Introduction to People, Organisations and Management Assignment

Prologue to People, Organizations and Management - Assignment Example Various scholars of character depict character in various manners that mirrors their pertinent theoretical tendencies. Character is mind boggling boundary that interests society as individuals attempt to clarify the conduct and lead of others (Hogan and Roberts, 2001, 30-34). Similar tricks are experienced by clinicians in their undertaking to underscore the quintessence of character. Nonetheless, maybe the most huge distinction between laymen and analyst is the way that individuals frequently focus on people in their journey to get character while clinicians all things considered utilize developments of character that are appropriate to all. Furthermore, the investigation of character involves the assessment of the way wherein qualities of character develop. The hypothesis of character in the work place underscores the hugeness of human character in work environment conduct whereby the conduct of individuals at the work place is guided by their characters. It is imagined from an und erstanding the work environments are simply social roads in which people collaborate and share encounters, accordingly quite a bit of what happens in the work environments with respect to human relations and social conduct originates from the particular human character. On a wide point of view, the theory connotes the difficulty of understanding human conduct in work places without the thought of character. For the most part, character is an element of models of thought, feeling and direct which depict individuals as one of a kind. Moreover, character radiates from inside an individual and is normal all over life (Larsen and Buss, 2008, 99-105). Parts of character include; normality, physical and mental, sway on conduct and lead and numerous indication. Normality means that part of consistency whereby an individual’s character is frequently seen through various occasions and that such direct stays customary in differing circumstances. Therefore, character influences physical and mental boundaries of an individual however it could likewise be controlled by natural necessities and courses. Character dynamically affects conduct and much of the time an individual’s character decide their conduct. At long last, character shows through various circumstances in which certain idiosyncrasies stay steady, one occasion or circumstance isn't adequate to decide character. There are a few segments of character that demonstrate character and its impact to an individual in various roads of life. Actually, the parts are essential in understanding the idea of character in detail since they uncover the attributes that imply character. Character is inalienably applicable in understanding conduct in the working environment on the grounds that an individual’s lead at the work place is significantly affected by character factors. The idea of work environment character underscores the particular arrangement of practices and character of a worker at the work place , which have a great deal to do with individual tendencies and directions. Therefore, character is huge in fathoming human conduct at the work environment. Essentially, all human conduct is an element of character since character is the premise of character and direct. On an expansive view, working environment conduct is a

Oedipus Tyrannus Essays - Oedipus The King, Oedipus, Creon

Oedipus Tyrannus Sophocles' Oedipus Tyrannus is a story wherein a city (Thebes) and its kin have an issue and ask their King (Oedipus) to take care of the issues, which face them, and get life back to ordinary. The individuals in Thebes (in the same way as other individuals when they have issues they can't tackle) go to outside wellsprings of help to attempt to right their issues. These outside sources go from different urban areas, prophets, delegates, and Shepard's, for this situation. Individuals Oedipus calls and sends for from outside the city of Thebes help to sort out the realities to discover the arrangement to the urban communities issues and uncover (to each one amazement) the unforeseen answer. The outside impacts, alongside the information on the individuals of Thebes, are exceptionally essential to finding the goals to the issues that are confronting the city. The characters who live in the city of Thebes are the individuals who have an issue that they can't illuminate all alone. In understanding those issues, the characters inside the city of Thebes play the same amount of a roll in comprehending them as do the characters from outside the city. Despite the fact that the characters, for example, Teiresias, the errand person, and the shepherd all brought data to Oedipus and the city of Thebes, which was significant in finding reality, none of this data would have been brought to Thebes on the off chance that it wasn't for the activities of characters inside the city. The characters need to participate to think of an answer. This circumstance resembles having all the cash on the planet however it is nothing but bad until you proceed to get it. In Sophocles' Oedipus Tyrannus all the characters inside the city of Thebes play a move in the ultimate result of the story whether enormous or little. In Oedipus Tyrannus, Oedipus was the fundamental character and was the King of the suppliants and the person who had spared the individuals from such things as the Sphinx. Oedipus was likewise preferred significantly by the divine beings. Oedipus Tyrannus lived in the city of Thebes in Greece about 450BC and decided over the individuals that lived there. Reality, all through the story, was battled for by him and indicated it was to remember him for some way, yet in what direction we didn't know about until the finish of our perusing. There are numerous little characters that affect this story alongside the principle ones. These characters are taken a gander at as the average citizens in the Village of Thebes, the dispatchers (despite the fact that the detachments bring significant data), and furthermore the elderly people men of Thebes. The elderly people men of Thebes participate in the Writen some portion of the story, by going about as a chorale and in that manner voicing the assessment of the everyday citizens. The roll the characters, for example, all the suppliants played was one where they assembled outside the castle and in the story were anonymous, and talked no individual lines in the perusing. These suppliants were called upon by Oedipus to deliver any data that could be of help in finding the answer to the city of Thebes' issues. The Priest is the pioneer of the suppliants and Oedipus imparts to the suppliants through him. Along these lines Oedipus hears the issues and musings of the suppliants in an auspicious way. The relationship of the fundamental characters that live inside the city of Thebes is a muddled one where a few characters hold more than one relationship to another. Likewise the fundamental characters regularly have clashes in which one may have status over another, yet the other may have information, which gives him/her a few kind of control over their boss. A portion of the connections that the characters have are family related and those connections can some of the time strife. Moreover a portion of the connections between certain characters are ones where privileged insights are kept or potentially information is known however not shared. Oedipus sent Creon, his brother by marriage (and uncle obscure to Oedipus now), to Delphi to inquire the Oracle what Oedipus must do to spare the city of Thebes from the plague. Creon took in a great deal from the Oracle, which was the first venturing stone of the way to reality that the characters followed. After Creon went to the Oracle Oedipus with the understanding of the tune searched out Teiresias, the visually impaired diviner, who was a proficient man from outside the city. One case of how a family based relationship can be clashing is the connection between Iocasta

30 Is Not the New 20

30 Is Not the New 20 It was the best of times; it was the worst of times. I officially turned 30 today (cue the music and the candlelit cake). They say that 30 is the new 20, but to be honest Im glad thats not true. Im moving forward, not backwards. Im growing and Im happy to be 30. I struggled throughout the last two years as a decade faded for me. And through the struggle, I grew tremendously. I am a different man. We change over timeâ€"often for the better. I am a better man today than I was yesterdayâ€"but I am far from perfect. I make mistakes and bad decisions, and I fail at times. I stumble, fall. I am humanâ€"a mixed bag, nuanced, the darkness and the lightâ€"as are you. And you are beautiful. My story is unique, and yet it is no different from  yoursâ€"minus the details. I have loved. I have laughed, grown, and contributed. And for that I am grateful. I have hated. I have hurt, damaged, and lied. And for that I am sorry. I have lived. And for that I bear no regrets. But today marks a new decade for me, a decade of opportunity. My twenties were filled with the greatest joys of my life, as well as my most excruciating pains. I can see it lingering behind me in the foreground of my rearview mirror. Perhaps my thirties will bring forth a certain kind of levity, serenity, calm. Or perhaps life isnt meant to contain these absolutes. Perhaps one must sit in the valley to see the beauty of the mountaintop, to appreciate his ascent, to live a meaningful life. And perhaps the key is to not live in the valley, but, rather, to be aware of why you are there and prepare for the journey ahead. My friend Mark Robertson recently wrote a line that stuck with me: Sometimes rock bottom is the finest place to be.  For me, his sentiment speaks of opportunity, of growth, and of a bright and compelling future irrespective of your current situation: be it good, bad, or somewhere in between. Whatever the case may be, I will embrace this life, even though it scares the shit out of me at times. It is the only life I have. And I will love my lifeâ€"a beautiful, terrifying, wondrous lifeâ€"through the good times and the bad. Heres to another 30 years, and then another. Subscribe to The Minimalists via email.

30 Is Not the New 20

30 Is Not the New 20 It was the best of times; it was the worst of times. I officially turned 30 today (cue the music and the candlelit cake). They say that 30 is the new 20, but to be honest Im glad thats not true. Im moving forward, not backwards. Im growing and Im happy to be 30. I struggled throughout the last two years as a decade faded for me. And through the struggle, I grew tremendously. I am a different man. We change over timeâ€"often for the better. I am a better man today than I was yesterdayâ€"but I am far from perfect. I make mistakes and bad decisions, and I fail at times. I stumble, fall. I am humanâ€"a mixed bag, nuanced, the darkness and the lightâ€"as are you. And you are beautiful. My story is unique, and yet it is no different from  yoursâ€"minus the details. I have loved. I have laughed, grown, and contributed. And for that I am grateful. I have hated. I have hurt, damaged, and lied. And for that I am sorry. I have lived. And for that I bear no regrets. But today marks a new decade for me, a decade of opportunity. My twenties were filled with the greatest joys of my life, as well as my most excruciating pains. I can see it lingering behind me in the foreground of my rearview mirror. Perhaps my thirties will bring forth a certain kind of levity, serenity, calm. Or perhaps life isnt meant to contain these absolutes. Perhaps one must sit in the valley to see the beauty of the mountaintop, to appreciate his ascent, to live a meaningful life. And perhaps the key is to not live in the valley, but, rather, to be aware of why you are there and prepare for the journey ahead. My friend Mark Robertson recently wrote a line that stuck with me: Sometimes rock bottom is the finest place to be.  For me, his sentiment speaks of opportunity, of growth, and of a bright and compelling future irrespective of your current situation: be it good, bad, or somewhere in between. Whatever the case may be, I will embrace this life, even though it scares the shit out of me at times. It is the only life I have. And I will love my lifeâ€"a beautiful, terrifying, wondrous lifeâ€"through the good times and the bad. Heres to another 30 years, and then another. Subscribe to The Minimalists via email.

