CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
It is obvious that by “creative”, we generally mean the words and pictures, the sound and the music, the models that are projected and may be, even associations with such sports, films and other personalities who typify such role model. This is understandable. After all, these are the most visible element of improving growth and development in organization.
Creativity is an asset impossible to financially quantify a prior in an organization (Amabile, 2002:52). Before a product or service is available to the market and sales numbers are unveiled no one can tell whether or not the money will spent or completely wanted (Sutton; 2004:10).
Creativity, as generally understood is only one, even if a very important component of generating and designing of the service development. What is more at the very beginning, must point out that all the talent that creative young aspirants for jobs for manufacturing industries are not sufficient into this highly demanding work (Cannon, 2005:98).
On the other hand, the opportunities that the profession offers are more varied and creativity more challenging in the wider sense of the term. In the context, it is necessary to be clearly about what creativity really means. “To create” according to Oxford Advanced Dictionary means “Bring into existence, give rise to originate” “The word creation means “All created things, product of human intelligence, especially of imaginative thought” creative means “Creating, able to create, inventive, imaginative, showing imagination as well as routine skill. Of course, even the dictionary definition refers to an actor creating a part or a product created by a designer the essential elements of creativity are really disciplined by routine skills.
Huge sum of capital are put into creativity (OECD, 2008). The reason for it is the outwork of many markets today, not only are they highly competitive but they are also very transmorphic. New demand appears continuously, replacing old ones. New technology generate new problems as well as opportunities to fix them. The ability to anticipate change by all means to do something about it has more than ever became a critical factor for survival (Boehlke, 2008:87).
So then, once you established that motivation is a necessity, the next question is, how do you do it? After collecting bright minds and states of the art technology the trick now is to maximize creating as if was a product. A leader who is the industry of innovation, its means of production is people and their ability to think out brilliant ideas. But because creativity is a complex matter, intimately connected with human reflection and communication.
Innovation has been found to be Linchpin of economic growth and lies behind improvements in every aspects of modern life Tushman and Anderson, 1996:613).
As Chang (2001: 64) rightly point out, while size, scale and cost position are important aspect of defining competitiveness especially boils down to innovation. An organization’s ability to compete in a fast changing world is defined by its programme for continuous quick and inexpensive innovation. Regrettably, it is observed that many organizations due to short term pressures or lack of understanding about how to innovate, rely instead on increase mental improvement to existing product (HBR; 2001: 40).
The dictum innovative or perish, is yet to make an impression on many organizations the world over. As a matter of facts, poor performance on innovation has been given as one of the key reasons for Britain industrial decline (Frain, 1992:191). The case of Nigeria for example appears more pathetic. In 2000, for example, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) reported that manufacturing sector of the Nigeria economy recorded a miserly 0 – 4 rise in aggregate index of manufacturing production and the level of capacity utilization was given as only 36.1 percent.
Reasons adduced for this abysmal performance include weak demand for local manufactured goods and influx of imports considered relatively cheaper and perhaps and of better quality than locally manufactured counterparts.
In an increasingly knowledge based economy pin pointing the factors that shape the ability of the organizations to produce influential ideas and innovation has been long a central issue for organizational studies. Among all organizational outputs innovation is fundamental not only in view of its direct impact on the viability of firms, but because of the profound effects on the paths of social and economic change (Sorenson, 2000:94).
STATEMENT OF PROBLEM