Overall TNA Analysis Report - TRACTORS PROJECT THE LEONARDO DA VINCI PROGRAMME Supported by: Project No. ES/06/B/F/PP-149462
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
Overall TNA Analysis Report
TRACTORS PROJECT
Supported by:
THE LEONARDO DA VINCI PROGRAMME
Project No. ES/06/B/F/PP-149462Acknowledgement
The partners of the TRACTORS project wish to acknowledge the support of all individuals and
organizations who contributed to the preparation of this Training Needs Analysis report. We
would also like to acknowledge the support of the Leonardo Da Vinci Programme which has
made this project possible.
The information contained in this report is the copyright of the TRACTORS partnership but
may be reproduced with the permission of partnership members.
The members of the project team that have put all their efforts and support in making this work
package, on acknowledging the needs of specific organizations in the different countries
involved, happen are:
¾ LABEIN TECNALIA, Project Promoter
¾ Thessaloniki Technology Park Management & Development Corporation S.A. (TTP-
MDC S.A.), Project Coordinator
¾ ATLANTIS Consulting S.A., Greece
¾ WESTBIC- The Business and Innovation Centre for the Border, Midland and Western
Region of Ireland, Ireland
¾ Multidisciplinary European Research Institute Graz (MERIG), Austria
¾ KTC, Kaunas University of Technology Regional Science Park, Lithuania
¾ FIRENZE Tecnologia, Italy
For more information on the project you can visit the project’s website on
www.train4creativity.eu where major project deliverables addressing each of the different
phases carried out by the project team are being published.
Overall TNA Analysis Report 2Table of contents 1. Introduction.............................................................................................................................. 5 1. Introduction.............................................................................................................................. 5 2. Analysis of the TNA Survey.................................................................................................... 6 2.1 Knowledge and use of Creativity and Innovation (C&I) Management issues ............ 8 2.2 Creativity and Innovation Management be part of the organisation’s everyday function .................................................................................................................................. 13 2.3 Availability on budget allocation as well as risks and desired outcomes of such an approach ................................................................................................................................. 17 3. Future cooperation with the project team and training needs ................................................ 23 4. Conclusions............................................................................................................................ 28 Overall TNA Analysis Report 3
List of tables Figure 1: Respondents representing Private/ Public and other organizations............................. 6 Figure 2: Number of respondents per country ............................................................................ 7 Figure 3: Job position of respondents across countries involved ............................................... 7 Figure 4: Level of experience of respondents............................................................................. 8 Figure 5: Level of familiarity with Creativity and Innovation Management.............................. 9 Figure 6: Level of familiarity with Creativity and Innovation Management per country .......... 9 Figure 7: Applicability of Creativity to all businesses................................................................ 9 Figure 8: Creativity is connected with… .................................................................................. 11 Figure 9: Status of the organization/ enterprise ........................................................................ 12 Figure 10: Different categories of affecting the organisations success in using a creativity strategy ....................................................................................................................................... 13 Figure 11: Factors that affect the decision-making process...................................................... 14 Figure 12: Level of importance according to job position........................................................ 15 Figure 13: Factors nurturing creativity at work ........................................................................ 16 Figure 14: Reward systems for personnel intelligent ideas/ solutions...................................... 16 Figure 15: Acceptance of change.............................................................................................. 17 Figure 16: Existence of training programmes within the organization/ enterprise................... 18 Figure 17: What kind of training programmes do exist............................................................ 19 Figure 18: Budget allocation for new training.......................................................................... 19 Figure 19: Budget allocation for new training per country....................................................... 20 Figure 20: Possible obstacles .................................................................................................... 21 Figure 21: Proposed suggestions for the aforementioned Creativity obstacles ........................ 22 Figure 22: Expected outcomes.................................................................................................. 23 Figure 23: Interest in the tool.................................................................................................... 24 Figure 24: Interest in the tool per country ................................................................................ 24 Figure 25: Preferable tools for a training course ...................................................................... 25 Figure 26: Cooperation with TRACTORS project team .......................................................... 25 Figure 27: Cooperation with TRACTORS project team per country ....................................... 26 Figure 28: Willingness to cooperate per type of organisation .................................................. 26 Overall TNA Analysis Report 4
1. Introduction This report has been developed as part of the Leonardo da Vinci supported TRACTORS Project. The aim of the project is the development of an intergraded training framework (material and methodologies) for creativity and innovation in the working place aiming to support European SMEs and R&D organisations to benefit from this knowledge and use it in a particular manner in their every day activities. More specifically trainees who will participate in TRACTORS courses will understand the dynamic nature of creativity and innovation process and will learn to meet the demands of creativity and innovation in the workplace. Among others, TRACTORS courses will include techniques of how to build frameworks for filtering and value high quality ideas as well as to identify the negative attitudes that block creativity and innovation (organizational and personal), how to foster a climate of creativity, what are the characteristics of the creative person, where to look for new ideas and how to identify them when they occur. The project consists of eight partners across six European countries including: Spain, Greece, Austria, Ireland, Italy and Lithuania. One of the initial phases of the project involved a Training Needs Analysis across the participating countries. This analysis will verify the needs of European SMEs and potential users in relation to Creativity and Innovation Management as well as helping to define the characteristics and guiding the development of the training material and the methodology to be followed during the pilot phase. The following report analyses the results of the Training Needs Analysis. Research Methodology The methodology implemented varied slightly from country to country and was applied as follows: In some situations target SMEs and public sector organisations were contacted by email. The email message outlined the purpose of the TRACTORS project, highlighting the TNA phase. The message also contained a copy of the TNA questionnaire. In some instances, the letter and questionnaire were also forwarded by fax to some of the target organisations due to technical problems. In many instances responses were received directly as a result of the mail shot and email follow-up. In other cases, however, it was necessary to follow-up with telephone calls in order to secure responses and some partners had to conduct one-to-one interviews. Target respondents were acquired from partner databases, listings provided by external organisations and associations such as Chambers of Commerce and in some limited situations, “cold calling”. Moreover, interviews were being implemented as a way of receiving the available responses on time. The target group was informed on the project and its aims with regard to the training Overall TNA Analysis Report 5
needs analysis phase and were actually interested in receiving information and participating in
some of the later stages of the project (pilot workshops, etc.).
