An evaluation of the stimulants and impediments to innovation within PFI/PPP projects

This paper identifies the theoretical stimulants and impediments associated with the implementation of PFI/PPP (Private Finance Initiative/Public Private Partnership) projects. A current defect of this procurement approach is the unintentional constraint upon the innovations incorporated into the development of PFI projects. A critical evaluation of the published literature has been utilized to synthesize a theoretical model. The paper proposes a theoretical model for the identification of potential innovation stimulants and impediments within this type of procurement. This theoretical model is then utilised to evaluate four previously completed PFI projects. These project case-studies have been examined in detail. The evaluation demonstrates how ineffective current procedures are. The application of this model before project letting could eliminate unintentional constraints and stimulate improved innovation within the process. The implementation of the model could improve the successful delivery of innovation within the entire PFI/PPP procurement process

Learners reconceptualising education: Widening participation through creative engagement?

This paper argues that engaging imaginatively with ways in which statutory and further education is provided and expanding the repertoire of possible transitions into higher education, is necessary for providers both in higher education and in the contexts and phases which precede study at this level. Fostering dispositions for creativity in dynamic engagement with educational technology together with the consideration of pedagogy, learning objects, inclusion, policy and the management of change, requires innovative provision to span the spaces between school, home, work and higher education learning. Reporting on The Aspire Pilot, a NESTA-funded initiative at The Open University, the paper offers the beginning of a theoretical frame for considering learning, learners and learning systems in the information age prioritizing learner agency. It will report emergent empirical findings from this inter-disciplinary project, with a significant e-dimension, which seeks to foster the creativity of 13-19 year olds in considering future learning systems, developing provocations for others to explore creative but grounded possibilities. It explores implications arising from this project for approaches that may facilitate widening participation in higher education

Aspects of Graduateness in Computing Students’ Narratives

In this paper, we explore graduates’ characterisations of their learning experiences at university and beyond. Using a narrative methodology, we elicited life stories from graduates of the School of Computing at the University of Kent. We initially review and situate our approach within the wide variety of existing narrative approaches. Then, we turn to an aspect of the student experience that struck us as particularly significant: the “year in industry”. We discuss the accounts of ten participants who completed a year in industry and highlight their perspectives of the effect it had on them. Finally, we propose a narrative construction of the concept of graduateness – of what it means to complete a university degree

Individual Goal Orientations, Team Empowerment, and Employee Creative Performance: A Case of Cross-Level Interactions

Intrigued by relationship between team motivational context and individual characteristics in the organizational reality, we developed and tested a cross-level model to investigate the interactive effects of team empowerment and individual goal orientations on individual creative performance through the mediating mechanism of an individual\u27s creative self-efficacy. Using multi-wave multi-source data from 63 R&D teams in three IT companies, we found that (1) team empowerment, individual learning goal orientation, and individual performance orientation are all positively related to individual creative performance through mediation of creative self-efficacy; (2) learning orientation and performance approach orientation could both supplement the effects of team empowerment on individual creative self-efficacy. Our findings point to the importance of individual goal orientation in shaping the effects of team motivation climates and provide insights for both scholars and practitioners. The specific practical implications include but are not limited to (1) individuals with learning and performance approach orientations should be identified during hiring procedures given that they could still thrive in less empowered teams and maintain a relatively high level of creative self-efficacy and creative outcomes; (2) managers should consider assigning employees who are more learning oriented to more empowering and open-ended tasks in order to obtain better creative results

What makes mindful self-initiated expatriates bounce back, improvise and perform:Empirical evidence from the emerging markets

Drawing upon the self-determination theory (SDT), this study examines what makes individual employees leverage improvisational capability to act extemporaneously to find relevant solutions for enhanced task performance. Using supervisor-subordinate dyadic self-initiated expatriates (SIEs) samples, we used structural equation modeling (SEM) to examine this study's hypotheses. We found that mindfulness influences resilience and improvisation in the workplace. Furthermore, we found improvisation to mediate the influence of resilience on task performance. We discussed in detail the essential findings and their contributions to advance theory and practice in the field

How control systems influence product innovation processes: examining the role of entrepreneurial orientation

This paper yields insights into the channels through which Management Accounting and Control Systems (MACS) exert an influence on product innovation by examining the extent to which different forms of control (i.e. value systems, diagnostic control systems, interactive control systems) are directly associated with the distinct phases of innovation processes. Using survey data collected from 118 medium and large Spanish companies, we find that: (1) value systems and interactive control systems have significant main effects on the creativity, coordination and knowledge integration, and filtering (sub-)phases of innovation processes; and (2) the significance and direction of these influences vary depending on the Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO) of firms. By highlighting the relevance of EO in shaping the influence of MACS on product innovation processes, this study calls for caution in generalising the expected effects of MACS on innovation

Manageable creativity

This article notes a perception in mainstream management theory and practice that creativity has shifted from being disruptive or destructive to 'manageable'. This concept of manageable creativity in business is reflected in a similar rhetoric in cultural policy, especially towards the creative industries. The article argues that the idea of 'manageable creativity' can be traced back to a 'heroic' and a 'structural' model of creativity. It is argued that the 'heroic' model of creativity is being subsumed within a 'structural' model which emphasises the systems and infrastructure around individual creativity rather than focusing on raw talent and pure content. Yet this structured approach carries problems of its own, in particular a tendency to overlook the unpredictability of creative processes, people and products. Ironically, it may be that some confusion in our policies towards creativity is inevitable, reflecting the paradoxes and transitions which characterise the creative process

Off-task social breaks and group creativity

This study investigates the effect of off-task breaks, where individuals engage in a collective off-task activity, on group creativity. Using an experimental method comprising 36 groups of 5 individuals, the relationships between different types of off-task group break and performance in creative tasks post-break are explored. When compared to the no-break case, it is seen that off-task breaks, in which all individuals participate in the group activity, lead to more original ideas being generated post-break. On the other hand, individual incubation breaks and self-organising group breaks, lead to lower levels of post-break idea originality when compared with the no-break case. This research thus highlights the positive benefits of off-task breaks involving full member participation, on the creative process in groups

The Challenges of Creativity in Software Organizations

Part 1: Creating ValueInternational audienceManaging creativity has proven to be one of the most important drivers in software development and use. The continuous changing market environment drives companies like Google, SAS Institute and LEGO to focus on creativity as an increasing necessity when competing through sustained innovations. However, creativity in the information systems (IS) environment is a challenge for most organizations that is primarily caused by not knowing how to strategize creative processes in relation to IS strategies, thus, causing companies to act ad hoc in their creative endeavors. In this paper, we address the organizational challenges of creativity in software organizations. Grounded in a previous literature review and a rigorous selection process, we identify and present a model of seven important factors for creativity in software organizations. From these factors, we identify 21 challenges that software organizations experience when embarking on creative endeavors and transfer them into a comprehensive framework. Using an interpretive research study, we further study the framework by analyzing how the challenges are integrated in 27 software organizations. Practitioners can use this study to gain a deeper understanding of creativity in their own business while researchers can use the framework to gain insight while conducting interpretive field studies of managing creativity