CREATIVITY & INNOVATION

MANAGEMENT
Dr.B.K.Mukherjee
B.E.(Chem),D.M.S.,Ph.D(Bus.Admin.)
FIE,CE(I),LMIIChE,MIMA

List of Books
ListofBooks
Conway Steve & Steward Fred, Managing and
Shaping
S
ap g Innovation,
o at o , O
Oxford
o d university
u e s ty Press.
ess
Afuah Allan, Innovation Management, Oxford
University Press.
DeGraff Jeff & Lawrence Katherine A
A., Creativity at
Work, University of Michigan Business Series, JosseyBass, San Francisco.
HBRs 10 Best Reads On Innovation, HBR Press,
Boston.
j Navi,, Prabhu Jaideep
p & Ahuja
j Simone,,
Radjou
Jugaad Innovation, Random House India.
Maital & Seshadri, Innovation Management, Sage
Publications.
Publications
Dr.B.K.Mukherjee

Introduction
Man, having historically evolved into an advanced creature
with highly developed mental faculties and the largest
brain/body weight ratio has,
has over time,
time transformed the
world with his imagination, ingenuity and creativity. It is
imagination that sets Man apart from any other animal.
The word Creativity implies creating something..
producing/bringing about something novel/new. Something
that did not exist at least in its present form earlier.
earlier
Along with Creativity are related Discovery, Invention and
Innovation. Although related, the four are quite different:
Creative Arts (including Performing Arts), Discovery of
continents/natural resources, etc., Invention of new
machines/gadgets
ac es/gadgets a
and
d Innovative
o at e tec
techniques/
ques/ tec
technologies,
o og es,
which seek to improve upon existing ones.
Dr.B.K.Mukherjee

Creativity
WHATISCREATIVITY?
CREATIVITYisthatspontaneousstreakofgeniusbehindtheMonaLisa,Romes
SistineChapel,theOscarwinningscoreofSlumdog Millionaire,theApple
Mackintosh or TagoressNobelwinningGeetanjali.Itisagiftthatsome
MackintoshorTagore
Nobel winning Geetanjali It is a gift that some
individualsaredivinelyendowedwiththatenablesthemtocreateunique,
enduringmasterpieces.
ea
y ay a es se
c ea e, pe o
g o e a y a s, bu o a e,
Creativitymaymanifestitselfincreative,performingorliteraryarts,butoflate,
duetogrowingcompetition,ithasassumedgreaterimportanceinbusiness
aswell.However,eachnewcreativeendeavour needsadifferentapproach,
henceadoptingaonesizefitsallbestpractice forcreativityusuallydoes
not work
notwork.
DEFINITION:Creativityhasthuslongbeenacceptedasacorecompetencethat
canhelpanindividualoracompanycreateproducts,services,processesor
ideas that are better or new.
ideasthatarebetterornew.
Theactofcreativity canbeperformedbyanindividual,agroup oran
organization oralloftheseworkingtogether toproduceacreative
outcome,whetherartistic,innovation,profits,quality,knowledgeorsome
otherdesiredresult.
Dr.B.K.Mukherjee

Discovery

It iis a process off fi

finding/coming
di /
i up on something
thi which
hi h already
l d
exists. Christopher Columbus discovered" America in 1492.
Actually,
y, Columbus accidentallyy stumbled upon
p an unknown
continent which later came to be called as America but it
did exist earlier as a mass of land. Similarly, Vasco da Gama
was the first European to discover the sea route to India
India.
Science and Astronomy have seen brilliant contributions
sometimes serendipitous by people like Galileo,
Archimedes, Sir Isaac Newton, Louis Pasteur, Dr Alexander
Fleming (Penicillin, 1928) and many others.
When Jawaharlal Nehru wrote The
The Discovery of India " in
1946, his main purpose was to showcase those aspects of
Indian history and culture, which were relatively unknown to
many, especially
i ll to
t foreigners.
f i
Dr.B.K.Mukherjee

Invention

IInvention
ti is
i a process off creating
ti something
thi anew or afresh
f h
that did not exist earlier. Rothwell & Zegveld have defined
invention as the creation of an idea and its reduction to

practice.

In fact, the age of invention started in England with the

Industrial Revolution (1733 1785).
1785) This was necessitated
by the urgent need for mechanization and the early six
inventions paved the way for rapid industrialization in
Europe (James Watts Steam Engine, 1776).
America, on the other hand, due to shortage of manpower,
took to mechanization in a big way right from the outset.
outset
America quickly overtook Europe as the greatest industrial
power, all thanks to the ingenuity of the great American
i
inventors
t
(Benjamin
(B j i Franklin,
F kli Thomas
Th
Al
Alva Edison,
Edi
H
Henry
Ford, Sr., Steve Jobs, and many others).
6
Dr.B.K.Mukherjee

Innovation
`Innovation involvesasystematiseduseofintelligence/
knowledge/science/technologytodosomethinginabetter
waythanitisbeingdonenow.Rothwell &Zegveld define
innovationasinvolvingcommercializationoftechnological
change.
Thus,innovationisthesuccessfulexploitationofideas,ie.,
innovation=invention+commercialization.
AccordingtoJohnD.Wolpert,innovationsinvolve,pursuing
radicalnewbusinessopportunities,exploitingnewor
potentiallydisruptivetechnologiesandintroducingchange
intothecoreconceptofyourbusiness."
EconomistslikeJosephSchumpeterhavelikenedinnovationsto
p
p
"CREATIVEDESTRUCTION,wheresometimestheoldhasto
destroyedtocreatesomethingnew(BajajAuto).

Dr.B.K.Mukherjee

StrategicInnovation
InBusiness,writersonStrategyoftentalkaboutSTRATEGIC
f
lk b

INNOVATION,whichmaybedefinedas
theabilityofabusinesstointroducesomethingnewerand
better,
insuchawaysoastomakeitrelativelydifficultforone's
competitorstocopy,imbibeoradaptitquickly.
Innovationalsooftenstronglyimpliesimprovisation, whichis
improving uponexistingmethodsorsystemstocreatea
superiorproduct.
InthewordsofPeterDrucker,therenownedmanagementGuru,
innovationrequiresknowledge,ingenuity,and,aboveelse,
f
focus."
Consistentinnovationisthekeytomarketleadershipand
innovative organizationssuchas3M,AppleandSonyareseenas
p
possessingnotonlytechnological(hard)competencesbutalso
g
y
g
(
)
p
organizationalandmanagerial(soft)competences.
Dr.B.K.Mukherjee

Jugaad
JugaadisacolloquialHindiwordthatroughlytranslatesas
aninnovativefix;animprovisedsolution maybe
temporary bornfromingenuityandcleverness.
temporary
born from ingenuity and cleverness Itis
It is
simplyaboutdoingmorewithless.Jugaad happens
organically:itsanemergent phenomenon,notaplanned
activity.
activity
Forexample,ruralnorthIndiaseesmakeshifttruckscobbled
togetherwithadieselengineslappedontoacartwith
improvised gear box and transmission interestingly,the
improvisedgearboxandtransmission
interestingly the
originofthewordjugaad,inPunjabi,literallydescribes
suchmakeshiftvehicles.
Theentrepreneurialspiritofjugaad isnotlimitedtoIndia.It
iswidelypracticedinotheremergingeconomiessuchas
China,Brazil,Mexico,Argentina,CostaRica,Kenya,
Philippinesandelsewhere.
Dr.B.K.Mukherjee

TypesofInnovation

Dr.B.K.Mukherjee

10