Who Are The Cherokee Indians - 2515 Words

Who are the Cherokee Indians? Rachel Prevatt and Page Vue University of North Georgia Authors Note This paper was prepared for HSDA 3110, taught by Dr. McDaniel. Abstract In history classes, students are taught about the Cherokee Indians, who they were and what happened to them. The Indian Removal Act forced the Cherokee Indians to relocate to another location because European settlers wanted their land. What followed was the Trail of Tears, it was a gruesome journey that the Cherokee Indians had to take to the southeastern regions of the United States. Many suffered and died before even reaching the final destination. Remnants of the trail and their housing can still be seen today. The Cherokee Indians were a huge part of the American history, but where are they now? Today, they both lack privilege as well as have some specific privileges because of who they are. It is important to study other cultures and understand who they are, especially when they help make up part of the population of the United States. Why do we not hear about the Cherokee Indians anymore? History of Group in United States The Cherokee Indians lived in what is now America hundreds of years before coming in contact with European settlers. They live in the southeastern region of the United States which is now Georgia, Arkansas, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, and Kentucky (â€Å"Our History,† 2014). It is believed that the Cherokee were derived from a group ofShow MoreRelatedHow The Cherokee Nation Can Overcome Generational Ptsd1640 Words   |  7 PagesKristin Quick Term Project 3-7-2016 How the Cherokee Nation Can Overcome Generational PTSD. 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There were two different villages thatRead MoreThe Cherokee Tribe1483 Words   |  6 PagesThe Cherokee tribe is known as one of the earliest and largest Indian tribe in North America. They are federally recognized even today among several states(museum). While they slowly became Americanized by the Europeans who came over to America, some still practice their typical Indian rituals publicly today. Most converted to Christianity and their government in Oklahoma is based off the American government with three branches. One would believe that the Trail of Tears could have completely vanquishedRead MoreThe Indian Removal And The Colonization Of The United States Essay1296 Words   |  6 Pageshundred thousand Indians from sixty different tribes were relocated from their homelands and moved west; around thirty thousand Indians would die en route. The India n Removal stands as one of the cruelest periods in the history of the United States, and is the result of a long history of war and disagreement between whites and Indians. Indians and Europeans had their differences. The culture of the Indian tribes was very different than that of the incoming white settlers. Indian nations held a deepRead MoreAmerican History : The Cherokee Nation979 Words   |  4 PagesThe Cherokee nation has been entwined in American history since the discovery of Columbus. From fighting against the Americans in the Revolutionary War to being forced onto the Trail of Tears in the 1800s, from fighting for their land to their large growth in Oklahoma, the Cherokee has had a long and hard existence. They have influenced American politics and culture for many years. Throughout their vast history, the Cherokee have been a great point of culture and tradition in America. The CherokeeRead MoreThe Re-birth, Revolt, and Removal of the Cherokee Essay1362 Words   |  6 PagesRevolt, and Removal of the Cherokee The Cherokee were forced into giving up most of their land in the eighteenth century. Through fraudulent treaties and unjust deals the Cherokee lost close to all of their land during this time. One of the biggest loses coming from Hendersons Purchase, in Kentucky, 1775. In an effort to stop the complete takeover of all Indian land, the Cherokees go through a transformation in order to survive in a new world. The great Cherokee renascence of 1794-1833 wasRead MoreThe Trail Of Tears By Andrew Jackson877 Words   |  4 Pagesthe United States used its legislative power and brute force to remove the Indian tribes. From the election of Andrew Jackson, and the implementation of the Indian Removal Act. The Creeks, Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Seminole and their actions against the removal process. Finally, how the Cherokee used the legal process to fight evacuation of their nation. Andrew Jackson was not the first president to order the removal of Indians, but he is definitely the most infamous. He was elected as the seventh presidentRead MoreThe Cherokee Indians1351 Words   |  6 PagesIntroduction: Have you ever heard of the Cherokee Indians? Sure you have! Just as a reminder, they are the biggest tribe, and most known of out of all the Indian tribes there has ever been in the southeast. They are very important to American History and helped shaped us to be the Americans we are today, which is clearly what I ll be explaining in this paper. Throughout the paper, I ll tell you everything you need to know about the Cherokee Indians and continue to relate to the thesis. What wasRead MoreCherokee Indians1591 Words   |  7 PagesCherokee Indians Alicia Stephens AIU Abstract In this paper I will discuss the history of the Cherokee Indians in the United States. First by describing the tribes pre-Columbian history to include the settlement dates and known cultural details. Then a brief description of the cultural and religious beliefs of the tribe will be given, as well as the tribe’s history after contact with settlers. Finally discussing John Ross, who he was and how he affected the Cherokee Indians. Cherokee Indians Read MoreOn How the American Indians Were Removed from Their Land1586 Words   |  7 PagesOne by one Indian peoples were removed to the West. The Delaware, the Ottawa, Shawnee, Pawnee and Potawatomi, the Sauk and Fox, Miami and Kickapoo, the Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek and Seminole. In all some 90 thousand Indians were relocated. The Cherokee were among the last to go. Some reluctantly agreed to move. Others were driven from their homes at bayonet point. Almost two thousands of them died along the route they remembered as the Trail of Tears. For decades, the state of Georgia sought

Probability Puzzles Odds of a Flush in Poker

There are many different named hands in poker.  One that is easy to explain is called a flush.  This type of hand consists of every card having the same suit. Some of the techniques of combinatorics, or the study of counting, can be applied to calculate the probabilities of drawing certain types of hands in poker. The probability of being dealt a flush is relatively simple to find but is more complicated than calculating the probability of being dealt a royal flush. Assumptions For simplicity, we will assume that five cards are dealt from a standard 52 deck of cards without replacement. No cards are wild, and the player keeps all of the cards that are dealt to him or her. We will not be concerned with the order in which these cards are drawn, so each hand is a combination of five cards taken from a deck of 52 cards. There are a total number of C(52, 5) 2,598,960 possible distinct hands. This set of hands forms our sample space. Straight Flush Probability We start by finding the probability of a straight flush. A straight flush is a hand with all five cards in sequential order, all of which are of the same suit. In order to correctly calculate the probability of a straight flush, there are a few stipulations that we must make. We do not count a royal flush as a straight flush. So the highest ranking straight flush consists of a nine, ten, jack, queen and king of the same suit. Since an ace can count a low or high card, the lowest ranking straight flush is an ace, two, three, four and five of the same suit. Straights cannot loop through the ace, so queen, king, ace, two and three are not counted as a straight. These conditions mean that there are nine straight flushes of a given suit. Since there are four different suits, this makes 4 x 9 36 total straight flushes. Therefore the probability of a straight flush is 36/2,598,960 0.0014%. This is approximately equivalent to 1/72193. So in the long run, we would expect to see this hand one time out of every 72,193 hands. Flush Probability A flush consists of five cards which are all of the same suit. We must remember that there are four suits each with a total of 13 cards. Thus a flush is a combination of five cards from a total of 13 of the same suit. This is done in C(13, 5) 1287 ways. Since there are four different suits, there are a total of 4 x 1287 5148 flushes possible. Some of these flushes have already been counted as higher ranked hands. We must subtract the number of straight flushes and royal flushes from 5148 in order to obtain flushes that are not of a higher rank. There are 36 straight flushes and 4 royal flushes. We must make sure not to double count these hands. This means that there are 5148 – 40 5108 flushes that are not of a higher rank. We can now calculate the probability of a flush as 5108/2,598,960 0.1965%. This probability is approximately 1/509. So in the long run, one out of every 509 hands is a flush. Rankings and Probabilities We can see from the above that the ranking of each hand corresponds to its probability. The more likely that a hand is, the lower it is in ranking. The more improbable that a hand is, the higher its ranking.

Definitions of Good Compare Contrast Essay Topics

Definitions of Good Compare Contrast Essay Topics Top Good Compare Contrast Essay Topics Choices An enormous number of topic ideas is your principal advantage. Another helpful idea is to ask a relative or a buddy to read the essay and see whether they can spot some mistakes. You may also choose one particular topic at the moment and begin practicing. For example an individual may opt for a topic like, life in the shoes of a werewolf. The 5-Minute Rule for Good Compare Contrast Essay Topics If necessary, you could always turn to professionals to supply you with a nudge or assist you with your topics or sources. A lot of various topics in every single field can be modified to your specific problems. Some topics can have a connection to the law for instance, death penalty or abortion legalization. Topics to compare and contrast shouldn't be challenging, unless your professor assigned a distinctive topic that will call for extra reading. If you don't, read how to compose a compare and contrast essay. You can begin with the form of topic you select for your compare and contrast essay. You don't need to be very detailed in your essay, but be sure you check all you write about. After the essay demands a large number of approaches to explore, it's important to understand how to organize it correctly in an effort to guarantee easy reading. Finally, it is going to be a four-paragraph paper. If you must compose an essay, the very first thing you ought to do is to decide on a fantastic topic. To compose a high-quality paper, you've got to understand how to pick your topic properly and utilize it to create a practical outline. To begin with, your paper subject ought to be relevant to the academic material you're studying. With a little inspiration, you can come across a subject to compare in literary everything. Once you have sorted out things, hit books looking for relevant details. The above-mentioned ideas offer you a wide selection of options to select from for your bit of writing. Picking original topics can take a while in case you don't have any useful and excellent samples facing you. What You Should Do to Find Out About Good Compare Contrast Essay Topics Before You're Left Behind Compare and contrast essay is just one of the most intriguing assignments you are going to have at school or college. Needle ss to say, writing is among the major learning programs in any critical school institution. There are lots of others persuasive compare and contrast essay topics regarding education if you are ready to write about doing it. Students who excel in writing about such complex topic can have an opportunity to be enrolled into a number of the very best Art universities to come up with their abilities and talent. One other important question is the way to select the perfect essay topics. Following that, you can't locate a perfect topic. A number of the essay topics below may appear to contain subjects that don't have anything in common. It is possible to use any as the subject of your essay particularly when you're not assigned any specific theme. The above mentioned compare and contrast essay topics are just a couple of many topics it is possible to decide to talk about in your essay. If you use sources be sure that you cite and to extend a reference page. Choosing the appropriate topics might take a while in case you don't have a list of sample topics before you. Academically suitable compare contrast essay topics ought to be stimulating together with attention-grabbing. The Birth of Good Compare Contrast Essay Topics By browsing compare and contrast essay examples, an individual can observe that a standard assignment is made up of 3 sections that have an introduction, discussion of your primary concept, the particular issues to study. Despite the fact that you'll have different conclusions in the conclusion of each paragraph throughout the text, you also must have a conclusion as a distinct role in the conclusion of your essay. To make a great outline, you need to have a comprehension of the format of compare and con trast essay. You should present your topic, obviously, and also your thesis statement that has the function of indicating to your readers what is the probable path of the full work. What You Should Do About Good Compare Contrast Essay Topics Starting in the Next Seven Minutes The very first thing you ought to do is identify the form of compare and contrast essay which you're handling. Your capacity to create a fantastic paper is dependent on structuring an ideal outline. Mention similarities and the way both ideas differ. The practice starts with brainstorming and deep investigating to locate a wide collection of things that the topics have in common and distinct traits.

