APPLIES TO ACADEMIC YEAR 2016/2017

GRA 2236 Creativity in Individual, Group and Organisation

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 organisation. 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 organisational 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 organisational 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 organisations
Learned to apply diagnostic tools to assess creativity at the individual, group and organisational 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 2203 Psychological Measurement or equivalent
GRA 2204 Judgment and Desicion Making or equivalent
GRA 2205 Organizational Behaviour or equivalent
All courses in the Masters programme will assume that students have fulfilled the admission requirements for the programme. In addition, courses in second, third and/or fourth semester can have spesific prerequisites and will assume that students have followed normal study progression. For double degree and exchange students, please note that equivalent courses are accepted.

Compulsory reading
Books:
Isaksen, Scott G. , K. Brian Dorval, Donald J. Treffinger. 2011. Creative approaches to problem solving : a framework for innovation and change. 3rd ed. Sage. 320

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

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
Not applicable

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
written exam 3 hours