ATTITUDE AND WORK STRESS
ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY
MGT 502 - ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR
WEEK 2
A. INTRODUCTION:
"You must treat your employees with respect and dignity even in the most automated
company in the world because you need the power of the human mind. The power of the
human mind is what leads to innovation. If you expect high quality minds to work for you
then you must protect that respect and dignity", MR. N.R. Narayana Murthy, Chairman
Emeritus, Infosys Ltd. (Febrianty et al., 2020).
In an organization, satisfied workers/employees will certainly carry out good things
that support the leader in achieving goals, while those who are not satisfied will certainly
not support the leader in achieving organizational goals and be negative. With the
influence of the three dimensions of transformational leadership, it will further increase
employee satisfaction so that it can foster feelings of pleasure, appreciation, attention, and
motivation in bringing up ideas for self-actualization. A company, whether profit-seeking
or not, certainly requires a group of people to run everything activities to achieve its goals.
The contribution made by the group has a vital role in determining the achievement of the
company's goals as planned at the beginning of the company. Any company may have the
best facilities, sophisticated machinery, strong finances, superior marketing systems, and
cutting-edge technology. However, without the performance of its employees, the
aforementioned factors mean nothing.
Profit and non-profit organizations have goals according to their expertise and have
been arranged in a definite and real way. The expertise of an organization is reflected in the
expertise of each member. Therefore, each member must be able to achieve the goals and
objectives that have been made through clearly structured goals. However, each member
will feel pressured by an unrealistic organization, and if the opposite condition occurs, it
will stimulate stress. For example, a workload that is too much and piles up later will be
able to cause stress. It is important in organizing and controlling a good and efficient work
program to use methods and ways of working on a work task. If work tasks are organized
from easier to harder, the accumulated workload can be completed little by little. It will
help to overcome this problem so that the majority of employees / employees no longer
feel reluctant to carry out work and work tasks and responsibilities that accumulate
(Q.Badu & Djafri, 2017).
B. ATTITUDE:
Attitude is quite important regarding the discussion of social psychology. Many experts
agree that attitude formation begins with the influence and role of innate, in the sense that
attitudes are not carried since we were born. Attitude is something that is continuous and
leads to an object, meaning that if it does not have an attitude or reaction to an object that
can be said to be an attitude. According to W.A.Gerungan (Tahir, 2014) it is said to have
an object, because there is an object things that must be addressed. Attitudes are also
desirable or undesirable explanations of both evaluations about people, events, and objects.
Attitudes reflect how a person feels about something. When an individual says he likes his
job, it means that the person expresses his attitude towards the job. Attitude is not the same
as value, but the two are closely related, by paying attention to the three components of
attitude, namely cognitive, affective, and behavior, the relationship between the two can be
seen.
A value statement is a belief that "discrimination is wrong". Such an opinion is the
attitude of the cognitive component. This component determines the attitude of the more
critical part for the effectiveness stage. Concern (affect) is the emotional segment
consisting of attitudes reflected in statements of likes and dislikes. The component of
behavioral attitudes leads to goals in a way to behave towards someone. Looking at
attitudes consisting of affective, cognitive, and behavioral components of attitudes is very
helpful for understanding the difficulties of attitudes that relate to the potential between
attitudes and behavior. So in organizations attitude is important because it affects behavior.
In general, attitude is defined and learned to respond to a desire consistently like or dislike
a particular object. If we have a good attitude towards our work, then we can work more
comfortably and well. In a specific way, attitudes direct us so that we can act effectively
and efficiently, meaning that attitudes can influence behavior in different ways. In contrast,
values indicate that beliefs can influence a behavior in all conditions (Robbins, 2007).
C. ATTITUDE COMPONENT:
The most important resource in an organization is human resources. People who
provide their energy, creativity, effort and talent to the organization so that the organization
continues to exist. Every human being has individual characteristics and attitudes that
differ from one another (Desyinta et al., 2019).
In organizations, attitudes are of paramount importance because they can influence
work behavior. A person who has information about attitudes that are rejected against
stereotypes or generalizations whether they are appropriate or inappropriate. For example,
the attitude component of the theory that rejects computerization can be said if "there is
enough profit if you take a computer business or business". An effective person will refer
to the directed attitude object component, the good can be felt through respect for the souls
of others, the bad can be felt through hatred or spite. For example, a person can tell himself
if the company stores computer data, then the person will immediately leave it or when a
new software package is available the person will learn how to use it (Ikhsan et al., 2015).
Attitudes have three components: awareness (cognitive component), feelings (affective
component), and behavioral or action components. The cognitive component is an attitude
- a description of or belief about something. The affective component is the feeling or
emotional segment of an attitude and is reflected in statements. Affectives can lead to
behavioral outcomes. The behavioral component is an attitude that explains the intention to
behave in a certain way towards someone or something.
It can be noted that if attitudes have three components - cognitive, effective, and
behavioral - then it is helpful to understand the complexities and hidden relationships
between behaviors and attitudes. In particular, they are inseparable, for example if an
individual realizes that they have treated another individual in a bad way. It is possible that
the person will have feelings about something that was done, which happens instantly.
Therefore, affective or cognitive become interrelated.
