MGT 453: Creativity and Innovation
Spring 2012
Professor: Dr. Amy Randel
Phone: (619) 594-6618
Email: arandel@mail.sdsu.edu
Office : SSE 3414
Office Hours: Tuesdays from 3:30-4:30 pm and Thursdays 12:30-1:30 pm and by appointment;
Location: SSE 3414 (my office)
Course meeting time and place: TTH 11:00-12:15 pm in GMCS-310
Course Overview: Creativity and innovation are integral to an organization’s ability to survive
and thrive in today’s competitive marketplace. This course provides students with an
understanding of how creativity and innovation can be facilitated and managed in a work setting.
Students will learn about theoretical conceptualizations of creativity and innovation as well as
practical applications involved in fostering creativity and innovation in the workplace. Students
will be expected to play an active role in learning through class exercises, class discussions,
dialogue with guest speakers, and presentations about real (or planned) innovations in
organizations.
Course Learning Outcomes:
1. Explain the influence of problem solving techniques, team processes, and environmental
conditions on creativity in organizations.
2. Describe the innovation process, including the innovation value chain, the role of champions,
and commercializing an innovation.
3. Explain the process involved in managing creativity or innovation effectively and apply this
knowledge to your own creative idea or innovation.
4. Analyze organizational practices that facilitate creativity and innovation.
5. Develop case study analysis skills (specifically, identifying critical issues in case studies and
applying course material to case studies).
Required Text: Creativity, Inc.: Building an Inventive Organization by Jeff Mauzy and Richard
Harriman, ISBN: 1-57851-207-7, Harvard Business School Press.
Readings: Readings that can be found in the course packet from the bookstore are noted in the
syllabus by “(in the reader).” The other readings can be found on Blackboard.
Grading:
25% Midterm
28% Final
12% Short quizzes (3 quizzes – I will drop your lowest quiz grade) that focus
mostly on the case assigned for the day)
15% Within-industry company analysis presentation and write-up
10% Creativity/Innovation application presentation and memo
10% Participation and attendance
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Within-industry company analysis presentation and write-up: Please tell me what companies
you plan on analyzing at least two (2) weeks before your presentation (or even earlier in
order to ensure that you don’t duplicate what another group is covering). Groups of
approximately 5 students will work together on a project comparing how two companies within
the same industry manage creativity or innovation. The project should focus on: how the
companies manage creativity and/or innovation differently (and similarly), why you think these
differences exist, and how (and why) each companies’ management of creativity and/or
innovation adds value and/or could be improved. Company history/background should not be
discussed in length--it only is necessary to include if you find it helpful in answering the “how”
and “why” questions listed above. The presentation should last approximately 10-15 minutes
and I encourage you to be creative with your presentation. A write-up (no longer than 5 pages
double-spaced text, typed, 12 point font with 1” margins…if you have pictures or tables, they
don’t count as part of the 5 pages) should be turned in at the conclusion of your presentation.
Your write-up should include references cited (the list of these references also doesn’t count
towards the 5 pages of text). Grades will be based on the quality of your presentation and the
quality of your write-up. Please proofread!
Team member evaluations also will be conducted for the within-industry company analysis
presentations and will be used to adjust grades for those for whom consistent evidence is shown
of exemplary or unsatisfactory contributions to the team. Peer evaluations will comprise 20% of
each student’s grade for this assignment.
**Note: If 75% of your team votes you off the team (like Survivor), then you will be given an
alternative individual assignment that will be a lot more work than your original team
assignment.
Creativity/Innovation Application Presentation and Memo: For this project, you need to apply
what you have been learning during the semester. First, you need to include a creative
component to the project. You could develop a product or service, or you can propose another
creative idea to me in advance. Your idea should not be dangerous or offensive (it also should
not involve cheating or fraud). Also, your creative component should be novel (new in some
way) and useful. It should be clear that there is at least hope for a market or audience for your
idea. Second, you need to write a one-page memo in which you outline how concepts and
suggestions that you have learned in this class apply to your creative idea. Concepts and
suggestions that will help to ensure the effectiveness of your idea or that will minimize the
possibility of challenges could arise should be outlined. Bullet point form is recommended to
conserve space. Third, select one of the creativity exercises/techniques we have used in class this
semester and apply the technique to your project idea to improve your idea. Include evidence
that you have used a technique as an appendix for this assignment. Lastly, you will be expected
to give a 5 minute presentation (in which you explain and sell your idea to the class). This will
help to hone your idea pitching skills.
Exams: Exams will be based on the readings, cases, and any material from class (lectures,
discussions, guest speaker and student presentations, videos, and in-class exercises). Make-up
exams will only be granted if absolutely necessary in extenuating circumstances, if you receive
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permission from me in advance, and if documentation is provided. The exams will include both
multiple choice and essay questions. If you arrive to the classroom on an exam day after any
students have turned in their exam and left the classroom, you will not be permitted to take the
exam. Please make arrangements to use the bathroom before each exam begins so that you do
not need to leave the classroom during exams.
Short Quizzes: On the days when we discuss case studies in class, we will have a short quiz at
the start of class. Most of these questions will pertain to the case study that will be discussed that
day. Several questions could be asked about the readings due the class before the case study is
discussed.
