
in the business and deliver it to customers as well (Sparrow, et. al., 2016). Innovation in the
business is conducted with the help of both resources and manpower but the manpower plays the
lead role on which innovation depends.
In order to increase the level of innovation in the business many organizations work on their
workforce engagement plan. Better the engagement plan, better the level of innovation in the
business. So, it can be said that successful innovation in a business is derived by satisfied
employees present in the organization. Engaged employees are empowered innovators who
pursue innovation improve the quality and customers experience as well. Creativity and design
thinking activities of the business improves the profitability of the company. Thus, it can be said
that successful creativity and innovative activities in an organization are completely dependent
on the engaged employees of the company. All the engaged employees of the company work
together to successfully deliver the results to the top level management as well (Nieves, and
Segarra-Ciprés 2015).
The engaged employees in an organization strive to go to an extra mile to reach to the objectives
of the company. Such employees are the potential drivers of innovation in the business. Such
employees make use of their brainstorming ideas to innovate the structure of their business and

Creativity, Innovation and Design Thinking 4
deliver it to the customers present in the market. The employees do what it takes to help the
organization succeed. They seek the opportunities, challenges, and work with their whole hearts
to achieve innovation and input them in the business as well. In fact, organizations now a days
hire group of people specifically to innovate the business functions and help the organization to
grow. Most of the organizations believe that they are attaining competitive advantage in the
market using innovation in the business and the employees of the company drive that innovation
(Donate, and de Pablo 2015).
Companies have started initiating employee satisfaction and motivation programs so as to satisfy
them with the activities of the company. The organizations have understood it as their
responsibility to satisfy the employees so that the employees can further satisfy them with their
breakthrough innovative ideas for the business. Like in the case of FedEx Corporation, the
company maintains a record of accomplishment of the employees so as to analyse their
behaviour regarding the activities of the organization. Excellent belief and excelling services of
the company act as a foundation for the employees to work effectively and drive innovation for
the company (Human Resource MBA 2015).
Thus, it can be clearly understood that successful innovation, creativity and design thinking has a
great relation with the employees of the company. Innovation of an organization is directly and
completely dependent on the employees of the company for its successful completion. Without
the efforts and contribution of the employees, no organization can effectively make use of
innovation and grow. The human resource management team of the company collectively work
to grow and help the company succeed in their mission using innovation and creativity as well.
Thus, in the limelight of above mentioned events, the fact should be noted that the paper
evaluated the fact the innovation cannot be accomplished in a business without the help of
individual employees of the company. The organization is completely dependent on the
employees to innovate the business function using creativity and design thinking activities.

Creativity, Innovation and Design Thinking 5
References
Amarakoon, U., Weerawardena, J. and Verreynne, M.L., 2018. Learning capabilities, human
resource management innovation and competitive advantage. The International Journal of
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Brewster, C., Chung, C. and Sparrow, P., 2016. Globalizing human resource management. UK:
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Chandran, N., (2017) Apple, Google, Tesla ranked world's most innovative companies: BCG
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most-innovative-companies-bcg.html [Accessed on 16 Feb. 19].
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Noe, R.A., Hollenbeck, J.R., Gerhart, B. and Wright, P.M., 2017. Human resource management:
Gaining a competitive advantage. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.
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