SHR044-6 Mobilising Creativity and Innovation Assessment

Learning Portfolio Assessment Guidelines

There is one single assessment at the end of the unit. This carries a weighting of 100 percent and must be 4000 words in length. The portfolio will require detailed self-reflection (through regular use of your Reflective diary) that evaluates potential for creativity and innovation by yourself and others during the unit and demonstrates personal awareness and a future orientation through identification of further developmental opportunities.

You will be assessed on the depth, breadth, coherence and persuasiveness of argument and source including synthesis of theory and practice. It is essential that your arguments are fully supported using quality academic sources recommended in the unit supplemented (not substituted) by wider independent readings. Assessment criteria may be dependent to some extent on the context but will require that you fulfil the learning outcome assessment criteria. You will produce a portfolio that demonstrates all learning outcomes (See Assessment Criteria rubric for full details of how your work will be evaluated) and includes 2 key components:

Section 1: Reflective Account (Approximately 2000 words)

A reflective account which critically evaluates and analyses your learning and personal development through key work-related events experienced during the unit. You will be required to synthesise theoretical and practical accounts of your growing capacity for creative and innovative leadership supported by authentic examples from your work.

This section of your portfolio is likely to focus mainly on the first half of the unit where we consider individual blocks to creative thinking and the use of structured techniques, drawing on Proctor. You will need to reflect on your changing understanding of organisational creativity and innovation. You will need to reflect on BS1 activities where you experienced cognitive blocks (e.g. Hurson) and where you were provided with the opportunity to experience the effectiveness of brainstorming as a structured technique following the principles.

You will need to think about blocks to creative thinking and the focus on the use of structured techniques (see. Van Gundy, Proctor) within the Osborn-Parnes process, particularly at stages 3 (problem redefinition) and 4 (idea generation) where we have used structured techniques (of which brainstorming is only one example among many). You will also need to reflect on differences between structured techniques and the facilitation process. This will draw on your experiences in the workplace and BS2.

Explore practical, cognitive or emotional blocks to creative idea generation and how these might be overcome using structured techniques. Explore how structured techniques help overcome blocks to creative idea generation and how these might be usefully used within the Osborn-Parnes CPS model. Reflect upon and critically evaluate your personal models of capabilities and talents and those of others. Evaluate your capabilities and capacities for innovation and creativity. Produce a reflective review identifying perceived strengths and weaknesses in an organisational context. Identify, reflect upon and evidence key areas for development and stipulate areas of excellence in creative management and development. Reflections must be In-depth (Stage 4) with clear recommendations for professional practice emerging from your experiential learning.  Given your learning what might you do differently in future to more effectively promote creative thinking in yourself and others in your work organisation?

Section 2: Case Study of your work organisation (Approximately 2000 words)

A case study of creativity in action in which your findings can be presented within a business report. The study will enable you to critically evaluate and synthesise your learning of how creativity and innovation might most effectively be stimulated, supported and sustained within your chosen institution. The case study will focus mainly on the social and organisational context of your work environment (Henry and others). This is where you will need to explore how your organisation supports or inhibits creativity and innovation.

This requires that you explore the climate for creativity (e.g. Amabile, Ekvall, Isaksen) by undertaking an in-depth analysis of factors contributing to these models. Which might be the factors where your work environment supports creativity and innovation – if any? Which might be the factors that inhibit creativity and innovation? Climate surveys are based on psychometrically validated measures and the publishers charge for their use. You are not expected to carry out a diagnostic survey of the climate although if you would like to do this please discuss this with me personally. You are strongly discouraged from designing and implementing a survey yourself or using only some of the questions as this results in a loss of validity and reliability of the measurement and is, therefore, meaningless.  Any survey will require formal ethical approval from the University of Bedfordshire.

An excellent case study is one where an in-depth analysis can be demonstrated. You might conclude that the work environment is highly supportive or your might conclude that it is not supportive at all. You are assessed on the application of theory, analysis, conclusions and recommendations. You will need to extend this to consider the implications from the perspectives of creative leadership and human resource management and development. Extending your studies from Leading and Managing People, how might creative and innovative behaviours be supported by leadership and HRM?

• Identify, reflect upon and evidence key areas for development and stipulate areas of excellence in creative management and development.
• Draw on major theoretical perspectives and experiential learning to reflect upon and critically evaluate the implications for the workplace.
• Highlight perceived stimulants and obstacles to creativity and innovation in the work organisation
• Analyse critical incidents or future challenges in relation to a range of decision-making and creativity theories.
• Critically reflect upon the impact of leader creativity and behaviours to achieve organisational goals.
• Critically evaluate existing practices (your own and others) exploring the implications for creative leadership and organisational development and outline innovative recommendations for improvement.
• Evidence your analysis with practical examples. Demonstrate integration between applied theory, workplace scenarios and self-awareness of individual contribution to promoting creativity and innovation.
• Critically review the role of creativity in organisational development and demonstrate a capacity to balance innovation with other essential requirements.

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