Creative Problem Solving: Woolworths' Sustainability Initiatives

This report examines the application of the Applied Creativity and Innovation Model to address sustainability challenges at Woolworths in Australia. It highlights how the 4As model (Aim, Assess, Activate, Apply) enhances creative thinking and enables the organization to manage sustainable measures effectively. The report identifies the starting challenge as high energy consumption and carbon emissions and explores methods to define the problem, including event management, data collection, and SWOT analysis. It also discusses creative thinking techniques, such as stakeholder engagement and the Eco Ambassador program, used to generate solutions for reducing carbon emissions, conserving resources, and promoting environmental responsibility. The report further elaborates on the development of ideas into possible solutions, focusing on sustainable sourcing, waste reduction, and the use of the Sustainable Forest Fiber logo to promote environmentally responsible paper products. The Corporate Social Responsibility model is employed to assess marketplace conditions, community involvement, environmental concerns, and human resources, with a primary focus on mitigating environmental degradation and climate change. The report concludes by emphasizing the importance of ongoing efforts to promote sustainability and recommends strategies for continuous improvement.

Running head: CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION
Creativity and innovation
Name of student
Name of University
Author note

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Starting challenge.........................................................................................................................4
Methods to define the problem....................................................................................................5
Exploration of Creative Thinking techniques to the sustainability problem...............................6
Possible solutions.........................................................................................................................8
Recommendations......................................................................................................................12
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................13
Reflection.......................................................................................................................................13
References......................................................................................................................................15

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Introduction
The topic of the report is about the application of Applied Creativity and Innovation
Model for developing skills and knowledge and ensuring creative thinking to deal with
challenges associated with sustainability. The topic focuses on sustainability and thus it will
demonstrate how the Applied Creativity & Innovation model has influenced the development of
creative thinking skills and enabled the organisation Woolworths in Australia to deal with the
challenges associated sustainability (woolworths.com.au, 2018). The Creative and innovation
model will also assist the organisation to make improvements in the areas of creative thinking
and innovation abilities, furthermore influence the organisation to manage sustainable measures
and contribute to the well being of people, community and delivering value to its stakeholders in
business.
Applied Creativity & Innovation model
There are various approaches that are responsible for managing creativity and innovation
though the users have looked at the procedures and techniques and not the processes or barriers
associated with the techniques. The creativity and innovation has allowed the company to focus
on the sustainable measures and at the same time, develops the innovative capacity of the
organization too. The creativity and innovation model used here is the 4 As, which represents
the Aim, Assess, Activate and Apply. The various stages represented in the diagram should be
followed for enhancing the innovative and creative capacity, furthermore allows the company to
manage sustainability with ease and effectiveness (Anderson, Potočnik & Zhou, 2014). The

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current model is useful not only for letting loose the innovative capacity but also for adding
value and benefits too.
Figure: 4As Creativity and Innovation model (Anderson, Potočnik & Zhou, 2014)
The creativity and innovation model has also assisted the business organization within the
retail sector to become green and the transformation has occurred by adopting greener
approaches to become more sustainable and at the same time, reduce the consumption of plastics
and make improvements in the areas of energy efficiency too (Auernhammer & Hall, 2014). The
food wastes are reduced through incineration and keeping the environmental clean, which has
facilitated the sustainable sourcing and ensured that these changes and improvements in terms of
sustainable aspects are part of the creativity and innovation managed by the organization in
Australia. There are various issues and challenges associated with the management of
sustainability including affecting the environment and even deteriorating the ecological balance
in nature. This should be overcome with the management of sustainable measures such as by
supporting the drought affected farmers in Australia, one time use of the recyclable shopping

