Workplace & Innovation Essay examples

Does the workplace environment have an impact on innovation?
There was a time when the concept of creativity was only associated with writers, painters, musicians and similar people in artistic professions. But with the ever-increasing necessity of cultivating a unique brand personality, the need for creative thinking has transitioned from the arts into everyday business. The act of producing a product that distinguishes itself from competitors in a marketplace where differences are often hard to come by demands a high degree of creativity both in innovation and marketing (May 2011). Designing effective workspaces to create desirable spatial interactions is becoming the focus of organizational efforts in many firms. The need to maintain current market position and gain new markets places innovation as a fundamental strategic issue in most companies (Van der Lugt et al., 2007).
A popular approach to fostering innovation through creativity is to create a stimulating environment (May, 2011). Workplace innovation is heavily influenced by your organizational environment. Organizations become highly innovative when employees have the freedom to be creative and develop new ideas, products, services and ways of doing work (Halls, 2010). May offers the idea that offices that include stimulating objects such as journals, art, games and other items serve as sources of inspiration, as well as structuring the work area by removing physical barriers between people will improve communication and promote creative interaction. Van der Lugt also provides that design consultancy IDEO makes strong claims about the way in which their environment and infrastructure enhances their creativity and innovation performance; their whole workspace not only reinforces their corporate values, but supports innovative activity through the provision of appropriate resources, visualizations and model making facilities and the ability to reconfigure for new projects.
A firm’s design strategy should encompass the design of communication (including identity), products (and services) and operating environments. It is also noted that environmental design carries the potential of having a direct impact on worker morale and productivity and should encompass architectures, interiors and landscaping of both customer facing and working areas. Such approaches are evident in the consistency of the design of Apple’s retail outlets with the design of their products, services and packaging (Van de Lugt et al., 2007).
Organizations also produce innovation when staff are clear about the vision they are working toward and have the autonomy to make decisions based on achieving that vision, rather than being restricted by out of date policies and unwritten rules that often undermine the vision. Innovative organizations are more focused on their vision than their rules (Halls, 2010). By creating an

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