Creativity and Aesthetics in Organisations

Introduction

Creativity in organizations is here understood as the production of novel and useful ideas, products or processes. Creativity is the basis for the development of organizational innovation and competitive advantage, which is crucial today. This course takes the students to a journey through basic theories and practices of creativity, which are explored at an individual, group and organizational levels. Drawing widely on examples of both traditional organizations and creative industries, this course offers a novel aesthetical perspective on creativity. This means to understand how creativity is also influenced by the characteristics of the work environment like social interactions, workspace design, architecture and other aesthetical factors. The aesthetic approach adopted in this course is an innovative tool that students will learn to use in order both to gain a deep comprehension of the creative process and to manage it effectively. By the end of this course, students will both be provided with theoretical knowledge and hands-on experiences of creative processes and practices. This course will be interesting to those students who are aware of the importance of creativity and innovation in today’s organizations and aim to acquire useful tools and methods to manage them in their future workplaces.

Course content

• Introduction to creativity
• Individual creativity
• Creativity in groups
• Creativity in organizations
• Organizational culture and creativity
• Workplace, aesthetics and creativity
• From creativity to innovation
• Creativity audit through aesthetic method