MGMT227 Corporate Creativity

Individual Assignment 1
Prepared for: Professor Gilbert Tan Prepared by: Denise Tan Su-Wen

How the 5 dimensions of creativity allow IKEA to be the worlds largest home furnishing retailer

IMAGINATION ORIGINALITY
Kamprad saw potential in cheap furniture retailing, something that was not considered due to high costs in the 1940s. But IKEAs inception was not easy. His business of furniture retailing began as a mail order business, which came under re from traditional furniture retailers due to Kamprads unbeatably low furniture prices, where even manufacturing cartels were told not to sell to IKEA. However, Kamprad showcased great originality in this respect. He showed that he could gure out a unique way around challenges and beat the forces of competition by buying a few independent Swedish furniture manufacturers and establishing new sources in Poland, which further enabled him to drive down his costs.

No doubt, creativity and imagination drove the process of IKEAs conceptualisation. It took imagination for Kamprad to come up with a business model so different from the traditional furniture retailing concept, and one which ensured that it met consumers needs. With great imagination and foresight, he managed to turn furniture shopping from a chore to an enjoyable experience for the entire family.

FLEXIBILITY OF THOUGHTS
Kamprad demonstrated exibility in thought in generating concepts that further reinforced IKEAs reputation as a non-traditional furniture retailer. In shopping, Kamprad employed the classic IKEA trafc ow, which takes customers though the different rooms of a typical house, displaying the furniture in room-like settings to allow customers to better visualise the furniture in these display areas. Even in dining, sensing customers difculty in weaving through the crowd while balancing trays of food led IKEA to develop a specially designed trolley to allow customers to wheel their food to their tables easily. Kamprad also realised that parents would sometimes have to bring their children along while shopping, and came up with Smaland, a supervised play area for children featuring a large ball-lled pit, so parents could shop leisurely while their children were being taken care of. He also understood the impact of automobiles on shopping habits and provided large parking spaces in all IKEA outlets.

PROBLEM SENSITIVITY
IKEA came about as a result of Kamprads demonstration of problem sensitivity. Between 1935 and 1946, furniture prices rose 41%. At that time, the furniture retailing market was also largely fragmented, consisting of small manufacturers and distributors catering to local market demands. To Ingvar Kamprad, the market had a disproportionately large amount of resources satisfying only a small demand, and this posed a social problem and a business opportunity. T h e p ro b l e m ? E x p e n s i v e f u r n i t u r e , inconvenient transportation of purchased goods, inaccessibility and the fact that shopping was usually done by the older generation. He saw the need for cheap furniture by younger consumers: couples beginning married life who wanted to furnish their rst homes with quality and stylish furniture at affordable prices.

FLUENCY OF IDEAS
To build on this idea, Kamprad focused on offering to the masses a wide range of home furnishings with good design and low prices. Also, operating hours were set from 10AM to 10PM to accommodate the working schedules of his target demographic young, working couples. The uency of Kamprads ideas was further exemplied in IKEAs basic practices. (1) The implementation of a self-service concept was facilitated by a wide distribution of informative catalogs and explanatory tickets on display merchandise, which provided consumers with a wealth of information at a glance. (2) To save space, knock-down kits allowed all stock to be kept in warehouses in at-pack boxes. (3) Kamprad also brought the cash-and-carry concept to furniture retailing, through the DIY furniture and the development of suburban stores with large parking lots.

Ingvar Kamprad, founder of IKEA

Corporate Creativity

Individual Assignment 1

SCREAM Model

Employing SCREAM to determine the idea generation process of the iPad

Substitute
Plastic casing of computers replaced with aluminium and scratch- and ngerprintresistant glass for a sleeker appearance Substitute keyboard for multi-touch display

Rearrange/Reverse
Rearranged layout of conventional laptops to allow screen to be both horizontal and vertical due to accelerometer Negative: Non-removable battery Positive: Easily charged and long battery life

Combine

Combination of features of video viewing, camera, TV, Internet and more. Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and 3G integrated to enable web sur ng, like a regular computer

Eliminate
Eliminating bulkiness, iPad was designed for ease of transportability, easily tting into a handbag or backpack Eliminated the physical keyboard, and replaced with one central home button and touchscreen functions No CD and optical drive, USB port Eliminate full operating system (OS) used in computers like Windows and Mac, replaced with an OS based on the iPhone Reduced weight of iPad makes it lighter and thinner than its counterparts

Adapt
Resembles a laptop, computer, eReader, personal digital assistant (PDA) iPad normally used to read books, check mail, watch videos and more but it can be used in various sectors like the army and in hospitals, to view medical records, x-rays and test results Other unconventional uses include using it as a DJ turntable, a car stereo console, as a menu for restaurants and even as a chopping board (the screen is scratch resistant)!