Financial statement analysis and Business

Question: Discuss about the Financial statement analysis and Business. Answer: Introduction: Tom Stemberg, who was a chain executive from supermarket business and then turned into entrepreneur, in the year 1985, through facing his own problem realised that for the requirement of office products people need supermarket. After 10 months of this incident, first superstore office was opened. Due to opening of that office, supplies for office requirement became more affordable, accessible to everyone in need. Several things altered over the past few years as they enlarged their business and number of products for dealing. Staples think that instead of changing several things, the only thing, which did not change was that customers are their first priority and they are always there to help their customers, no matter what they are expecting. They provide products to those people who want to develop new things. For more than 25 years they are working hard to construct a strong brand that people can believe, connect with and trust. In their beginning days they wanted to give the message to the people that Yeah, weve got that, so that, people could sense that they can find the items in Staples, whatever they required for office supplies. They introduced their new tagline that was easy in the year 2000. These three words helped to set their own significant identity and they realized that they were more than just selection. They also tried to offer the simples shopping experience for their customers. In todays competitive scenario, irrespective of new or established business every business is trying to gain more and introducing new things. As the customers are always busy in various sectors like hospitals, school premises, offices, at home, they require everything started from office supplies to technology and power tools. To provide the customers with more products, they introduced: At staples.com customers can have ample choice of products Customers can check their Shop by industry option If the customers cannot find their required item, they can check their Product concierge option. To provide convenient shopping experience, they offer the following advantages to their customers: Customers can find stores as per their convenience They can shop anytime through online Can visit their site through mobile app Know more about their products through pick up in store and reserve online services Can check about their requirement through Order by item option Reorder their favourite items with Easy reorder option Customers can enjoy the problem free returns each time. Evaluation of directors report: The executive committee of staples offers an opportunity for diversifying their board and leveraging their strength for guidelines in case of emergencies for the benefits of stakeholders. It is expected that the executive committee will take appropriate actions whenever necessary to accelerate their interests in their board meetings on continue basis. The board of directors are responsible for approving and reviewing the approaches for the management of risk and preparing framework for risk parameters. The audit committee supplies report regarding the risk related to companys financial report and accounting, integrity of the report, cyber security and technology including considerable responsibilities towards significant information. The audit committee provides their report at the quarterly board meeting about significant activities (Staples.com 2017). Strategies: Their board reviews their long-term approaches every year in the annual scheduled meeting held in June every year. The meeting involves presentation about strategic approaches after discussions with senior management team. Their board spend considerable time throughout the year 2015 for discuss and review the above matters related to strategic alternatives, integration planning and acquisition. The board committee also regard the strategic objectives that are within their targets, for example, involvement of the finance committee in the arrangement of finance for the transactions with the Office Depot. Their independent directors also meet in executive session on regular basis about the strategies to be implied. Evaluation: They are committed to uphold an efficient board that will work towards the interest of the shareholders as well as the company as a whole. They hold an annual self-evaluation procedure for evaluating the performance s of the directors. As a part of the procedure, a survey in written is generated for which inputs are collected from the independent directors and chair person of the board. Every director fill up the survey form and give their valuable feedback and suggestion to the outside counsel, who in turn will summarize the outcome of the evaluation and will suggest recommendations accordingly. This procedures assists the directors to offer feedback about: Oversight, planning and information about the board Operation and structure of the board Relationship of the board with the management and CEO Operation and structure of the committee Engagement, preparedness and qualifications of the director The committee of corporate governance, nominating committee and the full board of directors discuss about the outcomes in the executive session and determine the proper mix for the composition of the board and process of nomination as well as identifies the areas where the improvement is necessary. Diversity: Diversity has always been a crucial factor to staples. They always try to provide an environment for business that will offer variety of people, experience and thought and suppliers. The board reviews the proper characteristics and skills of the members from the board with regard to the board composition. Apart from diversified skill, experience, tenure, the company also gives significant importance to the ethnic and gender background. Under the approved procedures of the independent directors and the assistance and advice from the General Counsel, statements are provided to the boards chairperson. Communication related to the corporate strategies and corporate governance are expected to be forwarded, as it is more important as compared to the personal grievances and general business (Staples.com 2017). Assessment of Quality of Earnings and conclusions about Earnings Sustainability: Staples have various success aspects that contribute to their day-to-day success. One of the primary contributors to the success is the ability of differentiating themselves from the competitors. Annual report of staples includes data regarding the important accounting flexibilities and accounting policies that can be utilized to assess their earning quality and earning sustainability. It has been noticed that the disclosure quality of staples is superior as compared to its competitors. During the analysis it has been noticed that major part of their assets are financed with operating and not with capital lease that results in understatement of liabilities as well as assets. Other findings are as follows: Results from operation: Primary contributors to their operating result of 2015 as compared to the year 2014 are summarized below: They generated $21.1 billion from sales that shown a decrease 6.4% as compared to 2014 and the sales of 2014 was $22.49 billion that shows a decrease by 2.7% and the sale for 2013 was $24.38 billion Online sales and sales from North American stores decreased by 8.7% as compared to 2014 and decreased in 2014 by 5.9% as compared to 2013. Income from business was stable at 4.5% Commercial sales from commercial of North America increased by 1.1% and income from business unit increased from 6.9% to 7.2% Sales from International operation decreased by 16.3% in 2015 and by 4.9% in 2014 and the reason behind that was the unfavourable effect of exchange rates Net income of 2015 was $379 million, for 2014 was $135 million and for 2013 was $707 million. Earnings per share for 2015 were $0.59 as compared to $0.21 for the year 2014 and $1.07 in 2013 (staples.com 2017). Performance table: (Amount in billion) Years Sales Net income Earnings per share 2013 $ 24,380.00 $ 707.00 $ 1.07 2014 $ 22,490.00 $ 135.00 $ 0.21 2015 $ 21,100.00 $ 379.00 $ 0.59 Table 1: Performance analysis (Source: Investor.staples.com 2017) Trend analysis: Figure 1: Trend analysis (Source: Created by author) From the above table, it can be seen that the sales of the company is in decreasing trend and fell from $24.38 billion to $22.49 billion and further to $21.10 billion over the year 2013, 2014 and 2015. Net income of the company drastically fell from $707 billion to $135 billion from 2013 to 2014. However, the company managed to raise their net income to $379 billion in the year 2015. Earnings per share of the company also fell from $1.07 per share to $0.21 per share from 2013 to 2014. It increased to $0.59 per share in 2015. It shows that though the company has managed to overcome the drastic position of 2014 in the year 2015, still it could not achieve the level of performance they achieved in 2013. Risk related to the business: Identified risks related to the business are as follows: The mergers will not be accomplished until certain stipulated conditions such as expiration of termination period Combination of two companies might be more costly, time consuming and complicated than the expectation and the cost saving and other anticipated advantages may not be possible to realize If they cannot meet the changing requirements of the customers, their financial and business performance can be affected adversely They are not certain about transforming their business and their inability to implement the strategies successfully can affect their business adversely They operate in highly competitive market and risk are always there that they may fail to compete successfully in the long-run International economic conditions can affect their performance adversely Their global operations are exposed to inherent risks of foreign operations Evaluation of cash flows: Cash flow analysis: Particulars 2013 2014 2015 Net cash from operating activities $ 1,219,188.00 $ 1,108,286.00 $ 1,042,938.00 Net cash used in investing activities $ (342,015.00) $ (479,545.00) $ (375,293.00) Net cash used in financing activities $ (812,265.00) $(1,442,049.00) $ (492,656.00) Exchange rate differences $ 5,245.00 $ (19,889.00) $ (48,215.00) Net increase or decrease in cash $ 70,153.00 $ (833,197.00) $ 126,774.00 Table 2: Cash flow analysis (Source: Investor.staples.com 2017) Trend analysis Figure 2: Trend analysis (Source: Created by author) It can be seen from the above table that the net cash generation has fell drastically over the year 2013 to 2014 from $70,153 thousands to negative generation of $833,197 thousands. However, the company managed to generate cash amounting to $126,774 thousands in the year 2015. The adverse result in the year 2014 generated through excess spending towards financing activities that amounted to $14,42,049 thousands. Exchange rate difference has greatest impact on the incomes of year 2015 as compared to 2013 and 2014 and amounted to $(48,215) thousands. Net cash used for investing activities for the year 2014 is highest as compared to the year 2013 and 2015 and amounted to $479,545 thousands. This higher spending also contributed to negative increase of cash. On the analysis of the adverse performance for the year 2014, it is noticed that the company paid huge amount towards payment of capital lease and borrowing obligations that amounted to $910,225 thousands. The company managed to revi ve their performance in every aspect and from the devastating results of 2014 they managed to a satisfied performance in the year 2015. They maintain liquid investments with a maturity period of three months or less than that. Their receivables involve non-trade receivables and trade receivables financed under the commercial credit terms. Allowance for doubtful debts has been transacted to decrease the receivables from trade to an amount expected to be realised from customers based on particular evidence as well as past trends. Financial credit quality: As per the rating of Moody, for approval of ratings approvals from various regulations are required and the term loan shall not be funded until the formal discussions are closed. They believe that the term loan functions as bridge loan to benefit the office depot acquisition and the stated structure offers considerable flexibility with regard to the refinance or repayment. Further, downgrades from Prime-2, the commercial rating and Baa 2, the senior unsecured rating will limited to one-notch if the company exhibits the willingness and ability to decrease the leverage to 3.5 times within the acquisition closing of 24 months. Staples are not expected to fulfil the criteria within the normal time frame. Baa 2 rating regards the financial policy of staple as flexible as it connected to repurchase of shares, its ability of best-in class execution, construction of multi-channel approaches in performance that creates strong metrics for credit and balanced mix of revenue between corporate an d retail customers. The rating