In Figure 3.1 above, it can be concluded that the three components of attitude can be
interrelated. For example, a worker who does not get a promotion, while the one who gets
it is his own coworker. A worker's attitude will think that he deserves a
promotion/cognitive, he dislikes his leader (affect) as well as he has complained and taken
an unfair action (behavior) (Robbins & Judge, 2017).
D. ATTITUDES INFLUENCE BEHAVIOR:
Attitude influences behavior meaning how in organizations people react and take
actions related to all types of organizations, in life people are hired, guided, directed and
given information to be able to develop. In organizations where people continue to
elaborate on the capacity to get the results we want, new mindsets develop, also when
wishful thinking is given free rein, then people continue to learn simultaneously, some
parts of the group almost become discourse in general activities.
(Wijaya, 2017) suggests that research on workers found that workers who work for less
than five years, if their work attitude is good, it will always be good, and vice versa. The
position or job they change forever depends on this attitude. There are three factors that
cause a person in the middle working age to be more likely to have attitude stability,
namely greater personal certainty, feeling more knowledgeable, the need to have a strong
attitude. The conventional view of attitude is not It is possible that if you get older, you
will be rejected. Older people, when in the company of younger ones, can change their
general attitude because they are much more open and confident. This is the case for half-
age workers. Due to diverse backgrounds, cultures and knowledge, attitudes and behaviors
also vary.
E. DEFINITION OF STRESS WORK:
Formally, stress can be said to be an event that causes physical and psychological
demands on a person to the situation that is happening to him and becomes an adaptive
response that is affected by psychological processes or individual characteristics due to
external actions. This definition is actually not as difficult as it looks when we summarize
it into dimensions of stress that are related to each other, namely environmental demands,
referring to stressors that will produce adaptive responses to individual differences that
affect. We all experience stress in our daily lives. Although stress is caused by various
factors, researchers have concluded that stress can trigger one of two basic reactions: active
resistance and passive avoidance. Psychologically, this stress response is a biochemical
"passing gear" involving hormonal changes that mobilize the physical for extraordinary
demands (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2014).
Stress is related to the psychophysical state felt by all individuals regardless of age,
gender, position or social economic status. Usually stress is combined with negative things
about the impact caused. Stress in a person, especially in children, will also have an impact
on their psychological condition. Stress can inhibit the growth of a child's personality, such
as fear of trying something and lack of confidence in the child (Q.Badu & Djafri, 2017).
Stress is pressure caused by the workload of various things on individuals so that they find
it difficult to complete the tasks and obligations they carry (Tampubolon, 2008).
It can be concluded that work stress is an amalgamation of negative things that arise
from workloads so that workers find it difficult to complete all forms of their duties and
obligations.
F. CAUSES OF STRESS:
Role conflict is a cause of stress that originates from the individual. In completing
expectations, both regarding work and also to complete all other job expectations a person
will be faced with role conflict. In general, employees who feel conflict will show very low
job satisfaction and work-related tension will be very high. For some individuals in the
group, leadership, norms, and hierarchical roles are characteristics of the group that trigger
high stress. Lack of group cohesiveness, especially at very low levels of the organization
can also trigger group stress. When supervisors restrict or prohibit employees, or because
group members exclude other group members, there will be no opportunity for
togetherness in the work design, so there is a lack of cohesiveness that will cause stress.
One of the problems in assessing stressors at the organizational level is identifying
which sources are most meaningful. Another stressor is organizational culture. Top
management who have built the character of the organization at large will make it the
culture of the organization. A source of stress for many employees can be established if the
political attitude at the top level of the organization is not good. The quality of one's career
development in the organization will affect the lack of aspects of the environment for
career opportunities (Tewal et al., 2017).
Stressors are the causes of stress, which is where the physical and emotional demands
are on a person and what environmental conditions occur in the organization. There are
many stressors in an organization and other life activities. There are 4 main types of work-
related stressors (Sopiah, 2008), namely:
1. Physical Environment
Some of the stressors that are often encountered in an organization are the physical
environment of work that is very noisy, poor workspace lighting. What is seen in the
office setting, including poor air quality, poor office design, lack of privacy between
individuals, and lighting is not maximized is the risk of physical stressors.
2. Stress due to tasks and roles
The situation where employees find it difficult to learn the role and the tasks they play
feel so heavy or even they have to play multiple roles at work is a stressor caused by
tasks and roles.
3. Causes of interpersonal stress
If employees are divided into several divisions in a department that is being competed
to win various targets or other achievements as the best division with very tantalizing
rewards, it will sometimes cause increased stressors in some employees. Differences in
background, character, perception, personality, and so on allow stress to arise in the
person of each individual.
4. Organization
There are many different issues that cause stress that originate through an organization.
For example, a reduction in staff will cause stress to employees who have lost their
jobs, and employees who remain in the organization.
G. THE INFLUENCE OF STRESS ON ORGANIZATIONAL :
Many people who have spent some time with an organization will have noticed that
people often behave in ways that break the rules that have been created and established,
threatening the organization, its workers or even both. For example, an envious worker
may stab another worker in the back, negatively impacting the organization interferes with
the success of others, and positively interferes with one's own achievement and success.
