Organisations are born from and grow through creative ideas and innovative endeavours. For much of the twentieth century efficiency within organisations tended to be emphasized as the most important business focus with innovation as second choice. However, recently innovation has been cited as the primary way in which organisations can create and ensure long-term stability, shareholder satisfaction and industry leadership with a sustainable position. Subsequently, organisations realised that if they harnessed creativity and innovation correctly, it could lead to competitive advantage. Hence the question, what constitutes innovation? This research study endeavoured to determine the building blocks of innovation in a state-owned enterprise within the transport industry to facilitate the consistent adoption of innovation and its practices, by presenting the findings in a conceptual framework. As innovation is a multi-faceted and complex topic to study, a qualitative approach was chosen to identify concepts depicting the building blocks of innovation and the relationships between those concepts to enhance corporate functioning. Therefore, the method chosen had to support a qualitative and inductive research approach. Grounded Theory, as a qualitative method, ensured that innovation would be understood from the perspective of the participant. This in turn would ensure that the final result, the conceptual framework of building blocks of innovation, would be suitable to the environment from which it was generated. Through the empirical research, the state-owned enterprise’s approach towards innovation, that would influence the adoption of innovative practices, has been identified. Furthermore, barriers to innovation have been identified that might hinder the adoption of innovative practices. Finally, the enablers of innovation within a state-owned enterprise were identified and captured into a conceptual framework that depicts the building blocks of innovation. / Prof. Gert Roodt

Thesis submitted in partial compliance with the requirements for the Masters Degree in Technology: Fine Art in the Department of Fine Art, Durban Institute of Technology, 2008. / The aim of this thesis is to research and create a workshop which will assist artists to engage with their creative process. I explore the possibility that by being in a natural environment the blocked artist can reengage with their creative process and unblock the debilitating effects of artist's block. I chose to complete this study through the Durban University of Technology, to engage myself in the focused task of reengaging myself with my creative process, to create a workshop through experience and related yet varied data that could assist others through my experience and reflections. The term 'artist's block', also known as 'creative block' or 'writer's block', is used to describe a visual artist's or a writer's inability to engage with their creative process. I refer to a variety of literary resources as well as the observations made through interviews, by a selection of South African artists about this debilitating and frustrating situation. I also examine what is meant by being engaged in a creative process, and examine various theories and suggestions from a broad selection of literature. I explore a selection of literary recourses and reflect on personal experiences to ascertain whether the notion that the natural environment can assist an artist in finding the necessary inspiration to reengage them with their creative process and is therefore a suitable environment to facilitate a workshop. To assist with this study I facilitated two workshop, one for Students of the Durban University of Technology and the other for a diverse group of artists. The facilitation ofa workshop needs to be a creative process and I use the analogy of an alchemical process to highlight the unfolding of a workshop experience. This study also takes a look at the skills required by a facilitator, the role of the participant and how a workshop may unfold as a creative process. I observe that Artist's block is part of the creative process, that a workshop can be facilitated to assist artists with 'artist's block' and reengage them with their creative process, and that the natural environment is a suitable facilitator for the creative process. Although not quantifiable, it was established that students could benefit from workshops which gave them a better understanding of their creative process and how to move past artist's block. This thesis reflects briefly on my paralleled experiences over this four year period as I reengaged with my creative process and created a body of work to be exhibited as partial requirement for the Master's qualification. / M

D.Com. / Innovation mostly happens tacitly. Organisations do not usually explicate innovative thinking and behaviour in business processes and models. The thesis stresses the importance of seeing learning and innovation as dynamically linked processes consisting of different episodes. Innovators and innovation managers should be able to identify the unintended and intended messages in the different episodes of the learning and innovation process and decide upon the usefulness by further eliciting, sharing and shaping tacit knowing and being for innovation...