The target number of responses was fifteen to twenty questionnaires per partner with additional
feedback from experts in the area of Creativity and Innovation Management where possible.
Seven of the project partners were involved in the TNA and in all, one hundred and sixty seven
(167) valid responses were received which comfortably met the target number.
It should be pointed out that many people, after receiving the questionnaire were extremely
interested in Creativity and Innovation Management, and contacted some of the project
partners in order to request further information about the project’s progress.
Because of the relatively small sample size it was decided instead of applying full statistical
principals to this analysis, to investigate only the existing trends identified in respondents’
opinion. Nevertheless this study gives a good insight as to the current awareness and level of
Creativity and Innovation Management in the target countries.
2. Analysis of the TNA Survey
In analysing the responses three areas were addressed. They included the organisation’s need
for training tools as well as availability in terms of budget allocation on Creativity and
Innovation Management, the organisation’s knowledge and use of Creativity and Innovation
Management issues and how creativity and innovation management could be part of the
organisation’s every day function. Finally respondents were asked about their interest in the
planned outcomes and outputs from the TRACTORS project so as to support the
implementation of Creativity and Innovation Management in their organisations.
Of the 167 responses, 75% were coming from the private sector.
Figure 1: Respondents representing Private/ Public and other organizations
Legal Status
Semi public
4%
Public Non profit
18% organisation
1%
Non statutory
research team
1%
Private
75% Other
1%
Private Public Semi public Non profit organisation Non statutory research team Other
Overall TNA Analysis Report 6The responses were distributed amongst the partners as follows: Spain managed to get 15
responses representing 9% of the total answers, Greece (two partners) 67 responses
representing 40% of the total answers, Austria 20 responses representing 12% of the total
answers, Italy 23 responses representing 14% of the total answers, Ireland 22 responses
representing 13% of the total answers and Lithuania 20 responses representing 12% of the total
answers.
Figure 2: Number of respondents per country
Respondents by country
Ireland
Austria 13%
12% Greece
40% Greece
Italy
Spain
Lithuania
Austria
Lithuania Ireland
12%
Spain Italy
9% 14%
Of the respondents, 44% were top managers, 25% belong to middle management, 17% in the
core staff, 7% in the administrative personnel and 7% of the respondents could not be properly
categorised due to lack of information.
Figure 3: Job position of respondents across countries involved
Job Position
50% 44%
45%
40%
35%
30% 25%
25%
20% 17%
15%
10% 7% 7%
5%
0%
Top management Middle management Core staff Administrative Other
personnel
The majority of the respondents, 54%, had between one and five years experience with their
current organisation, while only 21% were with their respective organisations for between five
Overall TNA Analysis Report 7to ten years of experience and 25% of them had more than ten years of experience with their
current organisation.
Figure 4: Level of experience of respondents
No of years of experience
25%
one to five
five to ten
54% more than ten
21%
2.1 Knowledge and use of Creativity and Innovation (C&I) Management issues
This part of the survey aimed to identify the familiarity of the participating organisations with
creativity and its characteristics and especially its use within the organisation. It also aimed to
identify the processes that have been followed and the available technology so as to support
Creativity and Innovation Management.
Initially respondents were asked to state the level of their familiarity with Creativity and
Innovation Management. Interestingly, more than half of the respondents have showed their
familiarity with the terms and characteristics of Creativity and Innovation Management. We
can therefore see that European SMEs as well as public sector organisations and not just them,
view Creativity and Innovation Management as a very important topic and for this reason there
is willingness in investing more in this idea as it could lead to more interesting results for the
sake of each organisation/enterprise.
This is especially true for the majority of the staff and mainly for the top and middle
management. What is striking at this point is the fact that the rest of the employees addressed
were not that familiar and therefore it is very crucial to raise their awareness on the main issues
and characteristics that could be brought to their organisations and to them as individuals.
According to Figure 6, we can observe that the majority of the respondents are familiar with
creativity as a term or at least they have used it in their working experience and have
acknowledged its characteristics and usefulness. Also, Italy possesses the lowest percentage in
terms of familiarity with Creativity and Innovation Management with Greece and Ireland
leading.