Magnify

Addition of a front camera, to complement the back camera Incorporated a larger screen Extra features like GPS and compass, game playing and location function Longer battery life of 10 hours compared to 5 hours for conventional laptops Added colour display, compared to blackand-white framework of eReaders Multi-tasking function Use of hi-res, LED-backlit screen for sharper and richer viewing

Assessing the Creativity Management practices in a large and creative organisation like Cirque du Soleil

Cirque du Soleil

Essence

Cirque du Soleil redened the circus industry by changing the way circus was perceived. A clear-cut case study for the Blue Ocean strategy, Cirque ventured into a market no one else had gone, or even considered. While traditional circus was based on freak shows, star performers, clowns and animals performing entertaining acts in plastic tents known as The Big Top, Cirque du Soleil did otherwise. Animal acts were eliminated and creative forces such art forms from around the world, imaginary worlds, dance, daringness, dexterity, grace, acrobatic performances and acting took over as the key characteristics that dened and set them apart. Cirque traded the dusty oors and childish acts of traditional circus for upscale theatres and premium tickets for quality shows. In essence, they created an entirely new circus and entertainment experience for everyone.

The core ideas of a circus are fun, entertainment, humour, thrill and danger. Cirque brought these ideas to a whole new level by amplifying and implementing them as the essence of their performances, which can be seen in the themes and storylines for different shows and increased performeraudience interaction and engagement.

Elaborative

Ex"tential

At Cirque, artists are provided with their own space and a creative environment where they can share their ideas freely and are also given opportunities to grow professionally and personally. With an open and inviting atmosphere, the work place functions more like a home-away-from-home and acts like a playground for the artists. Creative minds, experts on various domains, craftsmen and performers get to work together in Cirques International Head Ofce in Montreal (which aims to be an international laboratory of creativity), to come up with creative projects for the company. Employees potential is also nurtured through the provision of Cirques Innovation Bursary that encourages the creative endeavours of employees.

Entrepreneu#al
Cirque du Soleil made use of their expertise in the circus entertainment industry to venture into related educational materials and tools, in response to widespread interest and to address the needs of their collaborators. These training materials were developed for trainers, community workers, circus instructors and organisations hosting social circus initiatives, in support and promotion of the development of social circus. This initiative allows all organisations to reap prot from the wealth of expertise initiated by Cirque and its numerous partners.

Empowerment

Consumers, Business Pa%ners, Community

In order to maintain its roots as a responsible citizen in the light of increasing partnerships and changing realities, Cirque added a new clause regarding social responsibility in its partnership agreements, encompassing social issues such as environmental protection, cultural action in the community, employee relations and working conditions.

Business Pa%ners

The use of real words blocks the possibility of imagination. Pierre Parisien, Cirque veteran and artistic director for Alegria

Consumers

Cirque du Soleil empowers consumers to use their imagination, with all shows centred on two core elements: a unique theme and a unique soundtrack. Theme: A delicate balance lies in determining the shows theme, which has to be able to tie all the shows acts together but refrain from adding up to a narrative. The team at Cirque endeavours to present open-ended themes, thereby avoiding straight narratives and allowing the audience to come up with their own interpretations of the shows. Soundtrack: The themes soundtrack also plays a role in empowering audiences in this respect. All shows feature music with phonetic sentence strings, rather than actual words, as the team believes that their signature lack of language gives the audience the freedom to dene their own story.

Cirque du Monde is a social circus programme set up in 1995 by Cirque du Soleil and Jeunesse du Monde, targeting at-risk youth by combining circus techniques with educational social intervention in a bid to help these young people. Cirque du Monde is offered to organisations dealing with this cause, with the aim of helping these youths regain their self-condence, realise their strengths and discover their hidden talents.

Community

Expressive
In explaining to the public the rationale for Cirque du Monde, the Cirque du Soleil website expressly states: [Cirque du Monde] wants to offer young participants, be they from Canada, Brazil, Mongolia or elsewhere, a springboard toward a new stage in their lives.