Creativity as a source of innovativeness in enterprises

Abstract

Creativity is an important quality in people and organisations. It is the result of different objective and subjective factors. These include the internal/personal determinants of human creativity, as well as external determinants, such as environmental factors, for example, those related to family, education, culture, society, politics, and those related to a working environment in a given enterprise. Therefore, on the one hand, creativity embodies certain personal traits of an individual and, on the other hand, it is also dependant on numerous factors that are external. In this article it is contended that the creativity of an organisation’s people substantially affects its innovativeness − that means, its ability to create, assimilate and implement innovation. The more an enterprise is a creator and not only an assimilator of innovation, the more it is capable of gaining a steady advantage over the competition in the market. This is where the creativity of all participants of an enterprise − that is, employees and owners involved in its functioning − is needed. Apart from their individual predispositions, the creativity of an organisation’s people is based on the particular pro-active culture of the organisation. The ability both to create innovation and to overcome barriers as skilfully and safely as possible is important.