This thesis explores how women form, perceive and communicate their sense of identity by hand knitting for leisure. Leisure, defined here as time outside of work or caring responsibilities, was selected as the focus of this research because women have some choice over how they spend this time and express themselves. Writing on contemporary knitting has tended to frame knitting within political, artistic or commercial contexts (such as Black, 2005, 2012 and Elliot, 2015). This leaves a gap in our understanding of why women who knit for leisure do so. This is partially addressed by recent empirical research (for example Fields, 2014) that has studied social processes within knitting groups. However, research has devoted less attention to the wider motivations of women who knit alone or in groups. This is important if we consider that identity formation happens in a broader context, and may involve a constant interaction with people (Jenkins, 2004), objects and ideas, as is suggested by the findings of this study. The research employs a qualitative approach based on Charmaz’s (2006) grounded theory by way of a staged design which aims to respond to the data and minimise the influence of preconceived ideas. This aim is particularly important given the historical and contemporary stereotypes associated with knitting, and my own background as a textile historian and maker. Application of social research methods also aims to further develop the role played by empirical research in the area of textile scholarship. Data was collected in three stages; a pilot study, questionnaires with women textile bloggers and the main research stage which consisted of semi-structured interviews with knitters living in Edinburgh. Interviewees were contacted by volunteer and snowball sampling. Content analysis was supported by QSR*NVivo and involved descriptive and theoretical coding in order to identify themes in the data. Analysis suggests knitting provides immediate social interaction and support. This could be associated with Jenkins’ (2004) proposition that identity is formed by ongoing social interaction. However, there is another dimension here as knitting also enables the solitary knitter to access interactions with ideas and other people through objects and the personal memories held within them as well as through online communities. Three key findings are that knitting presents a way to be creative, productive and social. Firstly, respondents describe knitting as a balance between challenge and perceived ability, as might be described as ‘flow’ (Csikszentmihalyi, 2002 [1992]). Secondly, this meets a need for a leisure activity that produces a tangible manifestation of effort and skill. However, the process of knitting is also seen to be as important, if not more so, than the final product. This insight reinforces the usefulness of empirical study of the experience of making textiles, and reveals additional data than studying only the final object. Thirdly, knitting is presented as a means to access meaningful social interactions and a sense of belonging to a community whether or not the knitter is a member of a knitting group. Such interactions might be online or provide a sense of continuity with previous generations of knitters in their families or women in general. Knitters see this as a way of building social capital and support. Overall, findings suggest that identity formation and communication should be seen as a complex process that does not only involve direct social interactions but interaction with the idea of other knitters, past and present, and the practical experience of making.

abstract: There is a popular notion that creativity is highly valued in our culture. However, those "in the trenches," people in creative endeavors that actually produce the acts of creativity, say this is not so. There is a negative correlation between the value stated and the true value placed on creativity by our contemporary culture. The primary purpose of this study was to investigate that correlation as well as a possible contributing factor to this negative correlation--the fear of risk involved in enacting and accepting creativity. The methods used in this study were literature review and interview. An extensive literature review was done, as much has been written on creativity. The review was done in four parts: 1) the difficulty in defining creativity; 2) fear and the fear of creativity; 3) solutions - ways to be, express, and accept creativity; and 4) the plethora of articles written about creativity. Six one-on-one interviews were conducted with creative individuals from a variety of commercial creative endeavors. Creatives in commercial fields were chosen specifically because of their ability to influence the culture. The results of this study showed that the hypothesis, that there is a negative correlation between the value stated and the true value placed on creativity, is true. The fear of risk involved in enacting and accepting creativity as a factor in this dichotomy was also shown to be true. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S.D. Design 2013