identifies that they provide high quality of office supplies as compared to their competitors, such as Amazon, Wal-Mart, Costco, BJs and Sams Club. All of these provide services related to expansion of home-based and small businesses. An upgrade can take be added to the rating of staples if they maintain their operating performance in solid way despite the macroeconomic challenges from Europe and US and the they maintained stable financial policy with regard to their relationships between debt holders and shareholders. Apparently, rating can also be upgraded if the retained cash inflow in relation to the total debt was comfortably maintained above 25%. At the same time, ratings can be downgraded due to weaken of financial policy and operational performance, for example, cash to net debt ratio falls below 5% or retained cash flow to net debt falls below 18%. As per the records of headquarter in Framingham, staples is the biggest retailer of office supplies with annual income of $23 billion and 200 stores approximately. It has also agreed to acquire Office Depot, Inc for a payment of $6 billion approximately. The primary methods used in the ratings was Global retail Industry published in 2011 June. Regulatory disclosures: For the purpose of ratings issued on series or class or category of debt and program, credit rating announcement assist in disclosures of certain regulations for the issuance of subsequent note or bind of the same class or category of debt, for which the ratings are ascertained from the previous rating exclusively as per the rating practices of Moody. On the other hand, for the purpose of rating of a support provider, the announcement of rating offers certain disclosures for the rating of support provider and for every rating they ascertain the rating from the credit rating of the support provider. For issuance of conditional rating, credit rating announcement assist in disclosures of certain assigned conditional rating and with regard to the definite rating that could be allotted after the final debt issuance, for every case definite rating will be allotted. For the rated companies or the affected securities that receives direct assistance from the primary companies for the rating a nd whose ratings can be altered due to this rating action, their disclosures for associated regulatory will be same as the rating of the guarantor companies. One exception to this strategy exists for the disclosures such as, disclosures received from rated entities, disclosures given for the rated entities and other ancillary services. Regulatory disclosures included in the publications apply for the rating of the credit and also for the rating review or rating outlook, if possible. Revolving credit facilities: The company on 31st May 2013 entered into a new agreement for credit with the Bank of America named as May 2018 revolving Credit Facility. The credit facility offered a maximum borrowing limit of $1.0 billion that can be increased up to $1.5 billion upon request and fulfilment of certain conditions. Borrowings may be in the form of swing loans, syndicated loans, letter of credit, multi-currency loans, the maximum limit of which cannot exceed the maximum limit of borrowing. Borrowed amounts may be repaid and again borrowed from time to time till 31st May 2018. Interest rate of borrowing may vary depending on the borrowing type and will reflect in the coverage ratio for fixed charge and credit rating as a percentage base. The Company will pay facility fee ranging from0.08%to0.225%per annum based on its coverage ratio for fixed charge and credit rating. May 2018 Revolving Credit Facility is of unsecured nature and ranks pari passu with the public notes of the company and other indebtedn ess and involves negative covenants and customary affirmative for credit facilities. The May 2018 Revolving Credit Facility also involves financial agreements that needs the Company to uphold a minimum coverage ratio for fixed charge and a maximum adjusted funded debt to total ratio for capitalization. However, the Company did not availed the facility from the May 2018 Revolving Credit Facility during the year 2014 and no amounts were due with regard to this facility at January 31, 2015. Program for commercial paper: Staples undertaken a program under commercial paper that allowed it to issue commercial paper of unsecured nature amounting up to $1.0 billion. The company utilizes the proceeds from commercial paper for general purposes such as capital expenditure, working capital, share repurchase and acquisition. Commercial papers maturity varies depend on the periods but cannot exceed 397 days in any way. In 2014, the Company borrowed under the this Program to assist its requirements of working capital. The maximum amount due under the Commercial Paper Program during2014was$150.0 million. OnJanuary31, 2015,noCommercial Paper Notes were due (Sec.gov 2017). Other credit lines: The Company has several other options of credit lines under which it can borrow up to $138.9 million. OnJanuary31, 2015, the Company had borrowings due amounted to $77.2 millionand due letters of credit amounted to$0.1 millionunder these credit lines and had$61.6 million available for credit on that date.There were no incidence of default during2014under any debt agreements (Sec.gov 2017). Deferred financing fees: With regard to the issuance of debt instruments, the company had to paid fees under the financing charge that were amortized over the debt instruments term. Financing fees amortization has been segregated as expense for interest. Fees for deferred financing amortized as interest expense amounted to$4.8 million,$3.4 millionand$2.0 millionfor2012,2013and2014, respectively. The amount for 2012 involves$1.0 millionof accelerated amortization related to the early extinguishment of$632.8 millionof the January 2014 Notes. AtJanuary31, 2015, unamortized financing fees of$2.0 millionwere included inprepaid expenses and other current assetsand$5.6 millionwere included inOther assets. AtFebruary1, 2014, unamortized financing fees of$2.0 millionwere included inprepaid expenses and other current assetsand$8.4 millionwere included inOther assets (Sec.gov 2017). Professional comparison ranking: The professional ranking published by the fortune magazine in 2015 May in their list for Fortune 500 analysed the ranking of largest public as well as private companies from US based on the annual revenue. The list of 2015 was ranked as per the annual gross revenue rather than profits of the previous year that each company included in the list. As the ranking of Fortune 500 supplies comparison between the listed companies from US among all the industries, a fall or rise in the ranking may not associate with the fall or rise in the individual revenue or performance of the company. However, while comparing the ups and downs over the years in the retail sector, a fall or rise in the ranking shows retail relevance and even among the retail companies that are not competitors. In the ranking for the year 2015 under the Fortune 500 restaurant chains, retail chains, oil companies, automobile retailers with expediency retailing and the companies having retailing as the considerable part of bu siness are included. The downward and upward trend of few bigger companies from US can be easily marked using the fortune 500 chart for comparison. The ranking of staples over the past few years are as follows: Year 2013 rank 122 Year 2014 rank 127 Year 2015 rank 133 It can be seen from the above ranking list that the ranking of the company is deteriorating over the last years, which states that the performance of the company with compared to its competitors are not favourable and their ranking came to 133 in year 2015 from the rank 122 in 2013 (Fortune 2017). As per the latest observation about the available components of SP 500 undertaken for largest market capitalization, Staples took over #454 position from PulteGroup Inc. market capitalization is a crucial factor as it keeps an eye on the investor for several reasons. The primary reason is that it gives true comparison for the attributed value through the stock market for a given stock of the company. Below shown chart is about the performance of Staples Inc. versus Pulte Group Inc. through plotting their size rank within the SP 500 over the given period Figure 3: Comparison of rank (Source: Theonlineinvestor.com 2017) Conclusion: From the above discussions, it is concluded that the stability and dependability are the key qualities that are expected from any trusted company. Staples provide the assurance of working with the standing and strong financial background supplier in the industry. Their financial strength are advantageous in the following way: Their low expenses in operation expenses assist in minimizing business costs, which in turn enable them to generate greater savings in overall performance that are passes on to the customer in next stage The company leverages the purchasing power to bargain for highly competitive savings on all the items required by the customers Their industry-leading market capitalization assists them in achieving the ability to invest continuously in critical development of their business. Recommendation: Setting goals for corporate responsibility and tracking the performances is an important way to evaluate the functions. It gives the company and the shareholders the tools and information required for making crucial decisions for present as well as for future. Some of the recommendations that can be advised to the company are as follows: Community: The Company should increase the engagement with associate community through increasing the participation and awareness in opportunities of local volunteer. They must also increase involvement in philanthropic initiatives, increase support to local companies for maximizing the community effect. They should increase the engagement of customers in community by providing assistance in market campaigning. Environment: The company must take appropriate steps to sell sustainable services and products through improving identification, sourcing and promoting greener products and at the same time must take steps to reduce the usage of packaging materials from outside. They must offer easy and simple recycling solutions to customer, minimize waste from operation process and maximize energy efficient and renewable energy through minimizing electrical intensity and reducing emissions of carbon globally. Ethics: They must take steps to increase the brand of Global Ethics Compliance Office and ethics program both and internationally and domestically. They should continue to provide easy access to associate training through online training program. The company shall support the Chief Culture Officer for the successful implementation of objectives related to ethics. Diversity: Staples should be more determined to pursuit hiring women to fill vacant positions across all business units with special importance in segments where they are underrepresented. They must try for creating programs to expand and retain the female talent. They must offer programs planned to identify and diminish bias in hiring and performance management and further involve culture of inclusion, which in turn, will enable associates to contribute as per their potentiality and assist Staples to grow further in business. Finally, they should continue their commitment to hiring and sourcing Veterans through engaging the external partners and through more healthy internal Talent Acquisition strategies. References and Bibliography: Cuzella, J., 2015. Fast fashion: A proposal for copyright protection of 3D-printed apparel.J. on Telecomm. High Tech. L.,13, p.369. Fortune. (2017). Staples. [online] Available at: https://beta.fortune.com/fortune500/staples-132 [Accessed 31 Jan. 2017]. Investor.staples.com. (2017). Annual Reports | Staples.com. [online] Available at: https://investor.staples.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=96244p=irol-reportsannual [Accessed 31 Jan. 2017]. Jain, N., 2011. Green Computing Practices: A solution to save environment.International Journal of Advanced Research in Computer Science,2(3). Sec.gov. (2017). SPLS 10-K 01312015. [online] Available at: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/791519/000079151915000004/spls10-k01312015.htm [Accessed 31 Jan. 2017]. Staples.com. (2017). About Staples Home Page | Staples.com. [online] Available at: https://www.staples.com/sbd/cre/marketing/about_us/index.html [Accessed 31 Jan. 2017]. Staples.com. (2017). Marketing Management Hardcover | Staples. [online] Available at: https://www.staples.com/Marketing-Management-Hardcover/product_1153870 [Accessed 31 Jan. 2017]. Theonlineinvestor.com. (2017). Staples Moves Up In Market Cap Rank, Passing PulteGroup. [online] Available at: https://www.theonlineinvestor.com/article/201602/staples-moves-up-in-market-cap-rank-passing-pultegroup-spls-phm-SPLS02252016mbumped.htm/ [Accessed 31 Jan. 2017]. Xu, Y. and Liu, L., 2004. GIS based analysis of store closure: a case study of an Office Depot Store in Cincinnati. In12th int. conf. on geoinformaticsgeospatial information research(p. 533e540).