Interestingly neither sadness nor anger is characterized by withdrawal from the workplace,
therefore managers should take workers' expressions of anger seriously as workers may
remain in the organization and later continue to act aggressively towards other workers
(Robbins & Judge, 2017).
There are many causes of stress that originate from an organization and will also affect
the organization. For example, a reduction in the number of employees is one of the causes
of stress not only for employees who lose their jobs, but even for workers who remain in
the organization. Furthermore, workers who remain will feel insecure and uncomfortable in
their work environment, new and increased workloads, and loss of coworkers. The policies
of an organization can also potentially cause stress such as mergers, privacy and other
forms. Workers must face more and more work and will also experience new forms of
interpersonal conflict with colleagues in their organization (Sopiah, 2008).
H. STRESS MANAGEMENT:
Stress management refers to how to deal with an emotional or mental problem that
arises as a result of a response. These responses are made through the use of existing
human resources. To improve the quality of life of individuals to become a better person,
stress management is needed. Some approaches taken in stress management (Q.Badu &
Djafri, 2017) are:
1. Implementation of time management:
Each person has a division of hours in resting due to fatigue from work activities. The
division of hours consists of time for worship, work, and rest. Implementing the right time
can make a person free from stress.
2. Accumulated exercise time:
To control and stimulate motor nerves and muscles, improve one's physical endurance
to be better the human body is important to exercise.
3. Relaxation training:
After doing a lot of busy work activities, the human body will experience fatigue and
become tense. Therefore, relaxation is needed to calm the human body. Successful
methods of implementing relaxation are yoga, relaxing, watching movies, listening to
music, or doing yoga. It is also needed to refresh the brain after work.
4. Expansion of social network support:
This is a fact that shows that humans are social creatures who need each other,
socializing with many people will certainly be useful in work, when experiencing problems
having a large network of friends can also be used as a place to share stories.
5. Generating a supportive organizational climate:
The formulation of large bureaucratic structures that include inflexibility is currently
the tendency of most organizations. This kind of work stress leads to regulatory strategies
that must be formed with decentralization and organic and ensure participatory decisions
and upward decision flow. To support the workers, structural processes and structural
changes are made so that there is a lot of control over their work. To avoid stress caused by
workload it can be done.
6. There is better job placement and personal selection:
Basically, each person has a comparison in scientific expertise and other skills. Placing
someone in a position that matches their expertise will greatly support them in completing
their work on time and well. This is very necessary and very beneficial for the organization
to achieve all goals well.
7. Realistic goal setting:
Through clearly designed goals, each member must be able to achieve the goals that
have been formalized by the organization. The goals of each organization, both profit and
non-profit organizations, have been designed with certainty and are realistically suitable
for the expertise that the organization has. The success of the organization will be reflected
in the expertise of each member.
8. Creating counseling guidance:
One method of dealing with stress and other psychological problems is to make
counseling guidance with a psychologist. Stress will easily attack someone if the person's
psychological state is shaken. It will worsen the feeling of stress and he will force himself
out of the pressure.
Stress at work or in an organization is not a new thing. To maintain self-control in the
work environment area an employee must have efficient work stress management so that
the problems that arise can be accepted as a challenge and not as a threat. The research
found that interpersonal communication and emotional intelligence have a significant
influence on stress management. In stress management, if interpersonal communication in
the organization can be established efficiently, the tension felt by employees due to
conditions that affect them can be minimized, whether obtained from within or from
outside areas. With efficient interpersonal communication, stress can not only be controlled
but also minimized can also be seen as a challenge. In this case, stress management is
influenced by 2 aspects, namely the psychological aspect which is reflected in the
emotional intelligence variable, and the communication aspect which is reflected in the
interpersonal communication variable (Hutagalung, 2014).
I. SUMMARY MATERIAL:
Attitude is quite important regarding the discussion of social psychology. Many experts
agree that attitude formation begins with the influence and role of innate, in the sense that
attitudes are not carried since we were born. Attitude is something that is continuous and
leads to an object, meaning that if it does not have an attitude or reaction to an object that
can be said to be an attitude.
Attitude reflects how a person feels about something. When an individual says he likes
his job, it means that the person expresses his attitude towards the job. Attitude is not the
same as value, but the two are closely related, by paying attention to the three components
of attitude, namely cognitive, affective, and behavior, the relationship between the two can
be seen.
Attitude influences behavior meaning how in organizations people react and take
actions related to all types of organizations, in life people are hired, guided, directed and
given information to be able to develop. In organizations where people continue to
elaborate on the capacity to get the results we want, new mindsets develop, also when
wishful thinking is given free rein, then people continue to learn simultaneously, some
parts of the group almost become discourse in general activities.
Work stress is an amalgamation of negative things that arise from workloads so that
workers find it difficult to complete all forms of tasks and obligations. Stressors are the
cause of stress, which is the place of physical and emotional demands on a person and what
environmental conditions occur in the organization. There are many stressors in an
organization and other life activities. There are 4 types The main work-related stressors are
physical environment, task and role stress, interpersonal and organizational stressors.
Stress at work or in an organization is not a new thing. To maintain self-control in the
work environment area an employee must have efficient work stress management so that
the problems that arise can be accepted as a challenge and not as a threat. The research
found that interpersonal communication and emotional intelligence have a significant
influence on stress management. In stress management, if interpersonal communication in
the organization can be established efficiently, the tension felt by employees due to
conditions that affect them can be minimized, whether obtained from within or from
outside areas. With efficient interpersonal communication, stress can not only be controlled
but can also be viewed as a challenge.