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bags along with contributing to the wellbeing of the community by delivering food to the hungry
people in Australia (Caniëls & Rietzschel, 2015).
Starting challenge
There are various issues and challenges associated with the management of sustainability
faced by the organization in Australia named Woolworths. Few of the major sustainability issues
could be the change in climatic conditions, which could affect the growth of crops and
deteriorate the production of products and services delivered by the company. There are other
issues related to the lack of food health and safety along with water scarcity, which could also
affect the company functioning. The geopolitical instability and global development agenda
along with the inequality and global equity challenges are others among the few that have been
identified (Starik& Kanashiro, 2013).
Among these multiple sustainability issues, the starting challenge could be the higher
consumption of energy and resources, which has resulted in higher carbon emissions and
affected the environment negatively. Being a popular retail organization and an established
supermarket chain in Australia, Woolworths has managed various business procedures, which
has resulted in higher energy usage and produced higher carbon emissions that have affected the
environment negatively as well as affect the crop plantations. This would immediately affect the
production of crops and deteriorate the supply chain, furthermore affect the process of
production of the organization and lead to decline in sales revenue and profit generation too
(Starik & Kanashiro, 2013). The creativity and innovation model enables implementing the right
creative thinking approaches and techniques needed to enhance the capability of the organization

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for fulfilling the sustainability requirements and ensure that the environment is taken care of
positively as well.
Methods to define the problem
There are various methods that are followed to define the problem associated with the
management of sustainability at Woolworths, Australia. The company has made necessary
changes to make way for a better future creation and at the same time, remain committed to the
responsibilities towards the community and making it a better place to live in (Seuring & Gold,
2013). Woolworth’s sustainability management means doing the right things the right way and
engaging the stakeholders such as the employees, customers, shareholders or investors,
community and environment altogether for ensuring that the issues and problems are problem at
first and immediate actions are undertaken. One of the most creative thinking techniques could
be the management of events such as Cyclone Larry on Australian fresh process, which has
allowed the company to focus on the effects of climatic changes caused due to the consumption
of energy and higher carbon emissions. New ideas are generated through the use of creative
innovation model by virtue of its scale of operations, size, business complexity and economy of
the country (Hörisch, Freeman & Schaltegger, 2014). This has not only allowed the company to
manage the corporate social responsibilities, but also has helped in creating more scopes and
opportunities to create long lasting positive changes and move much beyond the business
operations to gain a leadership position in sustainability as a whole too. There are strategies such
as the company has evolved the concepts of sustainability by prioritizing on the core principles
and its core competencies to maintain trust, integrity and accountability by maintaining the

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values and beliefs, furthermore keep track of the amount of resources used, energy consumed
and limiting the carbon emissions to a large extent as well (Hesselbarth & Schaltegger, 2014).
There are various steps followed to address the issues including the collection of data in
the form of responses from the staffs and the consumers, managing collaborative output based on
the unexplored realms of the issue related to high consumption of resources and carbon
emissions. The tools and techniques used for applying to the identified problems are statistics,
SWOT analysis framework usage, Five why techniques, Survey process conduct and creation of
mind mapping. The integration of sustainability assessment is also considered as a major idea
generation technique that has enabled the processes into the management style and policy
decisions to identify the issues associated with the management of sustainability (Carroll &
Buchholtz, 2014). The major resources include the use of analytical tools such as the risk
assessment technique, cost benefit analysis and by assessing the sustainable impacts.
Exploration of Creative Thinking techniques to the sustainability problem
The Deliberate Creativity and Innovation model is aimed at the generation of ideas for
facilitating the development of innovative solutions and deal with the complex sustainability
issues faced by the company Woolworths, Australia. It has not only identified the unexplored
areas of realms regarding the issues, furthermore foster the development of ideas and solutions
for accomplish the sustainability development goals and objectives with ease and effectiveness
(Carroll & Buchholtz, 2013).
The company has targeted at 25 percent reduction in the carbon emissions by the trucks
owned by Woolworths, Australia. To facilitate the creative thinking techniques and procedures,
the company has formed a Sustainability Advisory Group to ensure that the ideas generated can