Overall TNA Analysis Report 8Figure 5: Level of familiarity with Creativity and Innovation Management
Familiarity with Creativity and Innovation Management
45%
39%
40%
35% 30%
30%
25%
20% 18%
15% 13%
10%
5% 1%
0%
Very familiar Familiar Moderately Not really Not at all familiar
familiar familiar
Figure 6: Level of familiarity with Creativity and Innovation Management per country
Level of familiarity with the term per country
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
Ireland Lithuania Austria Italy Spain Greece
Very familiar Familiar Moderately familiar Not really familiar Not at all familiar
Linked to this question, participants were also asked if they think creativity is applicable to all
businesses regardless of their sector. In the following graph we see clearly that the majority of
the respondents (88%) thought that creativity is applicable to all businesses regardless of their
sector while the rest of them (12%) were opposite with this statement. The most important fact
is that, although many of the respondents were not that familiar with creativity, a sound
percentage are aware of its application and the effective results it could bring to the business
area (either it constitutes from SMEs or public sector organisations or other types of
organisations, from non profit to individual researchers). The main element is that whenever
creativity is applied then major chances of enhancing the status quo of each
organization/enterprise or even produce a satisfactory level of competitive advantage are most
likely to occur.
Figure 7: Applicability of Creativity to all businesses
Overall TNA Analysis Report 9Applicability of Creativity
No; 12%
Yes; 88%
Yes No
In another question, respondents were asked whether and to what extent creativity is connected
with the most fundamental management issues. It is interesting to note the different responses
by the different categories of employees. At this point, it is intriguing to show the most
important connections so as to draw conclusions on the contradictions that were presented as
well as to find out what respondents think about creativity and to what extent they are aware of
creativity’s usefulness in their businesses.
As it is depicted in the following graph and as far as idea sharing and support is concerned, the
majority of the respondents (80%) agreed that creativity could be reinforced with this kind of
activity and there was no negative response to this statement. On the other hand, 72% of the
respondents agreed with the statement that creativity is connected to freedom of speech, while
24% said that this could possibly happen. These two connections were from the most important
in taxonomy always according to the graph. Increasing competitiveness, effectiveness and
efficiency come next showing their peculiarity while the other issues are falling way behind in
preference.
According to the graph, when Creativity and therefore, Innovation Management are applied,
effectiveness and efficiency are being reinforced in a way that could affect the productivity
progress of an organisation/enterprise (the percentages at this point are 65% and 66%
respectively). Furthermore, image improvement is connected to creativity according to a
significant number of respondents (43%), while the majority (52%,) stated that there is a
possible connection. The rest of respondents were opposite to this idea.
Competitiveness of an organisation/ enterprise could be connected to creativity according to
67% of the respondents.
At this stage and according to the major conclusions that have been drawn from the graph,
what is remarkable is the fact that a relatively low percentage of the respondents have stated
that image improvement is connected with creativity while it is mainly connected with
increasing competitiveness. Someone could identify the contradiction between the two. For this
reason, it should be kept in mind that a basic factor for increasing an organisations competitive
advantage could be realised through an improvement or even a change in each organisations
image. Image improvement is the result of creativity being used and applied in each stage of
Overall TNA Analysis Report 10the product development. For that, they both constitute major factors for the creativity
development and application within each organisation.
Figure 8: Creativity is connected with…
Creativity is connected with..
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Effectiveness
Increasing profit
competitiveness
Efficiency
Idea sharing/
Free Speech
Cosnolidation in
improvement
support
Increasing
Image
Yes Possibly No market
Amongst the respondents (a hundred and sixty-seven responses in total), 43% stated that their
organisation’s activities were stemming from an innovation driven sector and 23% confirmed
that they are working in a traditional line of business. At this point, it is really important to
stress out the status of each responding organization so as to observe the level of innovation
use and familiarity to its components including Creativity Management.
It is also important to examine the attitude of the organisations/ enterprises addressed in this
analysis have towards their employees in their business activities. As it is depicted in the
following graph, 47% of the employees in these organisations/ enterprises thought of them as
supportive with regards to risk-taking and that it does not penalize them when they fail.
56% of the respondents agreed with the fact that all employees of their organization/ enterprise
(regardless of their position) have the same chances to share their creative potential and
propose new solutions and improvements. When these aspects are being resolved then an
individual/employer may without any hesitation adopt a new way of working which may
contribute to the improved productivity of the organisation/enterprise as well as it could lead to
a more creative way of solving any potential problems that might arise in each
organisation/enterprise.