Innovation free essay sample

A novel idea is not a creative idea unless it is valuable or it implies positive evaluation. Also, according to dt ogilvie (1998), imagination, which involves the generation of ideas not previously available as well as the generation of different ways of seeing events, is important to achieve creative actions. To combine this variety of definitions, we can say that creativity involves the generation of new ideas or the recombination of known elements into something new, providing valuable solutions to a problem. It also involves motivation and emotion. Creativity â€Å"is a fundamental feature of human intelligence in general. It is grounded in everyday capacities such as the association of ideas, reminding, perception, analogical thinking, searching a structured problem-space, and reflecting self-criticism. It involves not only a cognitive dimension (the generation of new ideas) but also motivation and emotion, and is closely linked to cultural context and personality factors. † (Boden 1998). According to Boden (1998), there are three main types of creativity, involving different ways of generating the novel ideas: a) The â€Å"combinational† creativity that involves new combinations of familiar ideas. We will write a custom essay sample on Innovation or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page b) The â€Å"exploratory† creativity that involves the generation of new ideas by the exploration of structured concepts. c) The â€Å"transformational† creativity that involves the transformation of some dimension of the structure, so that new structures can be generated. Creative thinking in a disciplined manner can play a real role in innovation. Creativity and innovation are normally complementary activities, since creativity generates the basis of innovation, which, in its development, raises difficulties that must be solved once again, with creativity†¦It is not possible to conceive innovation without creative ideas, as these are the starting point. † (European Commission 1998). Innovation results when creativity occurs within the right organisational culture. The right organisational culture is one that provides through creativity processes (creative techniques) the possibilities for the development of personal and group creativity skills. We can define creativity IMT as the establishment of skills by implementing creativity generation techniques. 1. 2 Objectives of Creativity Main objectives of a creative thinking process is to think beyond existing boundaries, to awake curiosity, to break away from rational, conventional ideas and formalised procedures, to rely on the imagination, the divergent, the random and to consider multiple solutions and alternatives (Candy 1997, Schlange and Juttner 1997). INNOREGIO project Dr E. Sefertzi CREATIVITY 3 The result of the creative thinking process is especially important for businesses. Managers and managerial decisions and actions, confronted with fast-changing and ambiguous environments in business, need to develop creative solutions and creative action-based strategies to solve problems, as they allow to increase understanding of problematic situations, to find multiple problems, to produce new combinations, to generate multiple solutions that are different from the past, to consider possible alternatives in various situations that could occur in the future and â€Å"to expand the opportunity horizon and competence base of firms† (dt ogilvie 1998). . 3 Description / structure of the methodology / alternative solutions Creativity is not an innate quality of only a few selected people. Creativity is present in everyone. It can be learned, practised and developed by the use of proven techniques which, enhancing and stimulating the creative abilities, ideas and creative results, help people to move out of their normal problem-solving mode, to enable them to co nsider a wide range of alternatives and to improve productivity and quality of work. Creativity is thus constructed as a learned ability that enables us to define new relationships between concepts or events, which seemed apparently unconnected before, and which results in a new entity of knowledge† (European Commission 1998). Knowledge and information are the basis for creativity. The scientific research is recently oriented towards the development of creativity as an educational process. Many studies show that creative abilities can be developed by the implementation of creativity techniques (see Mansfield, Busse and Krepelka 1978, Parnes and Brunelle 1967, Rose and Lin 1984, Taylor 1972). Concrete creativity supporting techniques, including also computer-based support tools (artificial intelligence models, computer software idea processors, information systems, etc. ), are developed to promote and generate creativity, to break fixed ideas, to stimulate imagination, as well as to define the conditions in which creativity takes place (the creative environment or climate). Using such techniques, a company aims to â€Å"incorporate the employees’ potential of creativity into the process of performance creation† (Bullinger 1999). There are numerous creative techniques, which are also classified in many ways (Higgins 1994). In general, a certain type of question or a certain area of application (such as marketing, product or service development, strategic and decision planning, design, quality management, etc. ) often calls for a certain type or a certain group of creativity techniques. The description of some well-known and basic techniques and their implementation procedure is presented in session 3. A classification for these techniques can be made between analytical techniques and intuitive techniques. Analytical techniques follow a linear pattern of thought or sequence of steps, such as the â€Å"5 Ws and H† technique (it asks the questions who, what, when, where, why, and how) and have better application for very specific, analytical questions (Higgins 1999). They stimulate different ways of organising known information and help approach problems from new angles (Miller 1987). Intuitive techniques are less structured techniques. They tend to skip steps in a sequence and tend to provide a whole answer all at once, such as the â€Å"wishful thinking† technique (based on ideal possibilities and solutions), and they are more appropriate for ill-defined questions (Higgins 1999). INNOREGIO project Dr E. Sefertzi CREATIVITY 4 Another classification can be made between techniques that are more appropriate to generate creativity in individuals, and techniques, which generate creativity in groups undertaken within work groups. Improving personal creativity for individuals involves enhancing the individual’s use of intuition and reducing mental blocks creativity, such as fear of failure. At the group level it requires team building and other efforts to enhance the use of group dynamics to achieve creativity and innovation† (Higgins 1996). However, this classification is not rigorous, since many group idea generation techniques can also be used by individuals. On the other hand, the individual and th e group are two main agents that always interact in the process of creativity in business and industrial innovation. Creativity is an attribute of the individual, though generally it can only be developed efficiently when it is tackled within a group of team. For this reason, most creative techniques are proposed and undertaken within the framework of specific work groups, within companies or other organisations† (European Commission 1998). A third classification might be between creative techniques that rely upon divergent thinking and techniques that rely upon convergent thinking. Divergent thinking is the generation and the free flow of ideas and it demands considerable discipline, which is aided by the introduction of rigorous techniques forcing divergence toward many alternatives. Convergent thinking, on the contrast, demands techniques of filtering and focus to identify the ideas that have a truly innovative value, to converge on an acceptable solution (Hall 1996). Divergent and convergent thinking are complementary phases of a procedure, since divergence helps forcing towards many alternatives and possible options before convergence on an appropriate solution. Fundamental concepts for all creative techniques are: †¢ The suspension of premature judgement and the lack of filtering of ideas. †¢ Use the intermediate impossible. †¢ Create analogies and metaphors, through symbols, etc. , by finding similarities between the situation, which we wish to understand and another situation, which we already understand. †¢ Build imaginative and ideal situations (invent the ideal vision). †¢ Find ways to make the ideal vision happen. †¢ Relate things or ideas which were previously unrelated. †¢ Generate multiple solutions to a problem. Main points to increase or encourage creativity in a company are: †¢ to be happy, to have fun †¢ keep channels of communication open †¢ trust, failure accepted †¢ contacts with external sources of information †¢ independence, initiatives taken †¢ support participatory decision-making and employees’ contribution †¢ experiment with new ideas 1. 4 Expected results / benefits Creativity, through the generation of ideas with value, is needed in order to solve concrete problems, ease the adaptation to change, optimise the performance of the organisation and best practice manufacturing, and change the attitude of the staff of the INNOREGIO project Dr E. Sefertzi CREATIVITY 5 organisation. Creative thought processes are also important at all stages in the RD process. Some expected results of the creativity process are: †¢ innovation through new product and process ideas †¢ continuous improvement of products or services †¢ productivity increase †¢ efficiency †¢ rapidity †¢ flexibility †¢ quality of products or services †¢ high performance 1. 5 Characteristics of providers The implementation of creative techniques within work groups, requires the assistance and advise of external consultants. One or two consultants, experts in creative techniques, is normally enough to undertake the implementation process in a company. His/hers job normally consists of presenting the different techniques and their application method, defining the problem to be studied for the participants, initiating and clarifying the rules of the technique, gathering the necessary data and information to approach the problem, stimulating the generation of ideas of participants, and evaluating the ideas before proceeding to put them in practice. Training of management staff by experts may also be very useful. Management staff must be trained to stimulate creativity in employees, to provide motivation, to facilitate a creative climate and to encourage the use of creative techniques. Managers can also be trained to implement creative techniques by themselves. 2 APPLICATION Creativity processes are used regularly by many private and public sector organisations of all sorts in manufacturing, services, banking, or construction companies. Big firms such as Xerox, ATT, Frito-Lay, as well as car manufacturing firms, software development firms, railroad pharmaceutical firms etc. , use creativity techniques to increase efficiency and quality, especially in their research, strategic planning and marketing departments. Small firms and innovative RD organisations, such as biotechnology companies (Arlington 1997), are also becoming to implement creative techniques in order to solve problems and to improve the use of skills, techniques and processes. Creativity techniques may be applied in almost any functional area of the company: strategic planning, corporate business strategy, product development, improvement of services, functional strategy, finance, human resources, marketing, management of collection of information, product design, software design, quality management, etc. 2. 1 Where Creativity development has been applied INNOREGIO project Dr E. Sefertzi CREATIVITY 6 Nearly all innovation management techniques that can be applied in companies (BPR, benchmarking, TQM, MRP II, employee involvement, marketing of innovation, etc. require also the implementation of creativity techniques. For example, in the Innovation Programme of DG XII of European Commission, besides other innovation management techniques, creativity techniques have been applied in the following IMT projects (see European Commission 1998): -INVENT (Pro. 006) Implementation of a Method for Targeted Economic-Oriented Research in SME Invention Management. IMPA CQT (Pro. 008) PARTNERS (Pro 010) Promotion of Innovation Management Techniques in the field of Sub-Contracting. IDEAS (PRO 017 Integrated Product Development Expertise Applied to SMEs. PRIISME (Pro 029) Promoting of IMTs in ISRAELI SMEs. Programme to Create New Activities in SMEs (Pro 045). MARKPRO (Pro 050) Implementation of Market Oriented Product Innovation in Danish SMEs 2. 