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)

This PhD study examines some of what happens in an individual’s mind regarding creativity during problem solving within an organisational context. It presents innovations related to creative motivation, cognitive style and framing effects that can be applied by managers to enhance individual employee creativity within the organisation and thereby assist organisations to become more innovative. The project delivers an understanding of how to leverage natural changes in creative motivation levels during problem solving. This pattern of response is called Creative Resolve Response (CRR). The project also presents evidence of how framing effects can be used to influence decisions involving creative options in order to enhance the potential for managers get employees to select creative options more often for implementation. The study’s objectives are to understand: • How creative motivation changes during problem solving • How cognitive style moderates these creative motivation changes • How framing effects apply to decisions involving creative options to solve problems • How cognitive style moderate these framing effects The thesis presents the findings from three controlled experiments based around self reports during contrived problem solving and decision making situations. The first experiment suggests that creative motivation varies in a predictable and systematic way during problem solving as a function of the problem solver’s perception of progress. The second experiment suggests that there are specific framing effects related to decisions involving creativity. It seems that simply describing an alternative as innovative may activate perceptual biases that overcome risk based framing effects. The third experiment suggests that cognitive style moderates decisions involving creativity in complex ways. It seems that in some contexts, decision makers will prefer a creative option, regardless of their cognitive style, if this option is both outside the bounds of what is officially allowed and yet ultimately safe. The thesis delivers innovation on three levels: theoretical, methodological and empirical. The highlights of these findings are outlined below: 1. Theoretical innovation with the conceptualisation of Creative Resolve Response based on an extension of Amabile’s research regarding creative motivation. 2. Theoretical innovation linking creative motivation and Kirton’s research on cognitive style. 3. Theoretical innovation linking both risk based and attribute framing effects to cognitive style. 4. Methodological innovation for defining and testing preferences for creative solution implementation in the form of operationalised creativity decision alternatives. 5. Methodological innovation to identify extreme decision options by applying Shafir’s findings regarding attribute framing effects in reverse to create a test. 6. Empirical innovation with statistically significant research findings which indicate creative motivation varies in a systematic way. 7. Empirical innovation with statistically significant research findings which identify innovation descriptor framing effects 8. Empirical innovation with statistically significant research findings which expand understanding of Kirton’s cognitive style descriptors including the importance of safe rule breaking. 9. Empirical innovation with statistically significant research findings which validate how framing effects do apply to decisions involving operationalised creativity. Drawing on previous research related to creative motivation, cognitive style, framing effects and supervisor interactions with employees, this study delivers insights which can assist managers to increase the production and implementation of creativity in organisations. Hopefully this will result in organisations which are more innovative. Such organisations have the potential to provide ongoing economic and social benefits.