TASKS AND EVALUATION:
1. Explain the definition of attitude in your view!
2. How how to distinguish components attitude, and give an example of each!
3. Can attitudes influence behavior? Explain
4. State the difference between workload and work stress.
5. What are the causes of work stress and how to deal with stress
the work.
EMPLOYEE CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION IN THE ORGANIZATION
A. INTRODUCTION:
Creativity is essential in organizations, for teams and individuals, and for the
environment. Creativity is also good for the economy. The rise of creative digital
ecosystems, media, and creative content converging in digital spaces has enabled ideas and
information to be rapidly globalized, unlocking the growth potential of the creative
economy. The more connected people are, the greater the demand for quality creative
content, goods and services. Creativity is also important for leadership. Creativity is the
most important skill for leaders, says a 2010 IBM study of 1,500 CEOs. Those who chose
creativity as one of their top three leadership traits were up to 20% more likely to pursue
innovation through business model change. Being creative is essential for business leaders.
As the IBM report states: "In order to operate more effectively in a volatile environment,
leaders creatives strongly encourage and experiment with all kinds of business model
innovations" (Whiting, 2019).
The World Economic Forum's 'Future of Jobs' report identified complex problem
solving, critical thinking and creativity as the top three skills needed to thrive in the 4th
industrial revolution. Both complex problem solving and critical thinking require
imagination, innovation and the ability to understand multiple perspectives. Arguably, this
makes creativity the foundation for the 'skills podium of the future'. Creativity, innovation
and ideation will be key skills for the workforce of the future. These so-called soft skills,
which sit alongside analytical thinking and problem-solving, will replace manual tasks that
become automated.
B. CREATIVITY:
Creativity is related to the accumulation of knowledge/information that an individual
already has and their ability to combine various information to form new knowledge
(Sutrisno, 2010).
Campbell in Sutrisno (2010: 110) defines creativity as an activity that brings results,
with innovative, useful, and understandable characteristics. Evan in Sutrisno (2010: 110)
also states that creativity is the skill to determine new connections, see subjects from new
perspectives, and form new combinations of two or more concepts that have been printed
in the mind.
West in Sutrisno (2010: 111), says that the characteristics of individuals who are
consistently creative are as follows:
1. Intellectual and artistic values.
2. Interest in complexity.
3. Concern for work and achievement.
4. Perseverance.
5. Independent thinking.
6. Autonomous.
7. Self-confidence.
8. Readiness to take risks.
Contemporary studies on this show that most people only use less than 1% of their
brain capacity, and use it in ways that their brains do not like. This means that to make an
organization creative, recruitment is not required but by maximizing the utilization of
existing staff capabilities through a series of HR management processes (Sutrisno, 2010).
C. CREATIVITY IN ORGANIZATIONS LEARNING:
It is undeniable that creativity plays a vital role in learning organizations. How to
translate invention into innovation, and then apply it in the process of new product
development, is a matter of using the shared creativity of organizational resources. Senge
(1990), says that learning organizations not only innovate in their output (goods and
services produced) but also innovate in their resources. Therefore, the formation of
learning organizations requires a continuous process of utilization. Individual creativity
and the transformation of this individual creativity process into shared creativity. Both
begin with the expansion of the knowledge base at both the individual and organizational
levels. This means that there is a culture that values and supports creativity, and on the
other hand attention to facilities to develop creativity both in the form of learning
opportunities in order to increase the knowledge base and in the form of providing facilities
to increase the knowledge base not only to the level of accommodation but must reach the
level of obligation (Sutrisno, 2010).
This power of creativity will appear if owned by a person or group of people in the
form of the ability to develop a new thing from things that are already owned, and then
combine the new things owned with each other to form new things again; and so on the
process continues. Various new knowledge will being able to be developed by a person or
group of people, is unique, and therefore difficult to imitate, and leads to the formation of
strategic core competencies, is clearly an opportunity for the formation of the competitive
advantage of the group owner. The most basic question then is: If creativity has such
power, then in order to obtain the competitive advantage, is it necessary for companies to
recruit creative people as their company staff, or is it enough to develop the creativity of
existing employees, if it can be done, and how to manage them so that they contribute
maximally to the business transformation process (Sutrisno, 2010).
The expression "Innovate or die" has become an accepted phrase in the popular
business environment (Kavadas and Chao, 2007). Innovation is one of the most important
sources of competitive advantage (Hansen, 2014; Gunday et al, 2011). The study of
innovation has been justified by experts, practitioners and policy makers that innovation is
a major source of competitive advantage, industrial change and economic growth (Bahren,
et al, 2018).
D. IMPROVING CREATIVITY:
All humans have the capacity to be creative and many of us can unlock more of our
creative potential with the right processes and conditions. Many people label themselves as
"not very creative" but creativity can be expressed in many different ways. For example,
creativity can manifest itself as we think of solutions to challenging situations at work, or
resolve conflicts, rather than being defined as a tangible creative outcome. Previously, it
was thought that creativity declines with age. However, in domains that utilize knowledge
and expertise, such as writing, philosophy, and medicine, research shows that creative
achievement can peak in the early 40s, and decline at a relatively slow rate (Hewitt, 2017).