2 Types of firms / organisations concerned Creativity techniques can be implemented by all firms and public organisations that confront with problem solving and focus on innovation in processes, products or services. In case where the implementation of creative techniques is focused on the support of personal creativity, such as to support individual designers work for new product development, or to support individual scientists work in the laboratory, very small firms or a person can implement creative techniques for individuals. In case where the company focus is to increase group creativity and to create environments where a collaborating team work creatively together, the firm must have at least 20 employees, including 3 members as management staff. 2. 3 Implementation cost The application of creativity techniques is a continuum process. Sessions of creativity within work groups normally take place at company facilities during normal hours and working conditions. The implementation of a creative technique includes the following costs: †¢ The fee of an external consultant for 4-7 days work for undertaking a session of creativity (preparation, application, evaluation). †¢ The cost of software packages developed for personal computers or workstations (if necessary). Hardware and equipment must permit to deal with network communications. Training cost (2-4 days) (if necessary). Cost: from 3000 to 7000 Euro. 2. 4 Conditions for implementation Concerning the implementation of creative techniques, some of them are easy to apply, while others need some infrastructure, experts, work teams, training, collection of INNOREGIO project Dr E. Sefertzi CREATIVITY 7 information, resources, etc. In this case, the assistance of an external consultant is required . Besides the support of external consultants, the company itself must encourage creative environment. This implies the participation of all workers in the concerns of the company, and an open and flexible attitude on the part of management. According to Higgins (1999) factors to encouraging the creative work climate are: †¢ A secure environment with minimal administrative interference. †¢ An organisational culture that makes it attractive and easy for people to discover and solve problems. †¢ Rewards for employee performance and enhancement of intrinsic motivation. †¢ Managerial willingness to take risks for creativity and innovation, as well as an open and flexible attitude on the part of management. Providing people with formal and informal training to enhance creativity. Important conditions for implementation of creative techniques within work groups in a company are also the existence of well-trained human resources, a clear strategic definition of the company and to focus on the core competencies of the company (European Commission 1998). For solving complex problems requiring input by many areas, i. e. marketing, engineering, design, the company would preferably be one employing multidisciplinary teams. 3 IMPLEMENTATION PROCEDURE As mentioned before, there is numerous creativity supporting techniques. The description, in an illustrative manner, of some well-known creative techniques for problem solving will be presented here. See also Annex, Table 1, the use of some stimulus that can extend perspectives to approach a problem. Brainstorming This is one of the best known and most used in the business world group based creativity process for problem solving. It is a method of getting a large number of ideas from a group of people in a short time. It can be used for generating a large number of ideas or solutions for well-defined strategic or operational problems, such as for engineering design processes. It forms also a basic framework or constitutes the initial phase for the implementation of many other groups based on creative techniques. Brainstorming sessions take place in a group of 6-10 people. The presence of a leader is necessary to stimulate the generation of ideas, as well as a preparation phase to gather the necessary data and information to approach the problem. A recorder writes the problem statement and the idea generated by the group on a white board. Several guidelines for brainstorming are available, such as suspend judgement, free wheel, quantity, and crossfertilise. The whole process takes normally one hour and can be conducted through several stages. The session begins with stating the problem and calling for solutions by the leader. The following stages can be: restate the problem in the form of â€Å"How to†¦Ã¢â‚¬ , select a basic restatement and write it down as â€Å"In how many ways can we†¦Ã¢â‚¬ , warm-up session, brainstorming, and identify wildest idea. An evaluation method is additionally used for to identify the ideas that have a value for implementation. The four basic rules of brainstorming are: a) no criticism and no prior judgement of any idea, b) all ideas, INNOREGIO project Dr E. Sefertzi CREATIVITY 8 even the absurd, are welcome, c) quantity has value, the more ideas the better, if a large quantity of ideas is generated, then the idea pool very likely would contain high-quality ideas, d) sharing and combining ideas, and constructing ideas based on those developed by other members of the group for producing new ideas. See: Osborne (1963), Rawlinson (1981), Chen (1998), Higgins (1996), European Commission (1998). See also Annex, Table 2: Brainstorming phases. A special type of brainstorming tool is PMI in which the participants are directed to brainstorm the Plus points, then the Minus points and finally the Interesting points (De Bono 1992, 1993). Related to brainstorming, which is characterised by verbal communication, is also the hand-written communication as a brain-writing technique. The process is that ideas generated by individuals are written down on a piece of paper, and then exchanged and combined with those of the other individuals in the group. Written ideas are circulated and read by the other participants in the group each of whom, in turn, write down new ideas. A variation of this hand-written communication is the 6-3-5 method in which each of the 6 participants in the group generates and writes 3 ideas related to the problem on a piece of paper in 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, each participant passes the piece of paper to the person on the right, who reads it and adds 3 new ideas in 5 minutes. The process continues until each participant gets the original piece of paper back (European Commission 1998). Electronic brainstorming is also a hand-written communication technique, which employ computerised programs to achieve brainstorming. Story boarding It is a creativity technique for strategic and scenario planning based on brainstorming and used mainly by groups. It requires a leader, a secretary and takes place in a group of 8-12 people. The leader arranges the ideas generated by brainstorming in a logical order on a white board creating a story. This technique allows identify the interconnections of ideas and how all the pieces fit together. It can be used to identify issues, problems, solve a complex problem and determine ways to implement solutions. The story boarding process includes four phases: a) planning, b) ideas, c) organisation and d) communication. Each phase includes a creative session (it takes 45 minutes) and a critical session, in which participants critique their story board. †¢ The planning phase begins with the problem definition or the issue being examined the topic header. Purpose header, a miscellaneous column and other, normally 1012, headers (column titles) are laced and brainstormed in order to give Ideas and then items, which are listed under the headers (the purpose header is listed first). †¢ The second phase the ideas board, is to take one column from the planning board, which becomes the topic header and the items of that column become headers of new ideas. †¢ In the third phase the organisation board, participants identify who is responsible for implementing chosen solutions , what has to happen, and when. †¢ In the last phase the communication board, participants identify who must communicate with for all of the events identified in the organisation board to take place. Through the process, visual graphics to summarise or present relevant points are presented by the leader. These might be strategic models, places or things (Higgins 1996). INNOREGIO project Dr E. Sefertzi CREATIVITY 9 Lotus Blossom This technique can also be used in scenario planning and is very useful for forecasting strategic scenarios. It is designed for groups and is used to provide a more in-depth look at various solutions to problems. It begins with a central core idea surrounded by eight empty boxes or circles. Using brainstorming, eight additional ideas (solutions or issues) are written in these boxes. In the next step, each of these eight ideas becomes the core of another set of eight surrounding empty boxes, which are filled in by new ideas using brainstorming. The process continues until a satisfactory solution or a sufficient number of ideas have emerged (Higgins 1996). See Annex, Figure 1: Lotus blossom sample. Checklists This creative technique is used mainly for product improvement or modification. It involves applying a series of words, verbs, adjectives or phrases contained in checklists or tables to an existing product or service or its attributes. Osborn’s Checklist is the best known and includes the verbs: put to other uses, adapt, modify, magnify, minify, substitute, rearrange, reverse and combine. Each verb contains also an expanded definition in the form of questions. For example, the description of the verb substitute is: Who else instead? What else instead? Other ingredient? Other material? Other process? Other power? Other place? Other approach? Other tone of voice? (Osborn 1963). The method is to apply each of the verbs and its expanded description to a product or service. See Annex:, Table 3: Osborn’s checklist). Another checklist technique is Van Gundy’s PICL (product improvement checklist). Used in the same way as Osborn’s list, gives many options containing 792 words, both standard and unique, that can be applied to existing products or services, and 102 stimulation questions (Van Gundy 1988, 1993). Morphological Analysis This method is another product improvement technique, permitting the in-depth analysis of products or processes. It involves applying a set of words to an item another set of words. Normally, one set of words is verbs and the other set are attributes of the product. Another way is that one set of words would be components of the product (breaking the product down into its parts) and the other set of words would be alternative solutions. The method is to combine each word of one set with each word of the other set. These two sets of words result in a two-dimensional matrix. A three dimensional matrix can be created by adding a third list of factors. The difficulty of this technique is the large number of ideas deriving of the multiple combinations that can be made (Higgins 1996, European Commission 1998). Mapping Process The use of maps is particularly useful in strategic management thinking in organisations, helping to organise discontinuities, contradictions or differences, and bring pattern, order and sense to a confusing situation, acting as a spatial representation of a perspective. There are many forms of mapping, including computer-based tools to support mapping: †¢ Mind Mapping It is an individual brainstorming mapping technique designed by Tony Buzan. It begins with a central focal point, a problem, an object, a name or issue, written in INNOREGIO project Dr E. Sefertzi CREATIVITY 10 the centre of a piece of paper with a circle around it. Each major facet of the problem or the solution to the problem originating from the central idea is then brainstorming in order to generate new ideas. Each of those ideas are then written on lines drowned outward from the circle. The next step is to brainstorm those ideas in order to identify issues related to the problem, or solutions that are written on smaller lines that are drowned on the prime lines forming a branch. Additional perspectives such as implementation factors or further definition of the solutions could go on those lines. One branch may also be chosen in order to develop a whole new mind map based on that branch. When a mind