Corporate Policies to Foster Creative Thinking; Samsung Case Study

Samsung is a Korean company occupying largely in electronic domain. The company has gained multinational recognition for securing the market by largest share. There are many businesses and subsidiaries that operate under the brand name of Samsung. The commonly known is electronics. All over the world, Samsung phones and other electrical appliances are sold in every outlet. The business structured its operations to fill the gap which was existing in the world of electronics. Guided by strong strategies and policies, the company has been able to convince and maintain its customers. Quality is the core secret employed by the company to lure its customers (Ruggiero, 2015). The structure of the business is divided into three business divisions. One is consumer electronics. The section entail products such as TV, refrigerators, laundry machines and others. Information and communication division is the second one. It constitute mobile phones, computers and other appliances. Finally, device solutions provide products such as flash disks and storage devices.

Since the economic regression in United State in the year 2008, companies evolved to an environment of competition. Restrictive rules and policies vanished. Companies had to lay strategies which could enable them remain relevant in the market. It was evident after the 2008, barriers started to disappear, with management of various organizations planning on ways to increase sales. To compete in the global market, businesses should come up with creative measures to distinguish them from the competitors. Ruggiero (2015) notes that the market is sophisticated, hence Innovation is the only option which can help any business to survive else be faced out. Samsung transformed from the status of low producer, to a global performer offering high quality products.

Importance of Creativity in Place of Work

Creativity is paramount in every area of life. There is a time creativity was associated with certain professions. Traditionally, people believed that any science course required more creative people than non-science based professions. The scenario is not true in current times.  To cultivate a strong brand in the market, businenesses have realized the role of creativity in every aspect of operation. It’s pretty common to find the management encouraging the employees to come up with ideas, to solve certain issues within the organization. Creativity in the area of innovation is common in most businesses (Nobeoka& Kimura, 2016). Notably, innovation is not inherent but developed from interaction and exchange of ideas among the staff. One striking importance of creativity is identification of weaknesses in the institution. Any organization which does not interrupt itself internally does not benefit from the myriad of opportunities in the market. The role of engaging the potential of employees fosters continued growth, and limiting operational cost. For example, the organization could integrate technology in the production process to reduce the time wasted by human labor.

Withal, creativity is able to retain the best talent in the business. It is important to note that continued brainstorming of ideas improves the skills of the employees tremendously. This might not be realized at once, but later becomes evident (Nobeoka& Kimura, 2016). Currently, organizations are willing to pay more to retain employees who are able to add value in their brand. Retaining a team which is able to create unique products in the market can help the organization establish new market segments. Consequently, the obvious thing that happen when creativity takes precedence is increased profit. Institutions that come with unique products in the market enjoy huge profits before others copies the idea

Procedures to Create a Creative Environment

Samsung has excelled in electronic industry for quite a while. However, its popularity is dwindling due to stiff competition posed by other companies in the market. The market share it used to cover in the last ten years has decreased. Lack of well guided innovation is the one which has contributed to this scenario. Although the brand is still strong, it is argued that the revenues collected have decreased (Ruggiero, 2015). The battle between these large companies is fought through creation of new products, which are completely different. There are various ways through which the company can reorganize its structure to attract its glory once more. The following paragraphs will discuss tested procedures, which could develop a creative environment.

Creation of an enabling Environment

Business environment is classified into internal and external. Internal comprises of employees while external consist of suppliers, customers and other stakeholders. The working environment is something the management cannot ignore.  The employees are important assets, and can be usefully utilized to foster the growth (Nabeoka &Kimura, 2016). In order to generate the intrinsic motivation from the employees, it is paramount to provide them with all necessary tools required to perform their work. One aspect where most organizations miss is eliminating the staff from making major decisions. For long, managerial staff have continued to rely on their own ideas, without engaging the other employees.

 One way to encourage creativity is through motivation. A happy employee is able to deliver adequately. Moreover, reducing bureaucracy in place of work has more impact in improving communication within the working environment. Further, it has been discovered that engaging employees in tasks far from the normal activities encourage them to learn more. The members are able to work their way out to find solutions. The act is able to expand the horizons of thinking, which is the preface to innovation. The challenge that impede creativity is reluctant by relevant management to embrace the trend (Nobeoka & Kimura, 2016). Employees should be given space to think for themselves, design new products and also identify possible weakness in the organization.

Ask for ideas

Organizations regularly sideline the employees in major decision making. In most cases, the managerial team is tasked with championing the strategies and objective that makes the organization move forward. The current world of business is complex and therefore important to incorporate all people the build the organization (Ruggiero, 2015). Ideas are normally generated from the people. It therefore follows that negation of any employee in the organization is basically digging owns grave. People have diverse thinking capacities and way of perceiving things. It is through the continued discussion and debating the ideas, that innovation can be established. One way Samsung can regain its glory once more is through engaging the employees and probably customers to contribute their ideas. Reaching customers to offer feedback is a plan utilized to analyze the trends in the market. The organization can create a system in which to collect the ideas from the employees. Additionally, customers could be engaged through issuing questionnaires structured in a manner that suit information of interest (Nobeoka & Kimura, 2016). Consolidation of pool of ideas is a rich recipe in initiating creativity and innovation. It is worthwhile to invest in the best practice of seeking information that can advocate business development.