Creativity thrives when there are pressures and limits, but not too many. The creative
process can be planned as an inverted U.
Too much time pressure interferes with the creative cognitive process, but some
pressure can fuel our creativity. Eliminating pressure completely can suffocate the creative
process and create an inhospitable environment for innovation. Our response to pressure is
individual; some people thrive when their backs are against the wall; others prefer a more
relaxed approach. For certain individuals, rewards can drive them to produce their most
innovative work; others are more motivated by intrinsic rewards. For most of us, it's a
combination of both (Hewitt: 2017).
According to Hewitt (2017), Creativity thrives under three conditions:
1. When we apply and combine old ideas in new ways. Constraints force us to look
deeper into ourselves, to sift through our experiences for anything useful and pool our
cognitive resources. Constraints create conditions that encourage us to combine what
we already know, as well as new ideas that we can generate.
2. When we feel enough pressure and incentive to encourage flexible thinking.
If we don't have any pressure or incentive, we can talk forever without actually creating
anything. When the clock is ticking, when rewards are waiting and we need to find
answers, our minds are more open to new ways of looking at problems and we become
more cognitively flexible.
3. When we feel uncomfortable.
When we finally develop an idea that we're proud of, it's easy to get complacent in the
glow of a creative breakthrough. This is one of the biggest risks in the creative process
as we can easily get attached to an idea and miss further opportunities for
improvement. One way to avoid this state is to regularly move boundaries and change
the rules. This disruption creates a 'shelf life' for your solution and forces a new round
of innovation and creativity.
According to Kachelmeier (2019), The recipe for creativity is to try - and get frustrated
that it won't happen. Relax, sit back, and then it happens.
According to Sutrisno (2010: 112), creativity can only be enhanced by using the brain's
ability optimally, namely by using the left/right hemisphere simultaneously and in a way
that is favored by the human brain. Left-brain thinking is logical, sequential and rational. It
is suited for verbal tasks, auditorial associations, placing details in a structured manner.
Left-brain thinking can be accessed in any situation: relaxed or hurried. While the right
brain thinks laterally, holistically, and randomly. This way of thinking is appropriate for
consciousness-capturing tasks: emotional states, space, shapes/patterns. However, right-
brain thinking is more accessible in relaxed situations. Unfortunately, in today's modern
life, which is lived in an atmosphere of haste, demanding a very high degree of ratio order,
people are accustomed to using only the left hemisphere of the brain. As a result, only 10-
15% of the brain is utilized. Other than that, Modern humans tend to take a linear point of
view in addressing the various phenomena they encounter, so the understanding of a
problem tends to be very partial. This is not the perspective favored by the human brain.
The human brain prefers a holistic perspective, which tries to access the information points
contained in nerve cells called neurons. The more holistic a person's way of thinking is, the
more myelin substances will be produced to connect one neuron to another, so that more
nerve cells are connected, and as a result more information can be accessed from the
information centers in the nerve cells If various lateral and relevant information is
connected in an analysis process, then various possible understandings will be generated,
which will enrich the solutions needed.
Simon in Sutrisno (2010: 113) suggests, to be creative, the solution made needs to
fulfill one or more conditions, including:
1. The product of thought contains elements of novelty or value (both for the thinker and
for cultural development).
2. The resulting thinking is unconventional in the sense that it demands modification or
rejection of previously accepted ideas.
3. The resulting thinking requires that motivation and perseverance be exercised over a
period of time or with high intensity.
4. The problem at hand was vague and not clearly defined, so part of the creativity task
was to clarify the problem formulation.
Although Simon states that only one or more of the four conditions above must be met,
it is also agreed that all four conditions are important.
Scott in Sutrisno (2010: 114) defines creativity as the process of using imagination and
skill to produce new and unique products and thoughts. He understands two types of
creativity, There are two types of creativity: pure and applied. Pure creativity is process-
oriented and does not have a product as its end goal. For example, artists who individually
create something through their own expression. Applied creativity occurs in broadcasting
stations, production houses and advertising agencies, as their activities are directed towards
a specific goal. This product-oriented creativity is determined and directly related to the
success of a particular product. According to De Bono in Sutrisno (2010: 113), pure
creativity is equivalent to the term 'artistic creativity'.
Amabile in Sutrisno (2010: 114), introduced two types of definitions of creativity,
namely operational definitions and conceptual definitions. A product or response is
considered creative when agreeable or familiar observers consider the product or response
to be creative. Creativity is conceptualized as products and responses that are considered
because they are: (1) new and appropriate, useful, correct, the response is judged to be
appropriate to the task at hand; and (2) the task is heuristic rather than algorithmic.
Although the definition of creativity differs from one another, some experts, however,
agree that the definition of creativity contains the characteristics of originality (new,
unusual, unexpected) and potential utility (useful, good, adaptive, appropriate) of a
product, process, idea, mode or behavior produced. These characteristics of creativity can
be described in the Creative 4-P Model which consists of four dimensions, namely: product
dimension, process dimension, person dimension, and creative press (environment)
dimension.