Overall TNA Analysis Report 11Figure 9: Status of the organization/ enterprise
Status of the organisation
56%
51% 53%
47%
43% 45%
34%
26%
traditional line of innovation driven training in competence skills grow rapidly resources for take risks creative potential
business sector creativity training + propose new
solutions
In a related question participants were asked if their organisation was to use a strategy for
creativity and innovation, which or who according to their opinion would play a crucial role for
its success. The different answers that could be given are stated below:
¾ A new specialised unit for creativity management
¾ Executives and Managing Directors
¾ Human Resources Management Unit
¾ R&D Unit
¾ All staff members
The following graph points out the importance of each of the above categories for the different
types of employers (according to their position). In this question each respondent could choose
more than one answers. Amongst the respondents, 19%, stated that a new specialised unit
dealing with Creativity and Innovation Management issues could be of a high added value in
an organisation/ enterprise interested in increasing its potential in the continuing developing
economy. 43% of the respondents indicated that Managing directors could easily affect and
successfully take care of the strategy in use for developing creativity issues while 20% thought
that the HRM unit could be the one to lead an organisation to success. Of the respondents who
have indicated managing directors as the ones to lead the Creativity and Innovation
Management strategy of an organisation/enterprise, 31% belong to middle management and
44% represented the top management category. Of the respondents who belong to the
administrative and core level of an organisation/enterprise and have answered this question
(both represented 19%) believed that managing directors were the most appropriate level of
creating a strategy.
It is very interesting to notice how the years of experience could lead a respondent’s opinion on
choosing the most appropriate body for conducting and filtering a new strategy for an
organisation/enterprise. At this point, it is not only experience that counts but mainly the
willingness to change and adopt a new perspective of building up a new strategy that consists
of Creativity and Innovation Management.
It is also important to note that more than a half of the respondents (56%) have stated that all
members of the staff could create a successful atmosphere within an organisation/ enterprise as
far as developing a Creativity and Innovation Management strategy. Of the respondents who
have chosen this kind of category for affecting and building up the creativity strategy within an
Overall TNA Analysis Report 12organisation/enterprise, 38% were top managers and 28% belong to middle management. This
proves that Creativity and Innovation Management has nothing to do with the job position of
each employee. Anyone within an organisation/ enterprise could attribute the most in the
productivity, quality as well as the achievement of the long-term objectives of each
organisation/ enterprise.
Figure 10: Different categories of affecting the organisations success in using a creativity
strategy
Crucial role for organisation's success
60%
56%
50%
43%
40%
30%
23%
19% 20%
20%
10%
0%
New Unit Managing Directors HRM Unit R&D Unit All staff
2.2 Creativity and Innovation Management be part of the organisation’s everyday
function
This section of the questionnaire aimed to analyse the importance given to Creativity and
Innovation Management as viewed by responding organisations. It is also worth mentioning
the level of importance that each staff category has attributed to creativity and whether it
constitutes the main idea within an organisation for further development or not.
Some of the key categories that affect the direction of the decision-making process are Team
Creativity & Innovation and Individual Creativity & Innovation. With regard to the
importance of Team Creativity & Innovation, 82% of the respondents believed that it plays a
very important role in affecting the decision-making process within an organisation/enterprise.
With reference to the importance of Individual Creativity & Innovation, 86% of the
respondents thought it is very important in terms of affecting the decision-making process of
an organisation/enterprise. Only 14% considered individual creativity as not being a very
important asset for the decision making process of the organisation/ enterprise.
As it appears, both Team and Individual Creativity and Innovation affect the decision-making
process within the organisation/enterprise with Individual Creativity and Innovation being the
most effective one.
Overall TNA Analysis Report 13Individual Creativity and Innovation could be a very good - if not the best - insight for an
organisation’s development. Team Creativity and Innovation could gain more credit, provided
that the collaboration and networking of the different characters and attitudes (that is different
employee categories) induce the common wealth and enhancement of the
organisation/enterprise showing major developments in the decision-making process and,
therefore, the productivity level.
Figure 11: Factors that affect the decision-making process
Factors affecting the decision-making process
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
Team Creativity & Innovation Individual Creativity & Innovation
Very important Important Not very important Not at all important
Respondents were also asked to identify the value or importance attributed to creativity when
considering it as a resource for improvement and development. It is interesting to note the
different responses in terms of the different categories. It is also interesting to note that out of
the hundred and sixty-seven respondents, 44% were top managers, 25% belong to middle
management, 17% in the core staff, 7% in the administrative personnel and 7% of the
respondents could not be properly categorised.
91% of the respondents supported the fact that the senior management considers creativity to
be a very important asset so as to enhance and ameliorate the situation in an
organisation/enterprise whenever there is a need for a new idea or a new strategy or something
else that could improve the current situation and make it even better. In relation to middle
management, 90% of the responses indicated that creativity is an important element for that
staff category and it needed to be improved within an organisation/enterprise. Regarding the
view of the general staff/ operatives on creativity, 69% of the respondents stated that it is a
really important factor while, on the other hand, 31% of the responses indicated that the
general staff does not treat creativity as a very important factor for the amelioration of a
potential situation within an organisation/enterprise. The views of the respondents about the
secretarial staff’s opinion on creativity varied: 51% stated that the secretarial staff thinks of
creativity as an important factor while a very approaching percentage of respondents (49%)
claimed that creativity was not that important for this type of category. The different
relationships are depicted on the following graph showing a high level of willingness from the
Overall TNA Analysis Report 14side of middle and top management while, on the other hand, there is not that desire for the rest
of the categories.
