Cross-Cultural Studies of Implicit Theories of Creativity: A Comparative Analysis Between the United States and the Main Ethnic Groups in Singapore

This thesis explored the extent of influence of culture on implicit theories of creativity among laypeople from the United States and Singapore, as well as the ethnic groups in Singapore - the Chinese, the Malays, and the Indians, in regard to adaptive and innovative styles of creativity as well as their own conceptions of creativity. A total of 523 participants were involved in this study. They comprised 139 participants from the United States and 199 participants from Singapore, 84 Chinese, 54 Malays, and 47 Indians. The participants completed the first part of a questionnaire that consisted of a ten-point scale to rate the creativity level for the descriptors of the Adaptor and Innovator derived from Kirton’s explicit theory of creativity called the Adaptor-Innovator Theory. They also completed the second part of the questionnaire where they were asked to give words they believed were associated with creativity. The data were analyzed and compared with each other as national cultures as well as amongst the three ethnic groups in Singapore. The results revealed that the participants had an implicit belief that high creativity was associated with Kirton’s innovative style of creativity. Also, the words they believed were associated with creativity seemed to have an innovator bias. Implications of these findings raise new questions on the extent of influence of culture on laypeople’s perceptions of creativity. Recommendations for future research were also discussed

Leaders, followers and problem solving in organisations

The distinction between management style and leadership style has been confirmed in this research by examining the working relationships between leaders and followers in 6 separate sites of a computer systems organisation. The relationships between 4 areas of organisational outcome, (performance/effectiveness, job satisfaction, anxiety, and depression) and the perceptions of the leadership styles of the follower's most significant manager and the organisational environments of culture and climate were studied. A systemic model of these relationships has been constructed and elaborated. From a follower perspective, 4 distinct leadership factors are articulated. One factor is concerned with the future of the organisation (Visioning) while another factor is concerned with managing within the organisations (Organising & Resourcing). The results highlight the weak conceptual and structural distinctions between the facets of Transformational Leadership and Transactional Leadership in the literature. e. g. Bass, Avolio & Jung (1995) and thus support Kotter (1982,1990,2001) and House & Shamir (1993). The leadership factors of managers deemed to be "most significant" and the organisational environment are related. In particular, the factor of Organising & Resourcing is related to Teamwork in the organisational environment while the leadership factor of Visioning is related to the organisational culture in terms of the variables of Mission, and Communication, and the organisational climate variables of Work Goals, Work Demands, and Work Supports. These results support the views that one of the main purposes of leadership leadership is to form and maintain the organisation culture. (Bennis, 1989; Bennis & Nanus, 1985; and Schein, 1985,1990,1997). Also, significant managers with the style called People Orientation have a direct impact on the well-being of their subordinates. In particular, People Orientation is negatively related to anxiety and depression, while organisational culture, via the variable of Mission is also negatively related to anxiety, and Teamwork, and Mission are both negatively related to depression. The results imply that solutions to stress that do not address the leader/follower relationship and neglect the need for a mission and teamwork ethos in the organisation culture are misdirected and prone to failure. The results further show that leadership style is not related to the follower's cognitive style (adaption or innovation) on the KAI. Cognitive style is however related to Work Demands, thus it appears that follower's construe the tasks and problems in line with their cognitive preferences confirming that the KAI is heavily associated with ideation. The practical implications are: 1) Followers see a distinct difference between the visionary elements of leadership and the organising and resourcing components of management. Followers also identify a process of communication that is common to both management and leadership as well another important factor labeled People Orientation. 2) Managers with this style of people orientation have a direct link to the feelings and well-being of followers as measured by anxiety. Increases in the style of People Orientation are likely to be linked to reduced state anxiety and reduced depression in followers. Individual performance/effectiveness is largely accounted for by Work Goals with the moderating effect of the combination of KAI and teamwork rather than the direct impact of management. 3) Followers in this research seem to be in a developmental dilemma where their need for support and encouragement from management can inhibit them from solving problems in line with their preferred cognitive styles. In such circumstances, behavioural outcomes may be different from the norm and thus paradigm breaking for both the relationship with the manager, and with the organisation