This study investigates how knowledge is created in a small business organization. Knowledge creation refers to organizational learning which results in innovation. The research design was a qualitative, single site case study of three firms in the point of sale industry. Data collection took place during a six month field study and employed multiple methods including participant observations, interviews, document reviews, and field journal entries. The study was informed by a conceptual framework which focused on the importance of both tacit and explicit knowledge forms, multiple modes of knowledge conversion (socialization, externalization, combination, internalization), and a knowledge spiraling process. Six themes emerged from the data. The first theme, "the people are the business" indicated that individuals become a knowledge creating structure that transcends office boundaries. A second theme, "we just spend tons of time talking", emphasized the importance of dialogue and informal communication structures to the sharing of tacit knowledge. A third theme, "there hasn't been a new idea in a million years", illustrated the predominance of incremental rather than radical innovation, the strategy of mimicking concept successes, and the importance of learning with other organizations through strategic alliances. A fourth theme, "you learn from your mistakes", represented the experiential nature of learning within the firm. A fifth theme, "it's one of those crystal ball kind of things" depicted the intuitive nature of personal knowledge and its limitations. Finally, the sixth theme, "a day late and a dollar short" explored how time and money pressures both enhance and hinder knowledge creation within a small business context. By comparing the themes to the conceptual framework the study concluded that small business organizations create knowledge in accordance with the nature of interpersonal interactions as they occur in context. The theoretical knowledge spiral was reconceptualized as a web structure in order to accommodate more diversity of approaches to knowledge creation and the complex nature of innovations. / Education, Faculty of / Educational Studies (EDST), Department of / Graduate

Abstract The purpose of this research was to gain a more profound understanding of the emergence of the business opportunities, and to enhance the development of entrepreneurship theory in relation to this context. This research is to understand two issues: How does a business opportunity emerge? What makes it possible? This dissertation builds a conceptual framework of the process of creating the Business Opportunity and concentrates on three interrelated sub-processes emerging in it: Business Ideation Process, Business Modeling Process and Business Planning Process. The Business Ideation is defined as creating an idea of the business opportunity with a clear focus on the customer, consideration, connection, and/or commitment. The Business Modeling Process is the conceptual model of the future business opportunity consisting elements such as: value creation; firm’s internal source of advantage; position in the marketplace; profit making; and entrepreneur’s perspective. Finally, the Business Planning Process is the implementation plan of the conceptual business opportunity. The scientific choices are based on the critical realism that highlights reality simultaneously as existing independently of its observers and acknowledges the role of an actor (the entrepreneur) as being constrained by it as well as being able to change it. Furthermore, this dissertation treats the process of creating the business opportunities as creative process based on the idea of a personal (or everyday) creativity and the method of creative problem solving. The results indicate that the nature of the process of creating the Business Opportunities, the BOC process, allows all people to be treated as entrepreneurs if they play the role of the entrepreneur by interacting (more or less creatively) with business ideating, business modeling and business planning processes. Hence, the creative problem solving method utilized in every sub-process will free the entrepreneur from the restraint of the dominant insight of the opportunity that sees it as a true vision of the future business venture. Here, the business opportunities are created during the process. Furthermore, the results show a keen interplay between the process of creating business opportunities and their exploitation. Hence, the BOC process appears to be an essential part of the overall entrepreneurial process.

One of the challenges for a manager in a creative profession is how to turn the creative energy of the designers into profitable energy for the company. Creativity and productivity are frequently seen as opposing forces, therefore trying to simultaneously nurture both the innovation and the efficiency of a creative design team can become a frustrating balancing act for managers of these organisations. This research demonstrates how the performance of creative people can be aligned to the commercial goals of a design organisation, and that the perceived clash between creativity and productivity is a result of an incompatibility between the creative style of the company and the management techniques being employed. Executives and employees from fifteen organisations of varying levels of success and creativity, across a spectrum of creative design professions, were interviewed regarding how they accommodate a range of productivity and creativity indicators. In analysing the findings qualitatively, it was discovered that rather than one fixed answer to this question, a range of management techniques are applied and many different creative styles are employed. The research findings show that identifying the creative style of the organisation and the appropriate management technique to match is critical in overcoming this perceived paradox. It provides a diagnostic tool for the creative design organisation to enable them to establish where they are on a spectrum of creativity, or decide where they want to be strategically, and then either adapt or adopt an appropriate management technique to complement rather than constrain their creative style. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / MBA / Unrestricted

