Violencia

The literature review allowed establishing the concept of management education for innovation (MEI) and its main characteristics. As emphasized by several authors the research in this area is still very scarce (e.g. Maritz et al. 2014). Nevertheless, considering the importance of MEI, MEI-related research has a potential to grow as the studies outlined above demonstrate. The next chapter summarizes the best practices to develop the competencies which constitute MEI in the higher education environment and from the perspective of the pedagogy which nurtures the development of such competencies.

4.4 The Best Practices for Developing the Competencies of MEI

The existing studies were evaluated with the purpose to collect the examples of courses, case studies, proven methodologies and practical exercises which enhance and develop competencies included in the characteristics of management education for innovation (MEI).

The literature review conducted describes the best practices for developing the competencies of MEI in the higher education environment.

4.4.1 Development of Creativity Capacity

Several authors have conducted research and implemented interventions with the purpose to demonstrate that creativity competency can be developed when the right approach is at place. Courses that focus on creativity have a positive influence on students with respect to the development of their creativity capacity (e.g. Dewett &

Gruys, 2007; Karakas, 2010).

Because creative attitude is based on freedom of expression, thoughts and actions, its development requires the establishment of a non-threatening and supportive environment (Cheung, Roskams, & Fisher, 2006; Cole, Sugioka, & Yamagata, 1999).

The special attention should be paid to personal teacher-student relationships, assessment and establishment of equal roles with instructor in class discussions (Cole et al., 1999; Dewett & Gruys, 2007). Thus, Dewett and Gruys (2007) present the graduate business education course which was designed to enhance creativity. They describe a practice when the instructor arrives at the first class meeting wearing motorcycle boots,

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blue jeans, a sleeveless tee-shirt, and a baseball hat with the purpose to create informal environment and make a statement that this course would be different. Cole et al. (1999) explore the characteristics comprising a supportive classroom environment for creativity and come to a conclusion that the teacher’s role in creating this kind of environment is vital. They especially underline “no one right answer” approach to stimulate motivation, openness and awareness of the creativity-inducing process among the students. Within other approaches to create a non-threatening and supportive environment, the authors mention brainstorming techniques (Cheung et al., 2006; Karakas, 2010; Cole et al., 1999), self-disclosing stories (for example, failed attempts to write novels, start a business and attain desired jobs) on behalf of the instructor as well as on behalf of students (Dewett & Gruys, 2007), and encouragement of originality (Berg, Taatila, &

Volkmann, 2012).

Central to establishing a supportive environment which stimulates creativity, the authors underline the evaluation criteria of the work done by participating students. It is important for the students to feel that their effort and ideas are valued over performance results (Berg et al., 2012). Thus, the interventions with the purpose to enhance creativity in students do not use traditional grading systems, standardized tests or exams. Rather, the evaluation is based on student effort, ability to devise creative solutions, enactment of these solutions and reflexive papers (Berg et al., 2012). In the course proposed by Cole et al. (1999) the students undergo continuous assessment and assignments in which they are also required to reflect on the creative process, on what they have learnt and to think about how they might apply the skills that they have learnt to their own lives.

Pinard and Allio (2005), when talking about improving the creativity of MBA students, propose an alternative mode of evaluation based on respect, cooperation, and collaboration, and not competition. Similarly to other creativity-inducing courses, their course is evaluated on pass/fail (or fire) basis. Students evaluate themselves and the group of students with which they worked at the end of the course. The criteria for passing the course consists in the fact that the students must be fully present (physically, emotionally and intellectually) in all scheduled meetings; use ethical behavior and honesty in interactions with peers and the instructor; demonstrate responsibility to the task of the group; contribute to the producing of final presentation; and be fair and cooperative in group interactions.

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As mentioned above, several authors emphasize the importance of reflecting on the creative process while taking part in the courses especially designed to enhance creativity. In this respect, in the studies describing such courses writing a personal journal intended to capture insights and thoughts related to the intersection of the course materials is viewed as one of the practices which makes the students reflect and analyze a personal impact which the course has on them (Dewett & Gruys, 2007; Cheung et al., 2006). Another approach is to use field work and document new experiences to heighten alertness (Berg et al., 2012; Pinard & Allio, 2005) or encouraging students to look more carefully at what is going on around them (Cheung et al., 2006). Karakas (2010) proposes “Creative Mindworks” project where students are asked to write innovative articles. This project enables students to enlarge their vision about breakthrough global issues and ideas in management and organizations. Students freely select subjects they feel passionate and curious about and build analogies between management and as diverse fields as music, arts, politics, psychology, etc. This approach allows the students to reflect on the diversity of issues, stimulate spirituality, flexibility, and positivity.