Abstract Organisational entrepreneurship is an entrepreneurial event. By-products of such events may include the emergence of business organisations. In this study, I discuss the event of organisational entrepreneurship fostered by organisational creativity. An event of organisational entrepreneurship can happen in the context of social spaces for play and innovation. In these social spaces, novelty, movement, and change are outcomes of the role of organisational entrepreneurship in society. The dissertation consists of four essays. Prior research defines organisational entrepreneurship as a relationship between the managerial order and organisational creativity. This particular relationship, rather than being a precise state, is one that problematises the tradition of studying entrepreneurship as a sub-discipline of management. Researchers tend to be drawn to studying the entrepreneurial order, but less so the play and innovation that contribute to the creativity aspect. Whilst permitting space for play and innovation have been acknowledged to be crucial, the role of play and innovation between the discourses of business opportunities and entrepreneurial becoming has not been discussed. The literature review in this study shows that understanding the concepts of entrepreneurial actions and processes is key to explicating organisational entrepreneurship. Hence, the principal research question of this study is: how do entrepreneurial actions and processes frame the very nature of the event of organisational entrepreneurship? There are four sub-questions (one for each essay) that illustrate how an entrepreneurial event is about creation of new spaces for play and innovation. The purpose of this study is to show what role playfulness and innovativeness play in organisational entrepreneurship. I have empirically investigated how international business opportunities may be created through entrepreneurial actions in a multinational collaboration project, and found that social learning is at the heart of the process. In addition, I have examined an entrepreneurial process through the story of an up-and-coming stand-up comedian. This study shows that the entrepreneurial process emerges from the desire to become-Other. The entrepreneurial stories of this qualitative study come from two data sets (conducted in Finland and in Denmark). The research outline problematises the prior research, in which storytelling is rarely used. The dissertation concludes by suggesting that one role of playfulness and innovativeness is to create business opportunities and entrepreneurial becoming. / Tiivistelmä Organisatorinen yrittäjyys on yksi yrittäjämäinen tila. Tällaisessa tilassa monenlaisten sivutuotteiden, kuten liikeyrityksen, syntyminen on mahdollista. Organisatorinen luovuus tukee näiden tilojen luomiseen liittyvää tekemistä ja prosesseja. Yrittäjämäiset tilat ovat mahdollisia konteksteissa, joita tässä väitöskirjatutkimuksessa tutkittiin tiloina leikille ja innovaatioille. Näiden tilojen ansiosta uutuus, liike ja muutos ovat mahdollisia ja ne kuvaavat organisatorisen yrittäjyyden roolia yhteiskunnassa. Tämä väitöskirja on neljän esseen kokoelma. Aikaisempi tutkimus määrittelee organisatorisen yrittäjyyden johtajuuden hallinnan ja organisatorisen luovuuden väliseksi suhteeksi. Ennemmin kuin jokin tila tällä jatkumolla suhde sinänsä kyseenalaistaa tradition, joka tutkii yrittäjyyttä johtajuustutkimuksen koulukuntana. Siinä tutkimusintressi on ollut hallinta, mutta ei kovin usein leikki ja innovaatiot. Vaikka leikki ja innovaatiot on nähty tärkeinä asioina, siitä huolimatta niiden roolia linkkinä liiketoimintamahdollisuuksien luomisen ja yrittäjämäiseksi tulemisen välillä ei ole vielä kovin hyvin tutkittu. Tämän tutkimuksen kirjallisuuskatsaus osoittaa, että yrittäjämäiset toiminnot ja prosessit ovat keskeisimmät käsitteet organisatorisessa yrittäjyydessä. Tutkimuksen päätutkimuskysymys kuuluu: kuinka yrittäjämäiset toiminnot ja prosessit rajaavat organisatorisen yrittäjyyden syvimmän luonteen yrittäjämäisenä tapahtumana? Tutkimuksen tarkoitus on näyttää, mikä rooli leikinomaisuudella ja innovatiivisuudella on organisatorisessa yrittäjyydessä silloin, kun se nähdään yrittäjämäisenä tilana. Tutkin empiirisesti kansainvälisten liiketoimintamahdollisuuksien luomista ja sitä, miten se tapahtuu monikansallisessa yhteistyöprojektissa. Tuloksena löysin, että se on sosiaalista oppimista. Lisäksi tutkin yrittäjämäiseksi tulemisen prosessia standup-koomikoksi tulevan henkilön kautta. Se näyttää, että syy yrittäjämäisen prosessin ilmentymiselle on intohimo tulla toiseksi. Tutkimuksen yrittäjämäiset tarinat perustuvat kahdelle aineiston lähteelle (tehty Suomessa ja Tanskassa). Tutkimusasetelma kyseenalaistaa tutkimuksen, jossa tarinankerrontaa on käytetty harvoin. Tulokset osoittavat, että leikinomaisuuden ja innovatiivisuuden rooli on luoda uusia liiketoimintamahdollisuuksia ja yrittäjämäiseksi tulemisen prosesseja.

This research comprised an investigation into the relationship between transformational leadership and organisational creativity. The overall aim of the research was to determine whether creativity in organisations can be linked to transformational leadership behaviours. A literature review was done to conceptualise transformational leadership and organisational creativity and to identify the theoretical relationship between these concepts. During the investigation it was found that a relationship does exist between transformational leadership and organisational creativity. A one-way ANOVA analysis and post hoc analysis were performed to address the empirical research questions. The descriptive statistics were analysed in terms of senior management and middle management, and their raters. The data analysis revealed that the research results were largely supportive of the theoretical research findings on the relationship between transformational leadership and organisational creativity. With regard to senior management, it was found that most raters rated their teams as creative, despite the fact that a relationship between transformational leadership and organisational creativity could not be determined due to the small sample size. With regard to middle management, it was found that a correlation existed between inspirational motivation, idealised influence (attributes and behaviour) and organisational creativity. It was further found that there was a correlation between senior management’s perceptions of their transformational leadership attributes and their direct reportees’ perceptions. There were significant differences between middle managers’ perceptions of certain elements of transformational leadership and that of their direct reportees. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M. Com. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

This research comprised an investigation into the relationship between transformational leadership and organisational creativity. The overall aim of the research was to determine whether creativity in organisations can be linked to transformational leadership behaviours. A literature review was done to conceptualise transformational leadership and organisational creativity and to identify the theoretical relationship between these concepts. During the investigation it was found that a relationship does exist between transformational leadership and organisational creativity. A one-way ANOVA analysis and post hoc analysis were performed to address the empirical research questions. The descriptive statistics were analysed in terms of senior management and middle management, and their raters. The data analysis revealed that the research results were largely supportive of the theoretical research findings on the relationship between transformational leadership and organisational creativity. With regard to senior management, it was found that most raters rated their teams as creative, despite the fact that a relationship between transformational leadership and organisational creativity could not be determined due to the small sample size. With regard to middle management, it was found that a correlation existed between inspirational motivation, idealised influence (attributes and behaviour) and organisational creativity. It was further found that there was a correlation between senior management’s perceptions of their transformational leadership attributes and their direct reportees’ perceptions. There were significant differences between middle managers’ perceptions of certain elements of transformational leadership and that of their direct reportees. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M. Com. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)