Participation/Attendance: To get the most out of this class and to maximize your chances of
doing well in this class, you will need to come to class regularly and participate actively in class
discussions. Attendance will be taken daily. If you have 3 or more unexcused absences, the
highest participation/attendance grade you will be able to receive is a C. Homework will
count towards you participation/attendance grade.
Classroom Protocol: Behaviors that disrupt the classroom environment impede students’ ability
to learn. Examples of these behaviors are: talking during lectures and video presentations,
interrupting others while they are speaking, and arriving late and/or leaving early without
previously notifying the instructor of compelling reasons for entering or exiting the classroom
while class is in session (see the 2007-08 SDSU General Catalog, Student Discipline and
Grievances, pgs. 447-448). Students will be notified the first time that his/her behavior is
inappropriate. The next time this inappropriate behavior occurs, SDSU’s Judicial Procedures
Office will be informed for disciplinary action.
Cheating: Cheating (including plagiarism) will not be tolerated. Any student that engages in
cheating in any form will receive an automatic “F” as a grade and will be referred immediately to
SDSU’s Judicial Procedures Office.
Syllabus Changes: While changes to the syllabus will be avoided as much as possible, I reserve
the right to make changes to the syllabus at any time during the semester. If changes are made,
they will be posted to Blackboard. Be sure to check Blackboard on a daily basis in the event that
changes or announcements are posted.
Blackboard Information:
We will be using Blackboard in this class for copies of materials used in class and for class
announcements. You already are enrolled in Blackboard site for this class as a result of your
registration in this class.
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Date
1/19
1/24
1/26
1/31
2/2
2/7
2/9
2/14
2/16
2/21
2/23
2/28
3/1
3/6
3/8
Topic
Introduction to the course
What is the role of creativity and innovation in
organizations?
Dynamics that underlie creative thinking
Becoming creatively fit as an individual
- Creative insight: Why do good ideas come to us
when they do?
- Idea evaluation: What to do with generated
ideas
Team – Creativity in Teams
SHORT QUIZ
Teams – Creative collaboration in teams
Creative Collaboration in Teams in Practice:
Guest speaker/presentation by The Hausmann
Quartet (an award-winning string quartet) in
Smith Auditorium (NOT OUR CLASSROOM)
Teams, the Environment, and Creativity
Environment: Climate for creativity in an
enterprise
SHORT QUIZ
- Creating an environment that keeps creative
people creating
SHORT QUIZ
Managing creative employees
Leading for creativity and innovation
MIDTERM
3/13
- Creativity to innovation
- Innovation – What’s Involved
3/15
Innovation: Competitive advantage and the
category-maturity life cycle
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Readings/Assignments
Introduction (pp. 1-8) of Creativity, Inc.
Chapter 1 of Creativity, Inc.
Chapter 2 of Creativity, Inc.
Homework: Take the “Right Brain Left Brain
Creativity Test”
(http://www.wherecreativitygoestoschool.com/van
couver/left_right/rb_test.htm), print the results,
and bring it to class to turn in.
“The Eureka Hunt” by Jonah Lehrer in The New
Yorker, July 28, 2008
Pages 67-75 of Creativity, Inc.
Case: “Paul Robertson and the Medici String
Quartet” (in the reader)
Bring the questions that you generated after our
discussion of the case study “Paul Robertson and
the Medici String Quartet”
Rest of Chapter 3 of Creativity, Inc. (pages 55-67
and 75-83)
Chapter 4 of Creativity, Inc.
Case: “What’s stifling the creativity at
Coolburst?”
Chapter 5 of Creativity, Inc.
Case: “Managing creativity at Shanghi Tang”
(in the reader)
Chapter 6 of Creativity, Inc.
- Chapter 7 of Creativity, Inc.
- “The Innovation Value Chain” by M.T. Hansen
and J. Birkinshaw, Harvard Business Review,
June 2007, p. 121-130
Dealing with Darwin – Chapters 1-2
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3/20
3/22
Innovation: Competitive advantage and the
category-maturity life cycle
Mini-Pitch Day
4/3
4/5
SPRING BREAK
Guest speaker (schedule permitting)
Innovation – Traps & How to Avoid Them
4/10
4/12
4/17
Three within-industry company analysis project
presentations
SHORT QUIZ
Innovation – A Case Study
Innovation:
- Thinking about Innovation Differently
Dealing with Darwin – Chapter 3 (in the reader)
Homework: Prepare a mini-pitch (further details
to be provided)
“Innovation: The Classic Traps” by R.M. Kanter,
Harvard Business Review, November 2006, p. 7283.
Case: “Corporate New Ventures at Proctor &
Gamble” (in the reader)
- “Connect and Develop: Inside Proctor &
Gamble’s New Model for Innovation” by L.
Huston and N. Sakkab, Harvard Business
Review, March 2006, p. 58-66.
- The Role of Champions
- “The Right Stuff: Identifying and Developing
Effective Champions of Innovation,” by J.
Howell, Academy of Management Executive,
4/19
Innovation - Commercializing an Innovation
4/24
Presentations
4/26
5/1
5/3
5/8
To be announced
Presentations
Presentations
Presentations
5/15
EXAM
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May2005, p108-119.
“Innovating for Cash” by J.R. Andrew and
H.L. Sirkin, Harvard Business Review,
September 2003, p. 76-83.
Chapter 8 of Creativity, Inc. – Sustaining
creativity and innovation
Creativity/Innovation Application Memo
and Appendix Due
10:30-12:30
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