Figure 12: Level of importance according to job position
Level of importance
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Senior Mngt Middle Mngt General Clerical/ secretariat
staff+operatives
very important important not very important not at all important
At this stage, the respondents were asked to rate the importance of certain key factors that
foster creativity at work. Among other factors, the ones that were too prominent to stand out
were the personality of the employee, the management policy of the company, the personal
interest as well as internal communication. 96% of the respondents considered the personality
of the employee as a very important factor for raising creativity at work. It is really important
to stress out the fact that every employee according to his/her character and especially acquired
expertise could lead an organisation/enterprise to success, short term or even long term
depending always on the efforts and the willingness that will be placed in making something
happen. On the other hand, the management policy that each organisation/enterprise is
following is considered to be a very important factor that could foster creativity and therefore
create an even more attractive environment. According to the responses, 95% have stated that
each organisation’s/ enterprise’s management policy could set the boundaries and therefore
lead the organisation to success. Whenever there is the willingness for a change using creative
methods and tools, then there is a likelihood of an enhancement in the working place resulting
in a successful and always evolving environment.
The majority of respondents (95%) regarded Internal Communication as a very important
element for the development of creativity within the premises of an organisation/enterprise.
Internal communication could assist creativity so as to evoke positive results only when the
networking and collaboration among employees is further developed by sharing and
distributing ideas so as to promote an effective strategy and work towards an increase in
productivity. The relationship between personal interest and creativity at work was rated by
98% of the respondents as a very important element that could assist in raising creativity at
work. When the policy of a company is working towards the creation of new ideas and
provides the right incentives to employees then creativity could be reinforced in a major degree
resulting in success.
Overall TNA Analysis Report 15Figure 13: Factors nurturing creativity at work
Factors nurturing Creativity at work
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Infrastructure
Motivation
Time pressure
Mngt policy of
Personality of
Background of
Communication
Personal
Financial
Interest
employee
employee
company
Cultural
Internal
Very important Important Not very important Not at all important
One more of the questions addressed to the organisations/enterprises focus on the existence of
a reward system which is used by the organisation so as to value their personnel’s intelligent
ideas and solutions. The minority of the respondents, 26%, stated that there is such a system
but its nature is extrinsic, meaning that it revolves around material rewards such as, bonuses,
salary increase, etc. the majority of the responses (49%) showed that there is a reward system
within the organisation but it is intrinsic meaning that it is based on immaterial rewards like
praise, personal acknowledgement, etc. while 37% of the respondents believed that there is no
such thing as a reward system within their organisation/ enterprise. It is important to point out
that at this question respondents could choose more than one answers because some
organisations offer either extrinsic and intrinsic rewarding systems or none at all. As a whole,
almost all organisations/enterprises are promoting motivation within their premises so as to
export an even favourable result for their company as far as productivity and economic growth
are concerned. When trying to create an added value for their company they take into
consideration the setting up and application of the right incentives towards their employees and
extent to what this might assist them in pursuing a successful result in the market.
Figure 14: Reward systems for personnel intelligent ideas/ solutions
Reward system
None 37%
Intrinsic 49%
Extrinsic 26%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
Overall TNA Analysis Report 16Allied to the positive response on the existence of rewards for Creativity and Innovation
Management, almost half of the respondents also felt that employees and management were
regularly flexible and open to new ideas and organisational change while another 42% show
that the companies are occasionally open to new ideas. Figures 10 and 11 show whether an
organisation/ enterprise is willing to accept any organisational changes so as to change or
improve the rewarding system that already exists or does not exist at all. This means that when
motivation is being set up from the management team of each organisation/enterprise, then
employees are more flexible in adapting to the new environment that has already being created
rather than continuing to a stable situation without any incentives or the proper motivation that
actually benefit them.
Figure 15: Acceptance of change
Organisational Changes
48%
42%
50%
40%
30%
8%
20% 2%
10%
0%
Alw ays Regularly Occasionally Never
2.3 Availability on budget allocation as well as risks and desired outcomes of such an
approach
This section of the analysis seeks to explore the availability of the responding organisations on
budget allocation for a new training course within their premises and whether someone could
acknowledge any risks of undertaking such a task. It is also important to mention that all
desired outcomes that respective organisations are willing to accomplish would be taken into
account in order to satisfy all their needs.
According to Figure 9 (pg. 12), 51% of the respondents (a hundred and sixty-seven returned
questionnaires in total) stated that there was a need for training in creativity and innovation
issues within their organisation/enterprise. On the question of whether their organisation uses a
sufficient amount of resources annually for training, 34% of the population provided a positive
answer. A major conclusion drawn from the above is the fact that organisations are positive in
attending a training that is related to Creativity and Innovation Management issues so as to get
the adequate expertise to help their organisations/enterprises in their further improvement.
Regarding the existence of training programmes within each organization/enterprise the
majority of the respondents (58%) confirmed the existence of such programmes in their
organisation, whereas 42% responded negatively. Someone could observe that of the
respondents half of them answered positively and the rest negatively. The aim at this point is to
Overall TNA Analysis Report 17further increase the percentage of those that have answered negatively by providing more
training opportunities to the organisations/enterprises so as to further exploit their capabilities
and enhance their expertise towards specific programmes that are mainly built for the shake of
the productivity circle within an organisation. Creativity and Innovation Management issues
are one example and it could be further exploited in the management policy of each of the
participant organisations/enterprises.
Figure 16: Existence of training programmes within the organization/ enterprise
Are there any training programmes within your enterprise/organisation?
