Creativity (Ideas) Management in Industrial R&D Organizations: A Crea-Political Process Model and an Empirical Illustration of Corus RD&T

Abstract

Creativity management is a crucial topic to consider in the debate about the innovative research department. Against the background of discussions about individual creativity and organizational commitment, this article argues that the creative process in organizations is a matter of political strategies. The ideator literally has to sell his/her idea. The article therefore comes up with a crea-political process model in which there is ample room for the thought that ideas emerge and survive within a social-political context. In addition, the crea-political process model is used to analyse the way in which the Corus Group Research Development and Technology (RD&T) department has implemented an electronic idea-management system. The system, called eureka!, has been designed as a straightforward platform to capture, review, evaluate and select creative ideas. The findings challenge the literature on idea management in organizations to consider the political activities of ideators in the whole process of creativity. © 2006 Wiley. All rights reserved.