Individualism-Collectivism and Group Creativity

Current research in organizational behavior suggests that organizations should adopt collectivistic values because they promote cooperation and productivity, while individualistic values should be avoided because they incite destructive conflict and opportunism. In this paper, we highlight one possible benefit of individualistic values that has not previously been considered. Because individualistic values can encourage uniqueness, such values might be useful when creativity is a desired outcome. Although we hypothesize that individualistic groups should be more creative than collectivistic groups, we also consider an important competing hypothesis: Given that collectivistic groups are more responsive to norms, they might be more creative than individualistic groups when given explicit instructions to be creative. The results did not support this competing hypothesis and instead show that individualistic groups instructed to be creative are more creative than collectivistic groups given the same instructions. These results suggest that individualistic values may be beneficial, especially when creativity is a salient goal

Are You an Innovator or Adaptor? The Impact of Cognitive Propensity on Venture Expectations and Outcomes

In this study we confirm the often assumed but largely untested belief that entrepreneurs think and behave differently than others. We examine a group of more than 700 nascent entrepreneurs and 400 nonentrepreneurs. We determine the entrepreneurs’ cognitive style propensity for problem solving (Innovator versus Adaptor); we compare their expectations; and, we examine the outcomes (performance and start-up) of their ventures. We find that nascent entrepreneurs are more likely to be overly optimistic Innovators, most people are Adaptors, and one’s cognitive style can indeed play a role in the initial development and outcome for the venture, but not always as expected

Creativity

Creativity and innovation go hand in hand. This book presents a plethora of creative interventions in education, culture, expressions, communications, and other areas. Each chapter brings forth a core idea well attested on the scales of creative interventions. It is a collaborative effort to bring forth multidisciplinary creativity in the ever-evolving world of design, communication, and possibilities. There is really no logical order to the book. You do not necessarily have to start at the beginning, just find a chapter that interests you and read. I hope that you find the book stimulating as well as informative

Kesan sifat-Sifat Peribadi, Pembelajaran, Rangkaian, Persekitaran dan Penerimaan Inovasi di Kalangan Usahawan Berjaya di Jawa Tengah

Investigations about successful entrepreneur behaviors are generally focused mainly on studies relevant to personal characteristics, learning, networking, environmental and innovation acceptance aspects. Five factors have been suggested for studying successful entrepreneurs in the Small Medium and Enterprises (SMEs) sector. Data were collected from 580 individual entrepreneurs in Central Java, Indonesia. The analysis tool used is Structural Equation Modeling. Based on the findings of the research using a confirmatory factor analysis, the model in this study is a very good fit. This occurred because values and criteria in the fit test and the statistical model test fulfilled referred values of Chi-square, Probability, CMINDF, GFI, AGFI, NFI, TLI, CFI and RMSEA. Based on the results of hypotheses tests, variables of personal characteristics, learning, networking and environment positively effects significantly on innovation adoption. Environment variables have the strongest impact on the acceptance of innovation. Then, learning, networking, environment and innovation adoption positively effects significantly on successful entrepreneurs, whereas personal characteristics positively effects but insignificantly on successful entrepreneurs. Acceptance of innovation variables have the strongest impact on successful entrepreneurs. Based on test results intervening, variable acceptance of innovation is the intervening variable between variables personal characteristics, learning, networking and environment variables, successful entrepreneurs Suggestions given to the government are, it requires to continue supports on environment comprising monetary regulation, capital and processing of the business registration that enable individual entrepreneurs to grow their companies and individual supports to become entrepreneurs having high achievement. Government needs to enhance the centers of entrepreneurship education and training workshops in order to increase the number of entrepreneurs and innovation capability of receipt. Government should plan to keep supporting new business development and provide protection in pioneering new efforts in various sectors

Análise da percepção de risco e do comportamento pró ambiental no nível local : políticas ambientais e cientistas locais sobre poluição atmosférica em Pequim/China: 2007-2018