No; 43%
Yes
No
Yes; 58%
The respondents who gave a positive answer in the previous question were asked to define the
nature of the training programmes that exist within their organisation/ enterprise. Regarding
employment development programmes (e.g. training courses), the majority of the participant
organisations (44%) confirmed the presence of such programmes within their organisation.
31% of the total answers (167 in total) stated that the issues the training programmes dealt with
were organisational while 25% indicated that these programmes were mainly related to
administrative issues. Only, 24% of the respondents pointed out that the training programmes
were related to creativity practices (such as problem solving techniques, idea
generation/brainstorming etc.), whilst 20% showed that these programmes were connected with
innovation management issues (new product development, BPR etc.). Lastly, 19% of the
respondents stated that the already existed programmes were affiliated with changes related to
the working environment of the organisation/enterprise. As it is depicted from the following
graph, the participant countries in this survey have shown their need in increasing their
opportunities as far as attending training activities in Creativity and Innovation Management
issues are concerned. Due to the fact that they are mainly occupied with receiving training
regarding employment issues, they need to further expand their knowledge and expertise.
Overall TNA Analysis Report 18Figure 17: What kind of training programmes do exist
What do they deal with?
50%
44%
45%
40%
35% 31%
30%
25% 24%
25%
20% 19%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
Administrative Organisational Creativity Innovation Mngt Employment Changes to
w orking
environmnet
Given the importance which respondents claimed to attach to creativity, they were also asked
about their organisation’s intention for allocating part of their budget for new training. At this
stage the respondents’ answers showed a tendency towards low budget allocation or none at
all. Only 23% believed that their organisation would allocate a significant amount of their
budget in receiving new training. Budget constraint is one of the most important reasons that a
company could envisage in their future activities. Also according to the graph, the majority of
the respondents, 35%, considered that the enterprise they are working with would be interested
in investing a reasonable part of its budget for new training always according to the training
material and courses that would be provided from the project team and whether these would
satisfy their organisations’ needs.
But the main indication at this point and always according to their answers is the fact that only
an insignificant amount would be allocated for new training. The reasons vary from one
organisation to the other. Maybe this could be due the fact that training programmes are
sometimes time consuming and companies that have very strict policies have very little time to
dedicate to these kinds of training. Another issue might be the fact that their investment could
cost a significant amount of money to the interested company. But these are costs that
sometimes are essential and, therefore, need to be predictable so as to enhance and improve the
culture of the company as well as the character and expertise of the employees that represent it.
Figure 18: Budget allocation for new training
Overall TNA Analysis Report 19Budget allocation for new training
Major significance;
6%
Not significant at all; Significant; 17%
21%
Moderate
significance; 35%
Less significant; 21%
However, when participant countries are compared at national level, there are significant
variations. From the following figure someone could identify the fact that each of the
participant countries has no intention in allocating a part of their budget for his new training.
On the contrary, the only country that tends to overcome this unwillingness is Italy where it is
observed that almost half of the respondents were positive in assigning a part of their budget
for this new training. Taking into consideration that Italy is not really aware of the term of
Creativity and Innovation Management, in contrast with the other countries involved, they are
trying to expand their knowledge by contributing resources in attending to such kind of
training courses.
Figure 19: Budget allocation for new training per country
Budget allocation for new training per country
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
Ireland Lithuania Austria Italy Spain Greece
Major significance Significant Moderate significance Less significant Not significant at all
The respondents were asked to define the intensity of possible obstacles within their
organisation out of a list which was provided in the questionnaire. The major obstacles that
were identified from the project team were linked to:
Overall TNA Analysis Report 20¾ Lack of financial resources
¾ Lack of infrastructure
¾ Lack of time
¾ Lack of experience
¾ No risk avert (meaning that the company culture does not nurture risk)
According to the answers provided, one of the most significant obstacles which were spotted
was the lack of time (approx. 47%) followed by the fact that companies do not have the
adequate financial resources so as to invest in the elaboration and application of a training tool
on developing creativity activities within the premises (approx. 44%). Furthermore, one more
interesting obstacle in the development of Creativity and Innovation Management could be
attributed to the fact that the culture of each company does not nurture risk, meaning that their
employees are not that free in exploiting their creative potential according to their desires
without any ‘punishment’ whatsoever (approx. 39%).
According to the different TNA analysis reports, each of the countries involved have expressed
their views as far as the rise of potential obstacles towards the development of creativity. There
were no major contradictions observed among the participant countries. What has been
commonly observed, though, in all countries was the fact that the lack of financial resources as
well as lack of time, were two of the most important ones. Additionally, according to the
Austrian, Spanish and the Greek report, a significant percentage of respondents have indicated
their situation where some companies are no risk avert towards grabbing new opportunities
extending in that way the list of obstacles, adding one more which should be taken into
account.