map is completed, its possible interrelations and possible multiple appearances of issues, and its overall meaning in the context of the problem must be examined (Buzan 1983). †¢ Mapping for generate collective creativity The use of maps to support collective creativity is a more complicate process. It is necessary to introduce appropriate maps into a suitable type of organisation that would preferably be one employing multidisciplinary teams. It is also important that the participants find the maps useful for organising and planning their work. The mapping process usually involves three phases: 1st phase starts with a brainstorming exercise in order to initiate a discussion around the problem or the product. Normally, the participants are asked to mention all aspects they regard as relevant to the problem to be dealt with. During this process a large number of visual references are used to elicit the perspectives of the members with regard to the potential new concept. It is emphasised to the participants that the maps are intended to enrich the conversation, and should not be perceived as representations of the concept itself, but more as the semantic terrain or space, which covers all potential strategies. The knowledge elicited is discussed, and in about 2 hours is organised and structured by the participants into a map that intuitively understand. This map is the initial cognitive map, which describes all the problematic areas in brief outlines. In the 2nd phase of the process, which serves to expose the individual participants’ perspective both to themselves and to the other members of the group, the participants discuss the values that they associate with a very large range of objects and images. A number of these images are then selected that are considered to metaphorically represent potential aspects of the product strategy. In the 3rd phase, these images and appropriate annotations are arranged in a twodimensional space, positioning the images depending upon how the values of these objects relate to one another. In doing this, the group is mapping out a terrain constituted by the differences between the images, expressing the range of different product strategies open to the group (Fentem, Dumas McDonnell 1998). For creating maps, many software applications are available (see further down in computer-based creativity techniques). The Excursion Technique Is a very useful technique for forcing a group to have new thought patterns to formulate strategies. The process involves five steps (see Higgins 1996): In the 1st step the excursion the consultant asks participants to take an imaginary excursion to a physical location (a museum, a jungle, a city, another planet, etc. ), which INNOREGIO project Dr E. Sefertzi CREATIVITY 11 has nothing to do with the real problem. After the excursion each participant writes down 8-10 images, which he/she saw during the journey (things, people, places or items) in the 1st of 3 columns. In the 2nd step, the consultant asks participants to draw analogies or express relationships between what they saw on the excursion and the problem as defined, and to write them in the column 2 next to each of the items identified in the first column. In the 3rd step, participants are asked to determine what solutions to their problems are suggested by the analogies or the relationships in column 2, and write them in column 3 beside the items and analogies identified in the other columns. In the 4th step, participants share their xperiences from the excursion: what they saw, their analogies and their solutions. In the 5th step, as with brainstorming, participants may discuss on each other’s ideas. Eventually the leader helps the group come to a common solution or a set of solutions to the problem. Computer-based creativity techniques Computer-based supporting techniques to stimulate the human creative process have an immediate and pragmatic aim, which is the implementation of computational models (computer software) for generate and organise ideas for creative work. They are used more frequently in research planning, product design, knowledge acquisition, decisionmaking, motivation, etc. We can distinguish groups of computerised creativity techniques, such as AI models, Idea Processors systems and visualisation and graphical systems. AI (artificial intelligence) models of creativity AI deals with solving non-quantified, unstructured problems. Its task is about knowledge representation and reasoning and to built intelligent, rational, and autonomous agents. Current AI models of creativity involve different types and appropriate techniques of supporting the generation of new ideas. According to Margaret Boden (1998), in respect to the three types of creativity, there are also three main types of computer models that involve: a) The stimulation of the combination of ideas, mainly by using analogies in the sense that associated ideas shares some inherent conceptual structure. b) The exploration of structured concepts, so that novel and unexpected ideas result. It requires considerable domain-expertise and analytical power to define the conceptual space and to specify procedures that enable its potential to be explored. ) The transformation of a problem, so that new structures can be generated which could not have arisen before. New solutions to a problem can be created with transforming a problem into a new problem, solve the new problem and then adapting the solution back to the original problem. AI employs symbolic approaches for creative problem solving and includes stimulus such as heuristics, search, weak methods, knowledge representation and reasoning to fa cilitate problem structuring and idea generation. The focus of AI creativity techniques in the form of computerised programs, is to help users to take a fresh look at roblems by guiding what may be a user’s otherwise undisciplined intuition through a series of INNOREGIO project Dr E. Sefertzi CREATIVITY 12 problem-solving exercises, and to think in non-linear et non-logical ways. The main advantage of computerised, guided problem solving is that the programs prompt a user for ideas in a thorough manner. Recent programs of AI include also knowledge-based approaches, using large-scale databases and narrative systems (Chen 1998). AI researches have also developed efficient search algorithms for problem solving. Some AI programs of creativity are: The Copycat program that looks for analogies between alphabetic letter-strings (Hofstadter, FARG 1995, Mitchell 1993). The EURISKO program a transformational system with also an exploratory process that can be applied to a wide range of domains. The AARON program for exploring line drawing in particular styles and colouring (McCorduck 1991). The BACON program of exploratory AI-creativity designed to model scientific discovery (Langley, Simon, Bradshaw and Zytkow 1987). Idea Processors software Idea processors have a close relationship with artificial intelligence and use many artificial intelligence techniques. Idea processors are normally software packages developed for personal computers or workstations. They are used for idea generation and organisation in some specific stages of problem solving acting as knowledge-support systems (Chen 1998). In order to assist the human thinking, idea processors usually perform extensive search in large databases, knowledge bases, or text bases. For many idea processors the electronic brainstorming is the most important technique to generate ideas. The use of computer programs helps to de-structure and then to restructure thinking in a different way. The Idea Generator Plus program provide seven components to the user, that permit to go through a step-by-step problem analysis and solution finding process: examine similar situations, examine metaphors, examine other perspectives, focus on goals, reverse the goals, focus on the people involved, and make the most of the ideas (Nirenberg 1985). In another program, the IdeaFisher, using hypertext databases from Fisher Idea Systems Inc. , all entries in the database are cross-referenced by concept and association. It uses a giant cross-referenced text base of words and phrases representing concepts and images enhanced by a series of questions (see also spatial hypertext systems). The program also allows to generate new ideas based on combination of words by creating a list of people, animals, verbs, adjectives and phrases that are associated with the combination of two words that a user choose. Some other programs related to an idea processor are: The Ideatree system with an exploratory focus, linking laterally or hierarchically concepts that exist into the idea-boxes of the program. The Emergent Media Environment (EME), an interactive computer system that integrates facilities for supporting the generation, collection, organisation and presentation of ideas and advises about the divergence and convergence of the ideas. The GENI (GENerating Ideas) experimental system incorporates a variety of techniques to assist in making different types of connections: internal connections (between elements of the focal problem itself) and external connections (between the focal problem and external factors). INNOREGIO project Dr E. Sefertzi CREATIVITY 13 There are also many idea processors programmes available on the Internet (most of them are commercial products) including the following: http:/ideaprocessor. citi. doc. ca http:/www. maxthink. com http:/www. ozemail. com. au http:/www. inspiration. com http:/www. signet. com. sg/axon2000 Visualisation and graphical systems Computer support methods, such as visualisation of data and graphical techniques for marking up visual phenomena and expressing knowledge about data in rule form, are also available. Visualisation of data and graphical techniques are very important to support creativity. They involve working with visual data such as images, drawings, sketches, diagrams, charts, graphs, graphical objects, that are specific to the domain, and they take the form of expressing ideas and concepts through sketching, annotation and examining multiple or alternative views of the same data, all of which varies according to the domain of interest. There are many such systems giving various opportunities to the users. A visualisation system, the Inspiration (from Inspiration Inc. ) provides a blank canvas in which the user can quickly record and arrange ideas as they occur and allows a visual approach to organising thoughts. The system can also change the relationship between ideas and connect related ideas by dragging kinks between them to create a graphical map of the users thinking. Another visualisation system is Axon 200 used for creating complex flowcharts or concept diagrams and describes how different factors or events influence each other. It uses checklists and visual attributes such as colour, shape, size, scale position, depth, link and icon. It also creates relationship diagrams, which allow the user to represent multiple relationships between various visual objects on the screen (Chen 1998). Visualisation systems are also very important in design such as the Speech Knowledge Interface (SKI) system that support rapid graphical interaction with visual images, the Vehicle Packager Knowledge Support System (VPKSS) that aids designers at the conceptual stage of the design process (Candy 1997). Spatial representation tools In relation with visualisation systems, there are also computer-based tools, such as computer-based information and communication systems, for supporting representations and creating cognitive maps in two-dimensional spaces. Some representations use a specific notation, others use spatial proximity to indicate the relationship between objects (usually words relating to concepts) in the spaces, and others, used in marketing and design departments called â€Å"mood boards†, use collections of images as metaphors that reflect the quality aspects of the product strategy (Fentem, Dumas and Mcdonnell 1998). †¢ Kelly Repertory Grid technique is a knowledge elicitation tool used in the marketing, management and expert systems development. It analyses data using principal components analysis (PCA) software and produces a map by plotting the INNOREGIO project Dr E. Sefertzi CREATIVITY 14 first two components. The map produces a spatial positioning of text with respect to dimensions that are significant or correspond to the personal constructs that the participant member uses to categorise and evaluate the world (Kelly 1955). An Internet version of this tool is Webgrid. Available at http://www. cpsc. ucalgary. ca/ †¢ Spatial Information Systems These systems have been