E. CREATIVITY MEASUREMENT MODEL:
Creativity researchers classify the work done in terms of whether it focuses on the
creative person, the creative product, the creative process, or the press (creative
environment and context). The four factors influence each other in a solid way.
Based on the 4-P Creative approach stated above, the following measurement
indicators are developed by combining creativity measurement instruments from experts
(Sutrisno, 2010: 116).
1. Creative Products
Creative products are characterized by being new, appropriate, useful, or assessable.
Dimensions of creative products include characteristics:
a. New products, designs or services that improve profitability, quality, productivity, and
meet customer needs.
b. The resulting new findings can solve customer problems.
c. New ideas and breakthroughs or derhafia measures build on past experiences to
generate better solutions.
d. Unconventional techniques to overcome obstacles to the success of the activity or
project.
e. An innovative form of task organization, it successfully brought together different
people who had not previously known each other.
f. Tough questions that cause people to look at a problem differently.
g. Different paths to resolving conflict, working in a team and motivating others to grow
and develop.
h. An unconventional approach to creating an atmosphere where everyone respects each
other, encouraging from challenging to achieve the best results.
2. Person:
The person dimension (individual or group behavior) is a form of innovative creative
behavior aimed by workers in the workplace. This innovative creative behavior is adapted
from the KAI (Kirton Adaptor- Innovator) model. The innovative creative person
dimension includes:
a. The particular work at hand is thought about in relation to other related matters.
b. Work is approached from the other side unexpectedly, often not following procedures
and considered inefficient.
c. The basic assumptions of the problem are co-constructed or manipulated.
d. Solve problems in certain different ways despite the rules.
e. Catalysts place groups and views that are mutually understood; radical but
compassionate, and create disagreement or dissonance.
f. Changing the existing order often goes against agreed-upon rules, customs and views.
g. Dare to do the task.
h. Generate a number of ideas, including those that seem irrelevant, nonsensical and
unexciting.
3. Creative Process:
The earliest creative process model developed was the four-stage creative process
model, namely: (1) preparation stage: issue definition, observation, and preliminary study;
(2) incubation stage: placing the issue at the right time; (3) illumination stage: when new
ideas finally emerge; (4) verification stage: checking for completion. This model of the
creative process served as the basis for variations and improvements proposed by a number
of researchers over the years.
The creative process dimension referred to in this paper is the quality of the creative
problem-solving process within the company. The process dimension includes:
a. The quality of identification of problems, challenges, and problem solutions faced by
the organization or company.
b. The quality of the formulation of goals and objectives to be achieved for each problem
faced by the organization.
c. The quality of the alternatives offered to the problems faced by the organization.
d. Accuracy in choosing the best solution to organizational problems.
e. Quality of planning and implementation of organizational problem-solving alternatives.
f. Time allowed for reflection on the problem-solving process.
4. Press (Environment):
The press (environmental) dimension is factors outside the individual or internal
organizational environmental factors that affect organizational creativity. Dimensions of
the creative environment include:
a. Managers are followed based on the commitment built.
b. Managers clearly communicate job objectives and accountability.
c. Managers take action on new ideas provided by workers.
d. Managers consistently treat everyone with respect.
e. Managers inspire commitment regarding mission and sales goals.
f. Managers pay attention to both sales and workers when making decisions.
g. Work is honestly distributed to workers.
h. Workers trust each other.
i. Workers say they are proud to work here now.
j. Workers will remain in the section even if offered jobs elsewhere.
k. Workers know that they are being assessed.
l. Workers are willing to make personal sacrifices, when needed, to help leadership
succeed.
m. Workers will recommend their workplace as a good place to work.
n. workers build good cooperation with Workers are responsible for developing and
maintaining relationships with customers.
o. Workers are responsible for providing superior service to customers.
p. Workers consistently anticipate customer needs and take appropriate actions to satisfy
them.
q. Workers recommend their company's products and services.
F. UNDERSTANDING INNOVATION:
"Innovation is change that unlocks new value." - Jamie Notter
The concept of innovation will differ according to the perspective and type of
organization. Some experts emphasize innovation in terms of novelty, including the
assessment of being something new done by organizational members. As is known,
innovation is widely known as the main purpose of economic activity, therefore innovation
has become the main instrument for achieving and preserving competitive advantage
(Sutrisno, 2010: 104).
Quinn (1996) asserts that innovation consists of the technological, managerial and
social processes by which new ideas or concepts are first introduced into practice in a
culture. Others argue that innovation is the initial adoption of new ideas (Rogers and Kim,
1985). According to Merrirr (1984), innovation is equated to with improvements and
fundamental changes but not revolutionary changes (Sutrisno, 2010: 104-105). West in
Sutrisno (2010: 105) states that innovation is the introduction of new and better ways of
doing things in the workplace. Innovation does not imply absolute renewal and change can
be seen as an innovation if the change is considered new.
for the person, group, or organization that introduced it.
One of the main key determinants of innovation is the challenges in the organizational
environment, as innovative organizations put a strong emphasis on quality, and managerial
support for innovation and highly It is decisive when all individuals want to develop and
implement ideas about new and better ways of doing things. Daft in Sutrisno (2010: 105)
views the innovation process as a process involving five stages, which are as follows:
1. Need: a performance gap is recognized and innovation alternatives are considered.
2. Idea: an idea for a new and better way of working is presented. This idea is then
adapted to the needs.