Figure 20: Possible obstacles
Possible obstacles for Creativity development
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
Lack of Lack of time No risk avert Lack of Lack of
financial infrastructure experience
resources
Not at all significant Less significant Moderate significance
Significant Very significant
A number of suggestions for overcoming the aforementioned obstacles were given to the
respondents and they were asked to rate their effectiveness. The suggestions proposed from the
project team were:
¾ Improved internal communication
¾ Intrinsic motivation/ interest
¾ Improvement of time management
Overall TNA Analysis Report 21¾ Infrastructure improvement
¾ Creation of an innovation culture
¾ Internal training
Most of the proposals received a high rating of effectiveness by the respondents showing that
all solutions on overcoming the above creativity obstacles have been well defined and were
satisfactory for the different respondents. There were no contradictions among the countries as
far as their preferences are concerned. Firstly, internal communication with approximately 80%
was preferred the most followed by motivation/interest as well as the creation of an effective
innovation culture within the organisation/enterprise (79%) and time management (75%). On
the other hand, infrastructure improvements as well as internal training were not considered to
be that important for overcoming any proposed obstacles. The responses are highlighted
overleaf.
Figure 21: Proposed suggestions for the aforementioned Creativity obstacles
Proposed suggestions for overcoming Creativity
obstacles
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Internal Time Innov. Cult. Motivation/ Infrastr. Impr. Inter. Train.
Comm Mngt Interest
Very High effective High effective Moderate effective
Low effectiveness Very low effectiveness
The questionnaire surveyed SMEs and public sector organisations to point out how significant
the possible outcomes of their potential training would be, by giving them a list of the
suggested outcomes and a scale to rate their level of significance. According to the
questionnaire the expected outcomes were:
- The creation of a competitive advantage
- The creation of new products
- The improvement of the employees capabilities
- The improvement of team work
- The promotion of innovation in general.
As it seems, most of the suggested outcomes were rated positively from the respondents
showing their comprehension to the major characteristics of creativity as well as its usefulness.
The most significant outcomes according to the respondents rating and especially their
percentages are the improvement of the capabilities of employees (approx. 87%) followed by
the improvement and amelioration of team work (approx. 83%). These two outcomes have
Overall TNA Analysis Report 22shown a significant rating form all countries involved. As far as the rest of the choices are
concerned different countries have shown different preferences always according to their needs
and expectations at the time.
Figure 22: Expected outcomes
Expected outcomes
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
Competitive New products Capabilities Team work Promote
advantage innovation
Very significant Significant Moderate significance
Less significant Not at all significant
3. Future cooperation with the project team and training needs
Having analysed the views of all the SMEs and public sector organization representatives in
relation to Creativity and Innovation Management, they were finally asked whether they would
be interested in developing a training tool so as to support the implementation of creativity in
their respective organization/enterprise and therefore enhance their creativity potential.
As it is seen in the next graph, the majority of the responses embraced the idea of such a tool
and indicated high rates of interest (approx. 76% of the collected responses). On the other hand
the respondents, who did not show considerable interest or any interest at all in this tool,
occupied only 8% of the population.
According to the above analysis, the levels of familiarity with Creativity and Innovation
Management are surprisingly high at national level; however, the budget allocation for new
training is quite disappointing but at least there is a sound interest for the tool.
Overall TNA Analysis Report 23Figure 23: Interest in the tool
Interest in the tool
45%
40% 42%
35% 34%
30%
25%
20%
15% 16%
10%
5% 4% 4%
0%
1 2 3 4 5
Interest (where 1=very interested and 5=not at all interested)
Although budget allocation as indicated in Figure 19 per country involved is not that high, it
can be observed that in this case countries are nevertheless interested in the specific tool. Again
as it is depicted in the above graph, Italy presents the highest percentage in terms of interest in
relation to the rest of the countries involved. The only country that is not that interested in
comparison to the others but also showing high rates of interest is Ireland.
Figure 24: Interest in the tool per country
Interest in the tool per country involved
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
Ireland Lithuania Austria Italy Spain Greece
Very interested Interested Moderately interested Not interested Not at all interested
The following question dealt with the respondents’ opinion on the most and least preferable
tools for the implementation of a training course. Most proposed tools received a high rating,
with the execution of workshops/seminars (80% of the responses) and E-learning platform
(66% of the responses) being the most preferable. On the least preferable side of the axis
showing minor differences in the percentages, we can identify the provision of CD-ROMS
(approx. 53%) as well as the provision of a handbook (47%). Sometimes and especially now
that Creativity and Innovation Management issues are being explored, people mainly prefer
visual and more interactive means of training like workshops/ seminars rather than the old
traditional way that a handbook could offer.
Overall TNA Analysis Report 24Figure 25: Preferable tools for a training course
Preferable tools for a training course
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Handbook Workshops/ CD- ROM E-learning platform
Seminars
Most preferable More preferable Moderate preferance
Less preferable Not at all preferable
Regarding a potential future cooperation with TRACTORS, team members could help anyone
who would like to receive information on the projects deliverables, provide information on any
workshops organized related to Creativity and Innovation Management. On the other hand, the
project team could benefit from the opinions and expertise provided by the participants on their
own line of business so as to create a win- win situation. As far as the countries involved are
concerned, out of the hundred and sixty-seven responses, 67% showed interest and 33% of the
collected answers showed no interest on a further cooperation with the project team.