designed to support creativity by mapping objects (concepts, text objects, design requirements and parameters) into two-dimensional spaces, using various combinations of ‘knowledge processing’ and multivariate statistical analysis techniques. Users can also select an area of this space and to create a new space by reprocessing using principal components analysis (PCA) only the data associated with the objects lying within this subspace (Fentem, Dumas and Mcdonnell 1998). For example, one of these systems searches research papers for the frequency of certain keywords and uses a type of PCA to analyse the results of this search and represent these keywords and the papers within a common twodimensional space (Sugimoto, Hori, Ohsuga 1996). Another system named En Passant 2 stores researcher’s notes and triggers to recall and to reconsider. The users can browse their notes and view relations among them interactively (Aihara, Hori 1998). Spatial hypertext systems These systems have been designed for the â€Å"exploration of alternative structures for content, and applications in which the domain structure is not well understood at the outset, or changes during the course of a task†. In spatial hypertext, the links between nodes are conveyed implicitly by arranging the nodes in the space. â€Å"Nodes appear in different contexts through multiple spatial references to the same underling content† (Marshall and Shipman 1995). The users are presented with a window that acts as a work- space in which they organise their material. The nodes arranged in the space represent links to familiar objects such as documents, images, comments, and links to WWW hypertext pages, plus more unique structures known as ‘composites’ and ‘collections’. Marshall and Shipman’s VIKI spatial hypertext system, for example, was designed to support new product development, helping teams to make sense of the many diverse kinds of business-related material relevant to the new product, by assisting them in arranging it spatially. †¢ 4 BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCES (1) Aihara, K. , Hori, K. (1998), â€Å"Enhancing creativity through reorganising mental space concealed in a research notes stack†, Knowledge-Based Systems, No. 11, pp. 469-478. Arlington, S. (1997), â€Å"Accelerating drug discovery: creating the right environment†, Drug Discovery Today, Vol. 2, No. 12, pp. 547-553. Boden, M. A. (1998), â€Å"Creativity and artificial intelligence†, Artificial Intelligence, No. 103, pp. 347-356. Bullinger, H. J. (1999), â€Å"Turbulent times require creative thinking: new European concepts in production management†, Int. J. Production Economics, No. 0-81, pp. 9-27. Buzan, T. (1983) Use Both Sides of Your Brain, Dutton, New York. (2) (3) (4) (5) INNOREGIO project Dr E. Sefertzi CREATIVITY 15 (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (13) (14) (15) Candy, L. (1997), â€Å"Computers and creativity support: knowledge, visualisation and collaboration†, Knowledge-Based Systems, No. 10, pp. 3-13. Chen, Z. ( 1998), â€Å"Toward a better understanding of idea processors†, Information and Software Technology, No. 40, pp. 541-553. De Bono, E. (1992), Serious Creativity, Harper Collins, London. De Bono, E. (1993), De Bono’s Thinking Course, Facts and on File, New York. t ogilvie (1998), â€Å"Creative action as a dynamic strategy: using imagination to improve strategic solutions in unstable environments†, Journal of Business Research, No. 41, pp. 49-56. European Commission (1998), Innovation Management Techniques in Operation, European Commission, Luxembourg. Fentem, A. C. , Dumas, A. , McDonnell, J. (1998), Knowledge-Based Systems, No. 11, pp. 417-428. Hall, D. J. (1996), â€Å"The role of creativity within best practice manufacturing†, Technovation, Vol. 16, No. 3, pp. 115-121. Higgins, J. M. (1996), â€Å"Innovate or evaporate: creative techniques for strategists†, Long Range Planning, Vol. 9, No. 3, pp. 370-380. Higgins, J. M. (1994), 101 Creative Prob lem Solving Techniques: the Handbook of New Ideas for Business, The New Management Publishing Company, Florida. (16) Higgins, L. F. (1999), â€Å"Applying principles of creativity management to marketing research efforts in high-technology markets†, Industrial Marketing Management, No. 28, pp. 305-317. (17) Hofstadter, D. R. , FARG (1995), Fluid Concepts and Creative Analogies: Computer Models of the Fundamental Mechanisms of Thought, Basic Books, New York. (18) Kelly, G. A. (1955), The Psychology of Personal Constructs, Norton. (19) Langley, P. , Simon, H. A. , Bradshaw, G. L. and Zytkow, J. M. (1987), Scientific Discovery: Computational Explorations of the Creative Process, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA. (20) McCorduck, P. (1991), Aaron’s Code, W. H. Freeman, San Francisco, CA. (21) Mansfield, R. S. , Busse, T. V. and Krepelka, E. G. (1978), â€Å"The effectiveness of creative training† Review of Educational Research, Vol. 48, No 4, pp. 517-536. (22) Marshall, C. C. , Shipman, F. M. (1995), â€Å"Spatial hypertext: designing for change†, Communication of the ACM, Vol. 38, No. 8, pp. 88-97. (23) Miller, W. (1986), The Creative Edge, Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA. (24) Mitchell, M. 1993), Analogy-Making as Perception, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA. (25) Newell, A. and Shaw, J. C. (1972), â€Å"The process of creative thinking†, in A. Newell and H. A. Simon (eds), Human Problem Solving, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, pp. 144-174. (26) Nirenberg, G. (1985), The Idea Generator, Experience in Software, Berkeley, CA. (2 7) Osborne, A. F. (1963), Applied Imagination: Principles and Procedures of Creative Thinking, 3rd ed. , Scribner, New York. (28) Parnes, S. J. and Brunelle, E. A. (1967), â€Å"The literature of creativity†, Journal of Creative Behavior, Vol. 1, No 1, pp. 52-104. (29) Rose, L. H. and Lin, H. T. 1984), â€Å"A meta-analysis of long-term creativity training programs†, Journal of Creative Behavior, Vol. 18, No 1, pp. 11-22. (30) Rawlinson, J. G. (1981) Creative Thinking and Brainstorming, Gower, UK. (31) Schlange, L. E. , and Juttner, U. (1997), â€Å"Helping managers to identify the key strategic issues†, Long Range Planning, Vol. 30, No. 5, pp. 777-786. INNOREGIO project Dr E. Sefertzi CREATIVITY 16 (32) Sugimoto, M. , Hori, K. , Ohsuga, S. (1996) â€Å"A system to visualise different viewpoints for supporting researches’ creativity†, Knowledge-Based Systems, No. 9, pp. 369-376. (33) Taylor, C. W. (1972), â€Å"Can organisations be creative, too? , in C. W. Taylor (ed. ), Climates for Creativity, Pergamon Press, New York, pp. 1-15. (34) Van Gundy, Jr. A. B. (1988), â€Å"Product improvement check list†, New Product Development Newsletter, New Jersay. (35) Van Gundy, A. B. Jr. (1993), Techniques of Structured Problem Solving, Chapman Hall, London. INNOREGIO project Dr E. Sefertzi CREATIVITY 17 Annexes Table 1: Stimulus to extend perspectives to approach a problem †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ List the elements that would bring on success. List the elements that we visualise as failure. Visualise success seen from the viewpoint of fifty years from now. Visualise success seen from the perspective of one hundred years ago. Look for impossible and desirable ideas. Create analogies with other things that have been successful. Imagine and write down ideas that are wild, illegal, crazy, etc. Insert the problem from its present scenario to a totally different scenario. Return from the fantasy scenario to the present scenario and try to associate the ideas generated in the fantasy scenario, with ideas that might apply to the real problem. Imagine what people we admire would say. Search for pairs of ideas that are apparently unconnected and that can be associated by a third. Imagine that everything exists and all we have to do is find it. Change the level on which the problem is approached. Source: European Commission, Innovation Management Techniques in Operation, European Commission, DG XIII, Luxembourg, 1998. Table 2: Brainstorming Phases Phase Orientation Preparation Warm-up Production of ideas Application Define the problem to be studied for the participants, clarify the rules of the game. Gather data and information necessary to approach the problem in an efficient manner. Carry -out the exercise: redefine a problem different from the one to be studied, experiment with it for a few minutes. Generate the maximum of ideas without prior judgement always ask â€Å"what else† quantity of ideas is quality no limits no criticise modify other’s ideas to produce new ones. Let the subconscious work. Gather the ideas generated analyse them work with logical thinking. Evaluate the ideas gathered and analysed develop and combine them before proceeding to put them in practice. Incubation Syntheses Evaluation Source: European Commission, Innovation Management Techniques in Operation, European Commission, DG XIII, Luxembourg, 1998. INNOREGIO project Dr E. Sefertzi CREATIVITY 18 Table 3: Osborn’s Checklist Question Put to other uses? Adapt? Description New ways to use as is? Other uses if modified? What else is like this? What other idea does this suggest? Does past offer parallel? What could I copy? Whom could I emulate? New twist? Change meaning, colour, motion, sound, odour, form, shape? Other changes? What to add? More time? Greater frequency? Stronger? Higher? Longer? Thicker? Extra value? Plus ingredient? Duplicate? Multiply? Exaggerate? What to subtract? Smaller? Condensed? Miniature? Lower? Shorter? Lighter? Omit? Streamline? Split up? Understate? Who else instead? What else instead? Other ingredient? Other Material? Other process? Other power? Other place? Other approach? Other tone of voice? Interchange components? Other pattern? Other layout? Other sequence? Transpose cause and effect? Change pace? Change schedule? Transpose positive and negative? How about opposites? Turn it backward? Turn it upside down? Reverse role? Change shoes? Turn tables? Turn other cheek? How about a blend, an alloy, an assortment, an ensemble? Combine units? Combine purposes? Combine appeals? Combine ideas? Modify? Magnify? Minify? Substitute? Rearrange? Reverse? Combine? Source: J. M. Higgins, â€Å"Innovate or evaporate: creative techniques for strategists†, Long Range Planning, Vol. 9, No 3, pp. 370-380, 1996 (reprinted from Alex Osborn, Applied Imagination, Charles Scribner’s Sons, Inc. , New York). Figure 1: Lotus blossom sample INNOREGIO project Dr E. Sefertzi CREATIVITY 19 1 by packaging 4 smaller / bigger 6 other material 2 by design A product differenti ation 7 change color 3 other uses 5 plus ingredient 8 change meaning A product differentiati on D lower cost F supply flexibility B product quality core idea: increase product consumption G product credibility C customer needs E service quality H competitors product strategies B C D E F G H INNOREGIO project Dr E. Sefertzi Innovation free essay sample Kotlers Innovation: Definition of innovation: Invention is not an innovation. Production innovation and business review innovation Making something better at a lower price Innovation is producing something new Invention is turning money into ideas and innovation is turning ideas into money. Innovation is catalyst for economic growth If you dont innovate the others wont stop to innovate hence it is necessary to keep innovating to succeed in todays market Innovation is introduction of a new process or product, it can occur anywhere either in government or any business. Creating a value for users, adding new way of doing things that people have not thought of before. Innovation creates an opportunity for Jobs. Bringing tools closer to people. Without innovation companies die. Developing research to retail. Innovation according to Jonathan Wareham: Improving something that already exists or introducing something that is new. Its not only about technology it is also about the organization. We will write a custom essay sample on Innovation or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Turning traditional way of doing thing upside down Innovation is looking into the future. telephone Taking existing technologies and putting them together in a new combination ex: bicycle Redefining the social meaning around a piece of technology and understanding how they are actually used by a group of individuals. : v fitness. Why is innovation important: The process of commercialisation, policy makers and business analysts have realised that it is important that procees of commercialisation that is developing a sustainable and valid business plan around technology is Just as important as doing the basic research itself. What is European gap: