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Creativity, organisational climate and innovation: An interdisciplinary, multilevel perspective
[Thesis]. Manchester, UK: The University of Manchester; 2015.
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Abstract
Creativity and innovation are increasingly recognised as important for business success. A primary concern for organisations seeking to encourage creativity and innovation is establishing an environment that is conducive to their occurrence. To gain a better understanding of the relationships between these constructs, the current research has taken an interdisciplinary, multilevel approach. Taking this approach answers multiple calls for empirical research that combines disciplines (in this case, the disparate psychology and innovation management literatures) and estimates cross-level relationships between Creative and Innovative Climate, Team Creativity and Front End Innovation, utilising advances in statistical analysis and computational modeling.The current research comprised three studies. Studies 1 (n=117, n=841) and 2 (n=416, n=841, n=30) developed two new psychometric measures: the Front End Innovation Scale and the Creative and Innovative Climate Scale. Measurement of both Creative and Innovative Climate and Front End Innovation has been fraught with problems. These have been problems of conceptualisation, in that there is no consensus as to which dimensions comprise either Creative and Innovative Climate or Front End Innovation, and also a problem of statistical robustness, as the majority of previous measures of both Creative and Innovative Climate and Front End Innovation have not been developed following psychometric principles. Study 3 (n=841) explored the single and multilevel relationships between Individual and Team Creativity, Front End Innovation and Creative and Innovative Climate, and investigated whether Individual Creativity and Individual Creative Performance are synonymous constructs. All studies used quantitative data derived from a questionnaire, which was supplemented in Study 2 by qualitative narrative data.In addition to the development of two new psychometric measures, the current research contributed to the understanding of what Front End Innovation and Creative and Innovative Climate are, and the factors that comprise them. Given the lack of definitional and measurement consensus surrounding these topics, this understanding can guide future research. Furthermore, Study 3 identified two aspects of Creative and Innovative Climate that seem to be the most important for creativity and innovation (Internal Networks and Team Cohesion), particularly at the team level where they accounted for a greater proportion of the variance than at the individual level. The dual role of formalised processes surrounding creativity and innovation was also discovered, in that formalised processes were perceived to hinder individuals but benefit Team Creativity and Front End Innovation. Very little previous research has explored these relationships and none identified this duality. Lastly, Study 3 represents the first comprehensive empirical investigation of the relationship between Creative and Innovative Climate and each aspect of Front End Innovation.