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Creativity and Culture in Engineering

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The Palgrave Handbook of Creativity and Culture Research

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Creativity and Culture ((PASCC))

Abstract

This chapter explores creativity and culture in the domain of engineering. I begin by recognising that culture is a label for the attitudes, motives, values and beliefs shared by an organisation. In the literature of creativity, these equate to the 4Ps framework—person, product, process and press. A creativity culture, therefore, is definable by a particular combination of the 4Ps. I then recognise that creativity in organisations occurs as a series of stages leading to innovation. The culture that supports this process is fluid—the attitudes, motives, etc., that support innovation change from one stage to the next. From this, a cultural baseline is defined—what aspects of the 4Ps support the generation and exploitation of ideas in an organisation, at each stage of the process? I then turn to engineering creativity and innovation. How does the culture of engineering organisations align to the generic cultural baseline for innovation? I will discuss aspects of the 4Ps that are unique to engineering organisations, and ask if these align favourably to the generic cultural baseline. Are engineering organisations well aligned to the culture required for successful creativity and innovation, or not? Are particular aspects of the engineering culture helping, or hindering, creativity and innovation in engineering organisations?

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Engineering, University of South Australia, Building W, Mawson Lakes Campus, Mawson Lakes, SA, 5095, Australia

    David H. Cropley

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  1. David H. Cropley
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Correspondence to David H. Cropley .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Communication and Psychology, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark

    Vlad Petre Glăveanu

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Cropley, D.H. (2016). Creativity and Culture in Engineering. In: Glăveanu, V. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Creativity and Culture Research. Palgrave Studies in Creativity and Culture. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-46344-9_27

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