The influence of individual characteristics on employee creative participation

In a knowledge-based economy and dynamic work environment retaining competitiveness is increasingly dependent on creativity, skills, individual abilities and appropriate motivation. For instance, the UK government explicitly stated in the recent "Review of Employee Engagement and Investment" report that new ways are required through which British companies could boost employee engagement at work, improving staff commitment and, thereby, increase workplace productivity. Although creativity and innovation have been studied extensively, little is known about employees' intrinsic willingness to contribute novel ideas and solutions (defined here as creative participation). For instance, the same individual can thrive in one organisation but be completely isolated in another and the question is to what extent this depends on individual characteristics and organisational settings. The main aim of this research is, therefore, to provide a conceptual framework for identification of individual characteristics that influence employees' willingness to contribute new ideas. In order to achieve this aim the investigation will be based on a developed psychological experiment, and will include personal-profiling inventory and a questionnaire. Understanding how these parameters influence willingness of an individual to put forward created ideas would offer an opportunity for companies to improve motivation practices and team efficiency, and can consequently lead to better overall performance

Creative participation in construction firms: bridging creativity and innovation

An intricate evolution of mainstream theories follows the growing need to explain employees’ commitment and engagement. Our understanding of these work-related phenomena and behaviour has improved but creativity and innovation as desired indicators are still often treated as coexisting constructs with very little attention given to a state of willingness of an individual to even consider contributing ideas. In this research we investigate the influence of knowledge and understanding, perceived radicality, personality dimensions, and favouring of ideas on employee willingness to creatively participate in order to trace its existence in propagation of ideas. A total of 76 construction and non-construction professionals participated in between-subject quasi-experiments. We also proposed IPO-based radicality of ideas construct from the viewpoint of employees involved in the processes of transformation. The research findings show that experts with deep understanding of the work are more likely to contribute highly radical ideas to decision-makers than less knowledgeable employees. Furthermore, personal factors that impact employee willingness to creatively participate have been valued higher than organisational factors. Personality dimensions by The Big-Five Inventory have shown no effect on willingness to contribute ideas, while favouring of ideas showed a significant effect. In general, the findings show similarities with some studies of consumer willingness to participate in co-creation processes and thus indicate that firms may be studied as dynamic internal markets of ideas

Comparisons as a discursive tool: shaping megaproject narratives in the United Kingdom

The mobilization of narratives is essential in integrating people and constructing identities that help in navigating complexity, uncertainty, and conflictuality. This paper explores how comparisons are used as a discursive tool to shape narratives and bring about changes in policy and society, using the High Speed Two megaproject in the UK as a case study. We examine the comparisons that promoters and protesters employ in an organizational setting. In particular, we explore how the narratives that result from these comparisons—on questions including the need for the megaproject, the benefits of the megaproject, alternatives to the megaproject, and issues of noise, sustainability, compensation, and branding—help their efforts to organize. The research highlights how comparisons serve as an important cue in discourse and how different forms of comparison can help to create narratives and shape policy outcomes

Enriching the concept of authentic leadership in project-based organisations through the lens of life-stories and self-identities

The tendency to present authentic leadership as a set of project manager attributes (e.g., characteristics, behaviours, competencies) limits the potential of this concept to help address the challenges of contemporary projects. Using the lens of self-identity and drawing on life-story interviews with Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of public project-based organisations in the UK construction industry, this paper offers an enrichment of the authentic leadership concept that takes into account situated nuances and struggles encountered in the lived experiences of leaders. The findings reveal a dialogical process between more coherent narratives and personalised stories articulated by the leaders, continued interweaving stories of self and the context, and ongoing efforts to cope with relational anxieties, authenticity and self-identity struggles. It is shown that these processes are situated in cultural values, roles, institutionalised views of leadership and the broader context, and shape the contextual conditions for project work

Creative participation in construction firms: bridging creativity and innovation

An intricate evolution of mainstream theories follows the growing need to explain employees’ commitment and engagement. Our understanding of these work-related phenomena and behaviour has improved but creativity and innovation as desired indicators are still often treated as coexisting constructs with very little attention given to a state of willingness of an individual to even consider contributing ideas. In this research we investigate the influence of knowledge and understanding, perceived radicality, personality dimensions, and favouring of ideas on employee willingness to creatively participate in order to trace its existence in propagation of ideas. A total of 76 construction and non-construction professionals participated in between-subject quasi-experiments. We also proposed IPO-based radicality of ideas construct from the viewpoint of employees involved in the processes of transformation. The research findings show that experts with deep understanding of the work are more likely to contribute highly radical ideas to decision-makers than less knowledgeable employees. Furthermore, personal factors that impact employee willingness to creatively participate have been valued higher than organisational factors. Personality dimensions by The Big-Five Inventory have shown no effect on willingness to contribute ideas, while favouring of ideas showed a significant effect. In general, the findings show similarities with some studies of consumer willingness to participate in co-creation processes and thus indicate that firms may be studied as dynamic internal markets of ideas