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get transformed into various solutions need to deal with the issues and challenges associated with
the sustainability management (Burby et al., 2013). The designing of the strategies could
facilitate the capabilities of the leader to provide strategic advices and provide various views and
opinions of Woolworths to achieve the best sustainability practices and fulfill the corporate
social responsibilities too. To further manage critical thinking and develop strategies related to
sustainability, Woolworths has partnered with Land Care, Australia through the management of a
Drough Grats Partnership and manage the natural resources properly too. To conserve energy
and natural resources, it is important to conduct research and development programs for
engaging the stakeholders together such as the community, shareholders or investors,
Government and regulatory bodies to address the issues regarding the sustainable transport fuel
and provide financial support furthermore (Sánchez, 2015). One of the most reliable strategies
could be the management of carbon foot printing for the consumer products in Australia with the
involvement of suppliers, environment and Government bodies in Australia. The Planet Ark
conducted a research for overcoming the issues regarding sustainability and at the same time,
make the customers aware of the materials that shall be recycled and reused. To implement this,
a customer education campaign is managed to increase the rates of recycling and reduce the
contamination to environment by preventing carbon emissions to the utmost level possible (Sholl
& Lively, 2016).
The Stakeholder engagement framework is another tool used to engage both the internal
and external stakeholders, furthermore understand their views, ideas and opinions to foster
innovation and benefit the organization as well as the community as a whole. With the
implantation of an Eco Ambassador program, the sustainability skills and expertise level have
increased, which has raised awareness among employees related to the addressing of issues along

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with providing them with knowledge about the environmental issues resulting from higher
consumption of natural resources, energy and increased carbon emissions (Schandl et al., 2016).
Development of ideas generated into possible solutions
As the issues mainly revolve around use of energy, natural resources and carbon
emissions, so the fuels consumed and distribution network managed with the use of trucks are
needed to be assessed along with the wastes generated. There are multiple other issues as well
that the environmental impact and carbon footprints extend well above the consumption of
resources required to manage the stores. Woolworths, being one of the largest supermarket
chains in Australia has applied the creative and innovation model for marketing the paper
products and considered those as environmentally responsible for preventing unsustainable and
illegal logging activities. The creative and innovation model could also facilitate innovative
thinking as well as source the paper from Asia Pulp and Paper along with partnership working
with other green groups for creating an attractive environment and maintain human rights
reputation along with a positive brand image (Amabile & Pratt, 2016). The Sustainable Forest
Fiber logo has been used by Woolworths on the home brand, which made the clients
knowledgeable and informed that the products and service are produced from a certified
environmentally managed organization. It also proved that the company has been socially,
economically and environmentally sustainable.
The corporate social responsibility model could be an effective tool used for assessing the
conditions of marketplace, communities involved with the sustainability management,
environmental concerns and also the human resources. The first priority though has been on the
environment degradation and climatic changes, which have been caused due to increased use of

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energy and resources along with the enhanced carbon emissions (Riahi et al., 2017). Carbon
emissions were caused due to the electricity used at the stores and company, refrigerant gases
from the systems used at supermarkets and also due to the consumption of fuel required for
managing the transportation activities, distribution networks, etc (woolworths.com.au, 2018).
The mind map could be useful for exploring the various aspects of sustainability and problems
associated with it.
Mind map

10
Implementation and design Growth of the
economy
Exploring Affectation of the environmental parameter
Design
Deliberate Innovation and
Creativity Model
Sustainability
Protection of natural
resources
CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION
Figure: Mind map (Schandl et al., 2016)
According to the ming mapping, sustainability is the main issue, which needs to be
solved through design thinking. Exploration of the possible solutions is fruitful in terms of
enhancing the awareness towards the solutions, which can be applied. In the perspective of
companies like Woolworths, adoption of Deliberate and Creativity Model helps in dealing with
issues like carbon emission and high consumption of electricity. Considering this model is

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beneficial for such brands in terms of enhancing the parameter of corporate social responsibility.
Financial considerations is assistance for brands like Woolworths regarding making estimates for
contributing to the economy and preservation of the ecological biodiversity. Rationality in this
approach brings sustainable development for brands like Woolworths. Typical example of this
rationality is evaluating the acquired solutions from the clients and the customers.
Figure: Carbon emissions (Riahi et al., 2017)
The carbon emissions showed gradual increase till 2016, but at present, the company has
followed sustainable measures to keep the emissions under control, furthermore limit the use of
natural resources and energy, which has reduced the emissions of harmful gases (Ellabban, Abu-
Rub & Blaabjerg, 2014).