Creativity management: Systems and contingencies from a literature review

Based on certain literature, theoretical considerations are developed for the area of creativity management in industrial technological innovation. The creative individual is viewed as progressing through a multistage process in which multimodal methods of management are applicable. A preliminary case scenario illustrates how a variety of mechanisms may be applied by an inventor in creating a new product. Consideration of organic and mechanistic stages in the creative process led to the hypothesis that a bimodal management model is most appropriate. The postulated model allows for flexibility in providing slack or constrained environments depending on earlier performance and on whether initiation or implementation modes are desirable for stimulating creative advances.