Give the Employees freedom to Create

One of the challenge which impede innovation and creativity in various organizations is attributed by the rigidity to structuralism of the organization. Instances are reported where employees are not allowed to try things within the organization. The supervisors and managers are resistant to any move that can deconstruct the set policies and norms of doing things. It is important to give the employees the autonomy needed in order to complete the tasks efficiently (Ruggiero, 2015). If possible, the organization is encouraged to form smaller groups, each assigned a different work to accomplish. Through this, the business would boast of tremendous changes in all sectors of operation. The first benefit that would be experienced is new ways of solving problems. Let the organizations understand that their creativity is key priority to growth (Nobeoka & Kimura, 2016). Little do organization offer the employees a chance to exercise their creativity in place of work. The daily workloads assigned to employee’s leaves them with little time to do what they like. It is paramount to create some free time, where employees can corporately join to handle challenging tasks. The time should be allocated specifically to forge the way forward for the organization with the major objective of achieving future goals.

Define Creativity and Innovation for your Organization

Discrepancies arise when defining creativity based on organization set up. For example, Samsung Company might define creativity in terms of establishing new applications in the phones and any other electrical gadgets. One struggle that companies find is inability to expose their employees concerning creativity and innovation. The two go hand in hand, for any change to be experienced. Failure to integrate creativity in the business culture would result to poor performance. Despite efforts to enlighten the employees concerning innovation and creativity, a gap still exist where the same organization are reluctant to support it. Specific measures to evaluate ideas within the organization can dispel traditional form of doing things. Organization culture is a strong pillar towards development. In order to maintain the global market standards, organizations develop policies which guide their employees (Nobeoka & Kimura, 2016). The requirements are made available to all, and expected to follow the guidelines. Through this platform, the organization can integrate plans that can foster creativity. The managerial team is tasked to communicate innovation goals to new employees. Notably, what the new entrants find in the business defines their performance in the following days.

Encourage Diversity

 A research conducted by Ernst & Young revealed that institutions need to alienate the trend of consensus form of operation. Diversity is such a strong tool since it embraces different thoughts from the people. Working with people who have different emotions, way of reacting to issues and their approach to problems is a strong base in creating new things. More heterogeneous team is more creative which results to increase in productivity (Nobeoka & Kimura, 2016).  Diversity is viewed both in terms of profession and academic qualifications. Organizations which hire the skilled and best qualified candidates in different disciplines are able to perform well. Background set up also is core in developing the business. Consider a business which is owned by people from one tribe? The resultant effect could be mismanagement due to close relationship. It is important to adhere to the equality rule when hiring. Let the representation of all tribes or race appear in the business. There are people who are influential in their villages, hence can boost the sales in those localities. Allowing diversity is a marketing tool which cannot be ignored at any cost.

Reward Creativity

If you want the employees to think beyond the routine, introduce any form of reward. However, suggestions have to be made wisely to ensure the major target is achieved. They should be educated on quality and efficiency to avoid shortcut in achieving the set standards. Another thing to note is that if employees are not consulted when introducing such a program, it might be useless (Ruggiero, 2015). Otherwise, everyone would think it’s a waste of time. To kick start the process, the employees could be given a task to handle and present ideas at the end of every week. Dividing the employees into small groups can help achieve effective outcome. Since the central idea is to choose the best idea, reward would be given to the winning group. The environment of competition is set which is followed by quality output.

The dynamics of market have contributed to changing of traditional business operations. The strategies which were employed sometime back are being faced away slowly. The era of technological advancement is witnessed by high creativity and innovation. Creativity is becoming the core element of consideration in all businesses. With organizations aiming to remain unique in the market, more efforts is employed in restructuring internal composition of the business. Samsung can benefit largely through continued creativity and innovation. Internal disruption puts into light areas of weakness, where the management can focus to mitigate chances of making huge loses. Likewise, the demand in the market is shifting towards appealing products. Business and creativity are complementary to each other.

TEMPLATE TO ACTUALIZE THE CORPORATE POLICIES

• Organizational Structure
  • Organizational Chart/Team Organization
  • Job Descriptions
  • Filing System Processes
• Policies
  • Dress Code
  • Tobacco Free Workplace
  • Drug Free Workplace
  • Weapon-Free Workplace
  • Cell Phone
  • Computer and Internet
  • Social Media
  • Policy Against Workplace Harassment
  • Attendance
  • Safety Policies and Procedures
• Employee Evaluation
• Public Non-Discrimination Notice

References

Nobeoka, K., & Kimura, M. (2016). Art thinking beyond design thinking Mazda design: Car as art. 2016 Portland International Conference on Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET).

Ruggiero, V.R. (2015).The art of thinking. A guide to critical and creative thought(11^thed.)New York, NY: Longman.

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