A Research Report submitted to the Faculty of Arts University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Mnster of Arts in Clinical Psychology. September ~991 / The study aimed to examine the ego functioning of the creative child, with a view to testing theories of creative functioning. The development of these theories is reviewed from Freud'e writings at the beginning of the century to more current conceptions of Creativity as a function of ego proCeSses. The theories examined related to the ego functions of Tolerance of Ambiguity, Regression in the Service of the Ego and Empathy, all of which were hypothesised .a being employed to a greater degree by creative individuals. A theoretical conception of the autonomous 1 intellective and creative ego was developed according to Norma Haan's (1977) view of Constructivist Man. The ego function of 60 children (39 male and 21 female' batween the ages of 8 and 12 years were tested by having their mothers rate them on Haan's Q-sort of Ego Processes. A measure of Creativity was obtained using activities from the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking (Torrance 1974) completed by the chiIdren. AnalysiS for the results failed to show any significant support for the hypotheses concerning the 3 main Ego Functions. Of the other Ego functions also exmined using the Haan instrument, only that of Substitution showed a significant (and negative) correlation with Creativity. This suggested that (a) children employing this ego function to a significant degree tend not to be creative and (b) Mothers valuing substitution highly may tend to stifle creativity in their children by their expectations and parenting styles. The failure to find significant support for the hypothesis is attributed to Ca) possible incomplete measures of Creativity and (b) the Mother's difficulty in using the ego rating instrument in an unbiased way rather than rating for Racial desirability and perceived expectations of the research on Certain key functions. It was concluded that trained professionals may be better equipped to accurately assess ego functioning. A discussion of the results and 1imitations of the study follows with a consideration of methodological problems in the measurement of both Personality and Creativity. suggestions are made for further research. No strong conclusions can be drawn regarding the validity of the theories discussed but they are felt to be very useful formulations for work in the educational and clinical fields.

Thesis (MTech (Design))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2018. / Design is a highly complex process. It involves various stakeholders, processes and interactions that need to work coherently in order to result in a successful design or product. It needs to be acknowledged that offering design as a successful service is not simply an interaction between a customer and a single designer, but in reality is far more complex and detailed. In today’s society, it is no longer sufficient for design-businesses to only focus on providing a well designed end product. Instead, customers now seek value in superior experiences from the services they use. Design-businesses thus need to shift their current outward focus to also create and design superior service experiences. Owing to the intangible complexities and intricacies within design as a service it makes it incredibly challenging to improve or enhance. Skeg Product Development, a leader in the Product design industry in South Africa, was used as a single case study to offer a real-world working context of Product design as a service. This study used purposefully selected Service design tools and techniques, such as the customer journey and service blueprint, for co-design workshops. Three workshops were facilitated in order to co-design maps with employees from various functions within the case study. Workshop 1 required participants to map their ideal customer journey. This was used to identify an area of focus within the case study that would benefit the most from improved visualisation. Workshop 2 and 3 used a service blueprint to map the existing front of stage- and backstage interactions and processes respectively. The mapped findings were supplemented by informal interviews with employees as well as continuous observations within the case study. It was found that Product design as a service, although the experience is subjective to each customer and project, is filled with intangible challenges and intricacies. It had been identified that managing customer expectations is currently the biggest challenge in offering Product design as a service. Although this was found to be a crucial obstacle to the customer experience, with multiple discussions around the topic, very little is actively being done to address it. It was also identified that current internal processes are not completely understood in terms of what they entail or their purpose to the service. This was found to be especially true across the various functions. This holds significant consequences for employees, the service and ultimately the customers. During the course of the study a number of themes and topics emerged. These include the success criteria for Product design as a service, as well as the significance of understanding roles and processes. The challenge of managing customer expectations in an unpredictable context is also addressed. The study subsequently presents two means for design-businesses to shift their focus to backstage processes in order to mitigate this challenge. The emerged themes speak to the greater industry of Product design as well as the developing field of Service design. This research is aimed at any individual, business or employee involved in the design industry. This includes anyone who has a role in delivering design as service who could benefit from a clearer understanding of the challenging context in which they work. It would also be beneficial to an individual or business who may want to suggest adjustments or changes to improve design as a service in future.

In this study, identity is conceptualised as a joint accomplishment between individuals and their interactions with norms, practices, cultural tools, relationships, and institutional and cultural contexts (Gee, 2000; Holland et al., 1998; and Wenger, 1998). From this stance, this research is within a situative approach which aims to understand motives and engagement of people as they participate in formal and informal learning contexts. This is accumulated from experiences (Dewey, 1934) which are processed and retained. From this state of being, the individual's identity is in the process of becoming; affected by personal circumstances and experiences gathered throughout the life course. In response to this, this research views identity not as a thing but as a process of being and becoming. (Beijaard, 2003). Through the process of living, individuals come into constant interaction with different contexts and cultures which inform their personalised identities. Individuals live in the world and, in so doing, create a 'meshwork' (Ingold, 2011) in which individuals do not exist in one location but move along paths acknowledging the role of other people and places in the formation of identity. Transitions throughout the individually lived life course (Elder, 1994) and the emotional experiences (Dutton and Heaphy, 2003) of these transitions aid in the identity formation of the artist teacher. The artist teacher is in a constant state of 'negotiating' between the identities of the artist and the artist teacher. The theoretical framework guiding this study merges Urie Bronfenbrenner's theory of ecological systems (1979)- the micro-, meso-, and macro- levels of human development with Barbara Rogoff's three planes of analysis (1995) - the personal, interpersonal and community levels of development. Data were built with the participation of six artist teachers living and working in North East Scotland, Aberdeen. Findings revealed fascinating ways in which the six artist teachers negotiated their artist and artist teacher identities in/through: art practice and pedagogy, collaborations with others in processes of dialogue and joint activity, and both solo and collaborative participation across persons in-contexts (Nolen et al., 2015).This study contributes to knowledge in exploring both psychological and sociological emotional experiences of the artist teacher to provide a more comprehensive and thorough examination of identity formation from a situative perspective.