Another interesting approach to improving creativity in students is offered by Pinard and Allio (2005) who believe that the students should practice creativity rather than engage intellectually with creativity. They design and implement “Creativity Stream” MBA course in which, instead of reading articles, discussing theories, or talking in a classroom setting about what creativity might be, the students actively practice creativity. For this purpose, every student is placed in one of seven creativity groups, each facilitated by a practicing artist, or “creativity consultant”, from a different discipline, including music, fiction writing, poetry, art, etc. The artists meet with their student groups over the course and use especially designed exercises, assignments, and rehearsal practices to demonstrate the essentials of art. The goal is not to make MBA students into artists, but rather to re-stimulate their creative impulses and increase their confidence in their own abilities to imagine and create. Kerr and Lloyd (2008) propose a similar approach: they argue that management education needs to consider a trend in learning design which enhances creative learning through inclusion of art-based pedagogical processes. The authors propose that instead of skill training there should be a transformational learning through experiences that expand human potential, facilitated by artistic processes. In the center of their study is the Artful Learning Wave Trajectory

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Model (Kerr 2006) which is a place for experimentation, exploration and discovery.

This model represents a transformative process and provides an opportunity to understand and then apply artful processes to the creation and implementation of arts-based learning programs. Three examples of the artful learning process are provided in the study: 1) Sculpt It – the participants worked with clay to sculpt their perception of an assigned management theory. They were then asked to find another participant’s sculpture that related to their perception. With that partner, they were asked to combine their representations into a larger “work” reflecting their mutual perception of the theory; 2) Movement and Dance – participants were given the opportunity to observe a dance troupe construct a dance. The objective for the participants was to create their own version based on the initial and expanded dance steps; 3) Designing Action – the participants designed applications based on earlier learning experiences. They were asked to consider what kind of performance space they would want for their own and other’s work life and then asked to explore how they might get from where they are to their vision.

Scheepers and Lelani (2015) examine creative skills development in management education though stickiness stages, using the Synectics approach.

Stickiness refers to the difficulty learners have to internalize knowledge and skills, enabling them to perform a task successfully. When learning a creative problem-solving process like Synectics, students find it challenging to change established behavioral routines, moderate their own and others’ behaviors and deal with the ambiguity of the process. Therefore educational interventions should accommodate the stickiness stages learners go through as they develop team creative skills. The authors define four stages of stickiness in the creative development process: 1) Initiation – the difficulty in recognizing opportunities for change and acting upon them; 2) Implementation – focuses on information and resource exchange between the facilitator and participants;

3) Ramp-up – offers a short period where unexpected problems can be resolved and participants are likely to use new skills ineffectively, ramping-up gradually toward satisfactory performance; 4) Integration – when the use of new knowledge and skills become a habit, the development process is successful.

Kleibeuker, De Dreu, and Crone (2016) when attempting to develop creativity in adolescents use both divergent thinking and insight. Divergent thinking, according to

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the authors, is the most commonly tested function in creativity research and includes such tasks as “generation of multiple solutions to an open-ended problem” and “being reflective of the cognitive flexibility pathway”; divergent thinking has a strong predictive value for creative success (p.75). In contrast, insight tasks have an established correct solution. These tasks require “establishing associations among unrelated or remotely related information and mentally restructuring the problem space” (p. 76).

Insight solutions involve a sudden and an “Aha!” experience, a state of high uncertainty as to how to proceed, inability to report the processing that led to a solution.

Within exercises which improve creativity in students an extensive list can be found in Cheung et al. (2006). Thus, they describe such practical exercises as finding as many ways as possible to measure the height of a building with an X; using mind mapping and association to generate ideas for a new kind of X; creating possible scenarios to explain an unusual situation; solving a problem by making connections between the problem and an unrelated story; exploring the creative possibilities in designing a min-drama to convey a moral message; etc.

With respect to measuring the actual impact of the course, in other words, whether the course had a positive impact on students and whether their creative capacity was improved, Cheung et al. (2006) use measures of creativity relied on verbal divergent and drawing production tasks. In their opinion, production tasks are essential to an assessment of creativity because their open-ended format is least susceptible to the individual faking, they also allow to tap the individual’s practical creativity for real-world problems. For example, they use alternate uses test (Christensen, Guilford, Merrifield, & Wilson, 1960) which requires students to list all the uses of a newspaper that they could think of. Other measurements included asking students to list as many ideas as they could about effective ways of learning their major subjects, and ways of creating jobs in Hong Kong; thinking about and listing as many meanings of two patterns the first of which showed five short (.5 cm) vertical lines organized 1.6 cm apart in two rows, with two lines arranged in the top row and three lines in the bottom row, the second drawing was an image of an entangled thread. Dewett and Gruys (2007) use pre-and post-surveys where measures included the belief in the importance of creativity, creative self-efficacy, willingness to take risks, five measures of creativity, and three items concerning the journaling process. Chuang, Zhi-Feng Liu, and Shiu

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(2014) assess whether creativity has been improved by adopting a digital game, specifically “Arctic Quest 2,” to measure the creativity of participants by encouraging them to overcome challenges in a realistic setting. This study develops a computerized approach for the assessment of creativity to ensure results that are more objective than those provided by conventional paper-and-pencil assessments.

Finally, Lim, Lee and Lee (2014) believe that creativity development can be successful only when integrated throughout the curriculum rather than by developing a few isolated courses. They suggest a holistic approach to an engineering curriculum which includes such components as extra- or co-curricular activities for students, such as short-term workshops, seminars, internships, contests, volunteer work, or club activities which promote collaboration and communication within different groups of students.