Temporary multi-organizations:Constructing identities to realize performance improvements

This article applies organizational identity theory to explore how temporary multi-organizations (TMOs) construct their identities as learning organizations. The study draws on 33 in-depth interviews from TMOs in the UK construction, engineering, and infrastructure industries. Interviews were further triangulated with data from a series of industry events and workshops. The investigation explores key characteristics of learning in TMOs and their impact on performance. The research demonstrates the shift towards informal ways of learning and importance of narratives about the purpose of TMOs. Boundary spanners actively engage in sharing learning through stories about lessons learned from past experiences in managing TMOs

Managerial identity work in action: performative narratives and anecdotal stories of innovation

Innovation is invariably accepted as a central component of construction sector competitiveness. Yet there remains a paucity of empirical research which explores the gap between the way innovation is promoted in the policy discourse and how it is interpreted in practice. We follow the ‘narrative turn’ in organisation studies to explore the ways in which senior executives in the UK construction sector ascribe themselves with informal roles while advocating the cause of innovation. Empirical data is derived from narrative interviews with 32 senior executives who self-identify as ‘innovation champions’. When talking about innovation the respondents were found to oscillate between performative narratives of innovation and more personalised stories derived from their own experience. The narratives were invariably pre-rehearsed often to the point of being monotonous. In contrast, the personalised stories tended to be engaging and emotionally laden. The tendency for senior executives to oscillate between narratives and stories is seen as an important means through which they search for meaning while at the same time legitimising their self-identities as ‘innovation champions’. Of particular note is the way in which senior managers self-ascribe themselves with informal roles which are notably at odds with those described in more formalised narratives

Management innovation in complex products and systems: The case of integrated project teams

This paper examines the process of a management innovation in complex products and systems (CoPS). Prior literature offers limited theoretical and empirical insights into how an inter-organizational relationship delivers CoPS by moving towards ‘integrated project teams’ over time. The research is based on an in-depth, longitudinal case study, drawing on 34 semi-structured interviews and secondary data from following a client-contractor relationship in the UK water industry over time. The study draws out the various management innovation development phases. It also provides detailed insights in the developments and benefits of setting up integrated project teams. The study contributes to extant literature and practice by linking previously separate research streams of organizational design and management innovation with the management of CoPS

The effect of foliar feeding on physiological condition of apple trees and chemical content of fruits

Chemical content of leaves and fruits of the low growing apple trees on the rootstocks SК4 and М9 in the result of application of foliar feeding with water solutions of various mineral fertilizers was studied. Special ballastless multi-nutrient fertilizers in solid and liquid forms containing a wide range of chelated microelements were used. The effect of foliar feeding on the content in plants and fruits of macro- and microelements at the fruit maturity stage was estimated with the help of the method of leaf analysis. Significant stable increase of the content of nitrogen and potassium was observed in the leaves of apple trees on the rootstocks SК4 and М9. The content of potassium and calcium in apples became higher. With the help of statistical analysis it is shown that there exists close correlation between the content of elements in leaves and fruits: (N) r = 0.79; (K) r = 0.77; (Ca) r = 0.94; (Cu) r = 0.75; (Mn) r = 0.89; (Zn) r = 0.75; (B) r = 0.70. In the result of our physiological and biochemical tests positive effect of mineral feeding on the functional condition of apple trees during summer season when being subjected to intensive hydrothermal stress factors was established. The foliar feeding effect appeared as changing of the ratio of water fractions in the apple tree leaves at the background of increasing atmospheric drought, which in some years in July and August reached the criteria of "hazardous weather". Sufficient level of water content in the cells of apple trees on the rootstocks SК4 and М9 in case of foliar application of fertilizers was ensured as a result of bound water increasing. Statistic analysis of the experimental data showed significant changes in the ratio of bound and free water fractions. In August, in the environment of strong impact of negative abiotic factors, at higher level of water content in the tissues it was found that the content of pigments in leaves was much higher than in the reference version. The functional changes confirm that application of mineral nutrients contributes to activation of the adaptation mechanism. When foliar feeding is used the content of biologically active substances in apples is the highest: content of vitamin C increases by 13.6 - 15.2%, vitamin Р - by 8.7 - 24.6%. <br /

Operation Warp Speed: Projects responding to the COVID-19 pandemic

The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic has profound socio-economic consequences. Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures, so this paper focuses on radical changes to accepted practice in project organizing in response. In particular, we focus on schedule compression to deliver outputs to mitigate the immediate impact of the pandemic on health. In the spirit of engaged scholarship, which is problem-driven rather than theory-driven, we address directly the evidence of what happened in two empirical vignettes and one more substantial case study – the CoronavirusUY app; emergency field hospitals; and vaccine development. We then suggest the implications for project management theory in discussion