APPLIES TO ACADEMIC YEAR 2014/2015

GRA 2236 Creativity in Individual, Group and Organization

Responsible for the course
Thorvald Hærem

Department
Department of Leadership and Organizational Behaviour

Term
According to study plan

ECTS Credits
6

Language of instruction
English

Introduction
Psychological research has uncovered conditions that both inhibits and facilitates creative thinking and ability to reorient at the level of the individual, group and organization. The course will provide insight into the most important results of this research. The participants will also be introduced to and trained in the use of creative problem solving techniques particularly developed for handling problems commonly met in the context of organizational settings and work life.

Learning outcome
KNOWLEDGE
Understand the concept of creativity, and its relation to innovation
Understand alternative theories of creativity and their interrelationships
Understand the relevance and scope of creativity at different levels of aggregation, for micro to macro
Understand the place of creativity in the general problem solving process
Understand how creativity normally unfolds in steps and stages
Understand why creative processes are difficult to reach onto, and how the accessibility of such processes can be boosted

SKILLS
Be able to use heuristic methods that can trigger creative processes
Learned to use appropriate measures mitigating against conditions that may hinder and block creativity at the individual, group and organizational level
Learned to use ways of communicating and teaching the basic principles of the nature and function of creativity in business
Mastered techniques that can facilitate creativity in groups and teams
Learned to use tools to diagnose and manage creative climate in organizations
Learned to apply diagnostic tools to assess creativity at the individual, group and organizational level, including leadership skills for creativity

REFLECTION
Developed a measured understanding about the relevance and scope of creativity in business
Be able to understand how creativity can be demystified
Be able to critically assess practical methods and courses claimed by the consulting business to facilitate creativity
Have a realistic and empirically based attitude to the question of how far it is possible to influence and develop creative processes
Developed a measured and empirically based understanding of how micro and macro conditions may interact to facilitate and inhibit creative processes in a business context
Be able to understand and critically discuss such concepts as “creative class”, “creative economy” and “creativity society

Prerequisites
GRA 2205 Organizational Behavior or GRA 2203 Psychological Measurement and Individual Differences or GRA 2204 Judgment and Decision Making or eq.

Compulsory reading
Books:
Proctor, Tony. 2014. Creative problem solving for managers : developing skills for decision making and innovation. 4th ed. Routledge

Collection of articles:
A collection of research articles will be made available before the course starts

Other:
During the course there may be hand-outs and other material on additional topics relevant for the course and the examination.


Recommended reading

Course outline
- Psychology of problem solving
- Creativity as a form of problem solving
- Conditions that inhibit and facilitate creative problem solving
- Creative problem solving techniques
- Computer based techniques for idea development
- Promotion of a more creative work environment

Computer-based tools
It's learning/homepage

Learning process and workload
The course will be organized as an intensive workshop over a few days . This way of teaching is also chosen in order to give the participants an introduction to the methodological organization and implementation of courses in a workshop format. A course of 6 ECTS credits corresponds to a workload of 160-180 hours.

In this course class attendance is mandatory.

Please note that it is the student’s own responsibility to obtain any information provided in class that is not included on the course homepage/It's learning or text book.


Examination
Three hours written exam.

Examination code(s)
GRA 22361written examination accounts for 100 % of the final grade in the course GRA 2236.

Examination support materials
A bilingual dictionary.
Examination support materials at written examiniations are explained under examination information in the student portal @bi. Please note use of calculator and dictionary in the section on support materials.

Re-sit examination
It is only possible to retake an examination when the course is next taught.
The assessment in some courses is based on more than one exam code.
Where this is the case, you may retake only the assessed components of one of these exam codes.
Where this is not the case, all of the assessed components of the course must be retaken.
All retaken examinations will incur an additional fee.

Additional information
Honor Code
Academic honesty and trust are important to all of us as individuals, and represent values that are encouraged and promoted by the honor code system. This is a most significant university tradition. Students are responsible for familiarizing themselves with the ideals of the honor code system, to which the faculty are also deeply committed.

Any violation of the honor code will be dealt with in accordance with BI’s procedures for cheating. These issues are a serious matter to everyone associated with the programs at BI and are at the heart of the honor code and academic integrity. If you have any questions about your responsibilities under the honor code, please ask.