3. Adoption: occurs when decision-makers support the implementation of the proposed
idea.
4. Implementation: occurs when members of the organization start using the new idea,
technique, or process in practice, in their work.
5. Resources: human energy and activities are required to bring about change.
Furthermore, innovation can be judged by the size of the innovation and the influence it
may have. The greater the innovation, the greater the changes, conflicts, and threats to the
position of each individual in the organization. Systematic and purposeful utilization of
innovative opportunities begins with an analysis of the sources of opportunity. Depending
on the context, these sources of opportunity have different levels of usefulness at different
times. However, regardless of the situation, innovators must analyze all available sources
of opportunity. Just like any other activity, innovation is the result of hard work that
requires ingenuity. When talent, ingenuity, and knowledge are available, all innovation
requires is focused and purposeful hard work. Often effective innovations are simple but
focused and purposeful. In contrast, complex innovations that attempt to transform the
entire business strategy are often unsuccessful.
The failure of innovation generally stems from the indifference of organizational
members to the innovation itself. At the institutional level, innovation failure is due to the
fact that the organization does not have the right people who are suitable for innovation all
conditions and time for the achievement of innovation itself. In addition, innovation is also
influenced by the structure, culture, work climate, and environment of the organization.
With the relationship of these factors, the issue that arises is whether or not there is a vision
among organizational members (including leaders) to place innovation as an engine driving
organizational performance. Moreover, organizations are often alienated from their
environment. In fact, it is not uncommon for innovation to emerge because of
environmental factors. Organizations fail to innovate because they have a rigid view of the
organization as a separate entity from the environment. So innovation has a broad meaning
including creativity, conception, adoption and implementation of new ideas, and services
(Sutrisno, 2010).
G. TYPE INNOVATION:
Innovation can lead to changes in the products or services a company offers and it can
also lead to changes in the way products are made and delivered. The first type of
innovation is often called product innovation, while the second is called process
innovation. In reality, these two types are often intermingled: a new product innovation
occurs alongside a process innovation in creating and delivering the new product. This is a
logical consequence if the new product is unprecedented and utilizes a different technology
than the existing one. Is innovation always related to technology? Yes, because technology
has two meanings at once; (1) technical tools developed to improve human surroundings;
(2) knowledge in using tools and machines to perform tasks more efficiently. Therefore, an
innovation is not always followed by a change in physical conditions, for example, the way
of production carried out in Japan known as "lean manufacturing". This is a new way that
many companies in the West are adopting to manage and organize the core machines and
stages of the production process. The old ways that have been used since Henry Ford are
gradually replaced by this Japanese way (Sutrisno, 2010: 107).
Some experts refer to this intangible innovation as administrative or managerial
innovation. Sellani in Sutrisno (2010: 108) defines technical innovation as the
implementation of an idea for a new product. New policies, employee recruitment,
resource allocation, structuring tasks, routines, and rewards. In the research, technical
innovation is the object of Aplication Advanced Manufacturing (AMT), while Advanced
Cost Management (ACM) is the object of administrative innovation. Changes in
administrative innovation are not directly visible but affect fundamental work activities in
the organization. For example, changes in policies, rules, responsibilities, administrative
processes, or routine organizational activities. The discussion of innovation in many
articles is often associated with competition or implicitly an innovation must have an
impact on strategic advantage. From this side we can see that innovation takes several
forms according to the advantage created.
How to Innovate:
Not all companies innovate and not all innovations are successful in the market. Is
innovation success a fluke? Can companies plan for innovation. To answer these questions,
it seems that one must look at how innovation in the industry is viewed. There are at least
three thoughts.
The classical and neoclassical schools of economics view the rational actions of
individuals as economic agents that influence the supply and demand balance at the macro
level. In contrast to classical economics, the neoclassical school considers dynamic growth
by including elements of individual action as variables that affect production efficiency, so
to speak, affecting the position and shape of the production curve. Innovation is important
to gain monopoly power and earn more than normal profits. Thus, innovation is seen as a
rational and planned action.
In the second evolutionary school of economics, innovation is seen in the same way as
the classical and neoclassical schools but innovation is no longer considered an exogenous
factor but is incorporated into the economic system. Economic growth is explained as a
dynamic process that occurs due to scientific & technological innovation and the role
played by entrepreneurs. Individuals are no longer considered to be calculating agents and
the rational but described using intuition and an entrepreneurial outlook. In contrast to the
neoclassical school, the dynamism of economic growth is not moving towards equilibrium
but is instead a process of creating driving imbalances. Innovation occurs to produce
imbalances that encourage individuals and organizations to continue to adapt in order to
survive.
Third, the complex response process theory. Looking at actual experience, the
innovation process that occurs cannot be fully explained by the two schools above.
Therefore, this new theory is proposed which emphasizes the importance of the innovator's
participatory experience. According to this theory, innovation occurs after direct
interaction between one person and another in the form of conversation. This interaction
between people can be said to be a learning process, interpreting reality, facts, signs in the
field not with the framework of assumptions and beliefs that have been in place so far. For
example, American cars used to be made with the assumption that durable or strong is the
main thing without caring about fuel assumptions. This assumption proved to be
abandoned when Japanese cars appeared with an emphasis on fuel economy and style
(Sutrisno, 2010: 108-110).