Figure 26: Cooperation with TRACTORS project team
Cooperation w ith TRACTORS
No; 33%
Yes
No
Yes; 67%
In our effort to make it clearer showing the major differences that were observed at country
level, someone could notice that apart from Ireland, Lithuania and Austria who have the same
results in this future cooperation of the respondents with the project team, Spain presents
relatively low levels for further cooperation. It was the only country who apart from relatively
Overall TNA Analysis Report 25low levels of familiarity with the term creativity, it has shown a significant negativity towards
the main results of this project. For this reason, further efforts should be placed on attracting
the Spanish population into Creativity and Innovation Management issues, persuading them
that organizations/enterprises could gain a major competitive advantage from acquiring such
kind of training.
Figure 27: Cooperation with TRACTORS project team per country
Cooperation with TRACTORS per country
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
Yes
50%
No
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Ireland Lithuania Austria Italy Spain Greece
Α more explicit explanation rises from the next figure where the willingness of each of the
organisations that took part in this survey is being presented according to their type of
business. With this figure we could acknowledge the proportion of organisations/ enterprises
and their willingness in participating in the next phases of the project by creating a win-win
situation. Most of the companies that participated were mainly stemming from the private and
public sector with 123 and 30 participants respectively from a total of hundred and sixty-seven.
From those who belong to the private sector (75% of the responses), 64% were positive with
participating in the later stages of the project while as far as public organisations are concerned,
a significant percentage (80%) of them were willing with this kind of cooperation. In a few
words, this graph shows that public organisations/ enterprises were very positive towards this
cooperation while private ones still need to be fully convinced on the outcomes of this project
that might be profitable for their organisations/enterprises.
Figure 28: Willingness to cooperate per type of organisation
Overall TNA Analysis Report 26Willingness to cooperate per type of organisation
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
Private Public Semi public Non Profit Non statutory
Organisation research team
yes no
Overall TNA Analysis Report 274. Conclusions The main element is that whenever creativity is applied then major chances of enhancing the status quo of each organization/enterprise or even produce a satisfactory level of competitive advantage are most likely to occur. According to the graph, when Creativity and therefore, Innovation Management are applied, effectiveness and efficiency are being reinforced in a way that could affect the productivity progress of an organisation/enterprise It is very interesting to notice how the years of experience could lead a respondent’s opinion on choosing the most appropriate body for conducting and filtering a new strategy for an organisation/enterprise. At this point, it is not only experience that counts but mainly the willingness to change and adopt a new perspective of building up a new strategy that consists of Creativity and Innovation Management. It is also important to note that more than a half of the respondents (56%) have stated that all members of the staff could create a successful atmosphere within an organisation/ enterprise as far as developing a Creativity and Innovation Management strategy. Individual Creativity and Innovation could be a very good - if not the best - insight for an organisation’s development. Team Creativity and Innovation could gain more credit, provided that the collaboration and networking of the different characters and attitudes (that is different employee categories) induce the common wealth and enhancement of the organisation/enterprise showing major developments in the decision-making process and, therefore, the productivity level. almost all organisations/enterprises are promoting motivation within their premises so as to export an even favourable result for their company as far as productivity and economic growth are concerned. When trying to create an added value for their company they take into consideration the setting up and application of the right incentives towards their employees and extent to what this might assist them in pursuing a successful result in the market. when motivation is being set up from the management team of each organisation/enterprise, then employees are more flexible in adapting to the new environment that has already being created rather than continuing to a stable situation without any incentives or the proper motivation that actually benefit them. organisations are positive in attending a training that is related to Creativity and Innovation Management issues so as to get the adequate expertise to help their organisations/enterprises in their further improvement. an insignificant amount would be allocated for new training. The reasons vary from one organisation to the other. Maybe this could be due the fact that training programmes are sometimes time consuming and companies that have very strict policies have very little time to dedicate to these kinds of training. Another issue might be the fact that their investment could cost a significant amount of money to the interested company. But these are costs that sometimes are essential and, therefore, need to be predictable so as to enhance and improve the culture of the company as well as the character and expertise of the employees that represent it. Overall TNA Analysis Report 28
What has been commonly observed, though, in all countries was the fact that the lack of financial resources as well as lack of time, were two of the most important ones. The most significant outcomes according to the respondents rating and especially their percentages are the improvement of the capabilities of employees (approx. 87%) followed by the improvement and amelioration of team work (approx. 83%). These two outcomes have shown a significant rating form all countries involved. As far as the rest of the choices are concerned different countries have shown different preferences always according to their needs and expectations at the time. According to the above analysis, the levels of familiarity with Creativity and Innovation Management are surprisingly high at national level; however, the budget allocation for new training is quite disappointing but at least there is a sound interest for the tool. Sometimes and especially now that Creativity and Innovation Management issues are being explored, people mainly prefer visual and more interactive means of training like workshops/ seminars rather than the old traditional way that a handbook could offer. In our effort to make it clearer showing the major differences that were observed at country level, someone could notice that apart from Ireland, Lithuania and Austria who have the same results in this future cooperation of the respondents with the project team, Spain presents relatively low levels for further cooperation. It was the only country who apart from relatively low levels of familiarity with the term creativity, it has shown a significant negativity towards the main results of this project. For this reason, further efforts should be placed on attracting the Spanish population into Creativity and Innovation Management issues, persuading them that organizations/enterprises could gain a major competitive advantage from acquiring such kind of training. Overall TNA Analysis Report 29
You can also read