Thesis (MEd)--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2018. / Much of today’s classroom learning, particularly in the senior primary phase, focuses on activities whereby learners acquire facts and rules, employing only the lower levels of cognition: knowledge, comprehension and application (Sonn, 2000). In order to bridge the gap between the real and the ideal (Hartley, Bertram & Mattson, 1999) with regards to the development of critical and creative thinking, educators need to be trained and provided with the necessary tools and relevant teaching strategies to better align their teaching to the requirements of the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS). This research developed quantitative and qualitative instruments to investigate Grade 6 teachers’ understanding of creative and critical thinking before and after a professional learning community (PLC) intervention. The implementation of the PLC involved the Creative Problem Solving (CPS) programme’s generating tools, and was guided by Bourdieu’s social field theory. The aim of the intervention was to consider the shifts and changes that teachers might make in their teaching practices to purposely include the development of creative and critical thinking skills in their pedagogy. A pragmatic paradigm was utilized, focusing on methodological flexibility with the use of an explanatory sequential mixed method approach. Although this small, convenient sample excludes any statistical evidence, it does reflect that given time and support, teachers’ pedagogical habitus (see Feldman & Fataar, 2014) is adaptable. The meaningful, cooperative approach of the PLC and the development of creative and critical thinking skills, through the use of the creative problem solving programme, created the platform for change.

This thesis looks at the way in which drama education constructs opportunities for learning. Constructivism and self-organising systems theory are used to further understand how individuals and societies construct their own learning. Important in this process is the self-conscious experience of the learner. The notion of being ‘in learning’ rather than outside of and observing the learning is central. This consciousness facilitates the creation of meaning, which plays a role in determining the manner in which further participation in learning occurs, hence further learning. This emphasises the process of learning over the product of learning. The function that language and emotion serve in this process also deserves consideration. This perspective upon process has a considerable impact upon the way in which learners make meaning and the way in which they approach learning. Questions surrounding a consciousness of participation bring the senses, the feelings, the emotions and other physical experience to the fore. They require that the learning of the body be experienced. Embodied learning is insufficiently acknowledged and theorised in drama education. Through bringing together constructivism, systems theory, drama education and contemporary performance theory this thesis argues for a greater recognition of the relationship between the body and learning. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

This research confirms that organisational creativity is of growing interest to leaders due to an an anticipated move into the information age, and the growth of the new economy. For some leaders it also represents a new post-cost-cutting strategy to ensure organisational growth and sustainability. The research used a grounded theory approach and consisted of in-depth interviews with leaders from both the profit and non-profit sectors and included 3 case studies -- the Four Corners unit at the ABC, the advertising industry and 3M. The research also includes two comparison studies, between a range of profit and non-profit organisations, most of which are renowned for creativity. The core question attempted to be answered was how can organisations become more creative. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Creative visualization is an essential attribute to be possessed by an artist to achieve success in any art endeavour. To reach its purpose in all its fields, art is made manifest and is expressed through real genuine passion. This research study acknowledges Gibran Kahlil Gibran, as a distinguished immigrant artist, with a vision. A comparison is then made of six other artists, including the researcher, who have all had similar ordeals in the successful attainment of their vision. This biographical, neo-narrative research design methodology was recorded through extensive readings and lengthy interviews, which consisted of proposing specific questions to each of the participants in order to extract valid and comparable findings. As a consequence, the art researcher was able to observe, reflect and draw some relevant conclusions towards the creative vision of Lebanese immigrants, which led to their success despite hardships, expatriation, ambition and hope. This study has provided the researcher with real insight into the characteristics of these artists and what constitutes a successful immigrant. It has confirmed her pre-conceived perceptions that success takes time and personal effort. It highlights the importance for the existence of tolerance between people, which in turn will enable the realisation of empathy.