H. DECISION MAKING AND PROBLEM SOLVING :
Psychologically, a problem that demands innovative decision-making requires a
creative problem-solving process. The normative problem-solving process model is one
technique that can be used to solve problems creatively. The creative problem solving
process according to Osborn in Mangkunegara (2008: 74) includes three main phases,
namely fact finding, idea finding, and solution finding. In this case, creativity is defined as
the ability to visualize, futuristic insight, and deduce an idea. In this process, sufficient
time and freedom to think and dialogue must be available, so that the process can run
smoothly.
Likewise, a sense of community, belonging and mutual responsibility must be instilled
in each individual who will solve the problem. Each phase is described as follows.
1. Fact Finding Phase:
The fact-finding phase involves defining a problem, collecting and analyzing relevant
data. One way to get the facts is to start with a broad view of the problem, followed by
defining sub-problems. This phase involves separating the symptoms of the problem from
the actual problem.
2. Idea Discovery Phase:
Idea generation involves tentatively summarizing ideas and then developing those ideas
by modifying and combining, and supplementing with other information as necessary. The
discovery of meaningful ideas can be achieved by following two principles:
a. Use the ability to look at a problem from a different judgment. This activity can be
accomplished by thinking about a particular idea from different presumptions, and
from different perspectives. Ultimately, the person trying to solve the problem can
create a list of possibilities that can lead to solving the problem.
b. Quantity breeds quality. The more ideas that are thought of, the closer to arriving at a
potential step that refers to solving a problem. Thus, the manager's role in encouraging
the generation of ideas and his role in stimulating openness will be closer to achieving
the quality of finding ways to solve problems. This creative problem-solving process
will run smoothly if the participants come from various disciplines and different
backgrounds of experience that are related to the problem at hand. Likewise, a sense of
enthusiasm, openness and willingness to actively participate in expressing the problem
will also be beneficial opinions and actions, play an important role in the success of the
outcome.
3. Solver Discovery Phase:
The solution discovery phase involves testing tentative solutions through testing,
adopting and applying a solution path that has been determined by the personnel involved
in the problem-solving effort. The solution discovery phase involves judgment, analysis,
and critique. Each solution idea is tested and critiqued and considered for its likely
effectiveness against the problem at hand. However, some of the techniques mentioned do
not always guarantee innovative decisions, as in addition to the technical review of the
problem-solving process, other factors such as the existing leadership style, participants'
abilities, and immediate situational factors will also influence the outcome of problem-
solving decisions.
As robots and artificial intelligence transform the economy, creativity resists
automation. The creative economy, like the industrial and information revolutions before
it, has the potential to drive global growth by making organizations more effective and
innovative. This is why venture capital firms are hiring designers-in-residence. Cities are
adding chief innovation officers and investing in cultural corridors. Philanthropic
foundations are leveraging gifts and crowdsourcing to uncover new solutions for global
development and sustainability. How does creativity unlock this potential? A growing
body of research explores cognitive diversity, or diversity of thought, in improving
effectiveness and problem solving. A 2017 study published in the Harvard Business
Review assessed teams based on diversity of thinking styles, comparing how quickly and
successfully the teams solved challenges. A series of experiments revealed that teams with
the greatest amount of cognitive diversity (not just gender, age, or racial diversity)
consistently outperformed more homogenous groups. In short: great thinkers don't think
alike. To unlock maximum performance, organizations must utilizing cognitive diversity
and creativity (Verkerke & Callanan, 2019).
I. SUMMARY MATERIAL:
Creativity is essential in organizations, for teams and individuals, and for the
environment. Creativity is the skill to determine new connections, see a subject from a new
perspective, and form new combinations of two or more concepts that have been imprinted
in the mind. All humans have the capacity to be creative and many of us can unlock more
of our creative potential with the right processes and conditions. Creativity thrives under
three conditions: 1) When we apply and combine old ideas in new ways; 2) When we feel
enough pressure and incentive to encourage flexible thinking; 3) When we feel
uncomfortable.
Innovation is the introduction of new and better ways of doing things in the workplace.
Innovation does not imply absolute renewal and a change can be viewed as an innovation if
it is new to the person, group, or organization introducing it. One of the main key
determinants of innovation is the challenge of the organizational environment, as
innovative organizations place a strong emphasis on quality, and managerial support for
innovation is crucial if individuals are to develop and implement ideas about new and
better ways of doing things. Innovation can lead to changes in the products or services a
company offers and can also lead to changes in the way products are made and delivered.
The first type of innovation is often called product innovation, while the second is called
process innovation.
The creative problem-solving process includes three main phases: fact finding, idea
finding, and solution finding. In this case, creativity is defined as the ability to visualize, be
futuristic, and deduce an idea. In this process, sufficient time and freedom to think and
dialogue must be available for the process to run smoothly.
TASKS AND EVALUATION:
1. Explain the importance of creativity for individuals and organizations!
2. What are some ways to enhance creativity? Explain!
3. Explain the role of innovation in organizations!
4. Describe the types of innovation!
5. What is the process of creative problem solving?