Orientador: Leila da Costa FerreiraTese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Filosofia e Ciências HumanasResumo: Nas últimas duas décadas do século XX, a questão ambiental assumiu o status de um problema global. Os efeitos colaterais da produção industrial são caracterizados como resultado de uma profunda crise institucional da sociedade industrial como um todo. Por outro lado, a capacidade de um país de suportar impactos relacionados às mudanças climáticas depende sistematicamente do nível de renda do mesmo país. Nesse cenário, o dilema de priorizar as preocupações ambientais ou o desenvolvimento econômico é o maior desafio dos países emergentes. Com a urbanização, o governo local desempenha um papel maior na resposta aos riscos das mudanças climáticas. Um dos riscos que mais afetam megacidades como Pequim é a poluição do ar. Tomando como exemplo a metrópole de Pequim, esta pesquisa analisará seus problemas de poluição do ar e as políticas adotadas. Mais importante, concentrando-se nos cientistas locais, com a identidade social de "especialistas" em Pequim, eles serão analisados e divididos em diferentes grupos em termos de reconhecimento do risco de poluição do ar e de vontade de reagir a ele em suas cotidiano e em suas pesquisasAbstract: From the last two decades of the twentieth century, the environmental issue assumed the status of a global problem. The side effects of industrial production are characterized as the result of a profound institutional crisis of industrial society as a whole. On the other hand, a country¿s ability to withstand impacts related to climate change is systematically dependent on the level of income of the same country. In this scenario, the dilemma of prioritizing environmental concerns or economic development is the biggest challenge of emerging countries. With urbanization, local government plays a greater role in responding to the risks of climate change. One of the risks that most affect megacities like Beijing is air pollution. Taking as example the metropolis of Beijing, this research will analyze its air pollution issues and the policies adopted. Most importantly, focusing on the local scientists, with the social identity of "experts" in Beijing, they will be analyzed and divided into different groups in terms of their recognition of the risk of air pollution and of their willingness to react to it in their daily lives and in their researchesDoutoradoCiências SociaisDoutora em Ciências Sociai

Dotjerani do ruba: Sredstva ograđivanja od rečenoga u rumunjskom online medijskom diskursu o migracijama i izbjeglicama

The current paper analyses the type and frequencies of hedging devices used in Romanian online media discourse on refugees and asylum seekers, drawing on the media content that was published between Sept 2015 and March 2016. By using a mixed research approach, i.e. by combining pragmatics, Prince et al.’s Model (1982), elements of critical discourse analysis and Schroeder’s multidimensional model for media reception analysis, this article investigates 232 news items (both news posts and their comment threads) in a number of 8 mainstream Romanian online newspapers at the intersected space of computer mediated media discourse. Premised on the idea that media discourse is manufactured, the overarching goal of this examination is to identify the hedges and explore their pragmatic functions and their subsequent implications for commenters’ cognitive and attitudinal responses. Results obtained indicate that commenters use more hedging devices than journalists and for different purposes. While journalists seek to increase the credibility of the news presented, commenters use hedging to avoid commitment to action and decision.Radom se analizira tip i učestalost sredstava ograđivanja od rečenoga koje se koristi u rumunjskom online medijskom diskursu o izbjeglicama i azilantima, oslanjanjem na sadržaje u medijima objavljene između rujna 2015. i ožujka 2016. Uporabom kombinirane metode istraživanja, odnosno kombiniranjem (Prince i sur. 1982), elemenata kritičke analize diskursa i Schroederova (2010) multimedijskoga modela analize usvajanja medijskoga sadržaja, u radu se analizira 232 vijesti (objava vijesti i nizova njima pripadajućih komentara) u osam glavnih rumunjskih internetskih novina na razmeđi kompjuterski-posredovanoga diskursa. Polazeći od postavke da se medijski diskurs proizvodi, temeljni cilj ovoga istraživanja bio je identificirati načine ograđivanja i promotriti njihove pragmatičke funkcije te naknadne implikacije glede kognitivnih reakcija i stavove komentatora. Dobiveni rezultati ukazuju na činjenicu da komentatori koriste više sredstava ograđivanja nego novinari i to čine u različite svrhe. Dok novinari kane povećati kredibilitet predstavljenih vijesti, komentatori se koriste ograđivanjem da bi izbjegli obvezati se na djelovanje i donošenje odluka