Doctor of Education / Department of Educational Leadership / Sarah Jane Fishback / The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between cognitive complexity and creativity. This research was conducted with a sample (n = 126) of field grade officers at the Joint and Combined Warfighter School in Norfolk, VA, as part of class 08-02 (N = 250), in early 2008. The Department of Defense (DoD) challenges its officers to operate in ambiguity, solve complex problems and be creative. The DoD needs its officers to apply a creative imagination, supported by skill, knowledge, and experience, to design integrated operational plans that employ military forces. In order to do this, the DoD teaches its officers cognitive thinking skills and creativity at the same time. Are cognitive thinking skills and creativity correlated? Two valid and reliable tests were used to test for cognitive complexity and creativity: the Learning Environments Preference (LEP) and the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT), both the Figural-A and the Verbal-A forms. A small positive but statistically insignificant (τ = .083) correlation was found between the measured levels of cognitive development (LEP CCI) and the measured level of creativity (TTCT). In addition, this research analyzed the effect that branch of service, combat experience, gender, age, and education level had on creativity and cognitive complexity. There was a strong positive correlation between cognitive complexity and level of civilian education level ([Tau] = .345, p < .001). There was a strong positive correlation between creativity and level of civilian education level ([Tau] = .341, p < .001). When LEP CCI scores (cognition) were correlated to TTCT creativity scores while controlling for combat experience there was a medium positive correlation (r = .285, p = .007). When combat experience was correlated to the LEP CCI scores (cognition) there was a medium positive correlation ([Tau] = .246, p = .002). There was a medium positive correlation between military rank and LEP CCI (cognition) scores ([Tau] = .228, p = .002). There was a small positive correlation between military rank and TTCT creativity scores ([Tau] = .15, p = .042). When gender was correlated to the TTCT scores (creativity), there was a statistically significant positive correlation for females ([Tau] = .151, p = .041). A small positive but statistically insignificant (r = .111) correlation was present between the level of creativity, the level of cognitive development, and age. There was a small positive but statistically insignificant (r = .109) correlation between the level of creativity, the level of cognitive development, and branch of service.

A l’heure de la mondialisation, les collectivités locales cherchent en permanence à renouveler leur communication politique et leur marketing territorial et à les différencier de celui des territoires concurrents. Dans cette thèse, nous étudions comment les différents modes d’appréhension de la notion de créativité dans les politiques publiques urbaines répondent à ces enjeux. Notre analyse porte sur les projets de « territoires 2.0 » ou de « territoires créatifs », ayant dès leur émergence, étroitement associé des institutions politiques et publiques ainsi que des cercles d’experts. Au regard des dispositifs de communication d’influence facilitant l’incorporation de ces notions dans l’action publique locale, quelles sont les transformations en cours des stratégies de promotion des territoires ? En particulier, comment les modes de relation aux habitants, aux acteurs économiques et aux touristes, qui s’étaient instaurés à la faveur des actions de communication développées à partir des années 1980, se transforment- ils aujourd’hui? L’analyse croisée des discours d’experts et des pratiques locales, recueillies à travers des études documentaires, des observations directes et des entretiens (non directifs et semi-directifs), au sein de plusieurs territoires emblématiques, met en exergue l’apparition d’une offre métropolitaine mise en avant dans les discours de la politique publique locale, témoignant d’une évolution de la communication territoriale vers le marketing territorial. / AIn the era of globalization, local authorities are permanently looking to renew their political communication and territorial branding and differentiate them from competing territories. This thesis will examine how the different ways to apprehend creativity in urban public policy are answering those challenges. Our analysis relies on « territories 2.0 » or « creative territories » projects, which have closely linked political and public institutions to experts circles since their emergence. Considering the influence communication systems, which provide an easier use of those notions in local public actions, what are the current transformations affecting territorial branding strategies? More precisely, to what extent are the relationships with citizen, economic players and tourists, which have been established thanks to communication strategies developed in the 1980’s, transformed? The crossed analysis of lectures from experts and local practices, collected through documentary studies, direct observations, structured and semi-structured interviews, within several emblematic territories, highlights the emergence of a metropolitan supply promoted through local public policy discourse, which shows an evolution from territorial communication to territorial branding.

The purpose of this study was to investigate further the nature of the relationship between creativity and some factors previously found to be involved in creative expression and to explore the possible relationship of some other factors to creativity.

The purpose of this study is twofold. First, it is to obtain further evidence of the concurrent validity of the AC Test of Creative Ability. Further, and more specifically, it is concerned with the generalization of previously indicated validity of the AC Test to a college situation.

Creativity is nowadays considered for important manager character. Creativity assist adapt to changing and transforming entrepreneurial environments. Creative method of mental map is able to interception flow of ideas and analyses these maps is able to expose principle behaviour of the human brain.