Intellectual Output 1:

Transcription

1 Intellectual Output 1: State-of-the-art Report on ICT innovation capacity and creative performance in 6 European Countries 1

2 Sparking Creativity and Innovation Skills in the ICT Sector Project Reference : UK01-KA State-of-the-art Report on ICT innovation capacity and creative performance in 6 European Countries. Intellectual Output 1: State-of-the-art report on creativity thinking skills and innovation practices in the ICT sector in partner countries Start month: October 2015 End month: March 2016 Activity leading organization: Europa Training (UK) Ltd. Aim of the IO1: State-of-the-art report with an up-to-date and comprehensive overview of the ICT innovation capacity and creative performance in the partner countries. The purpose of this report is to describe and analyse the findings of the Online Survey and Focus Group in-depth interviews, conducted in 6 European countries including: UK, EE, ES, BG, HU, EE and IT, within the framework of the InnoSpark project. In total, InnoSpark Online Survey was completed by 176 representatives from 133 organisations, both employers and employees working in the ICT sector, and 50 people have taken part in the in-depth Focus Groups interviews from both categories. Data collection has been done via online platform in form of a questionnaire and via face to face meetings for the focus group interviews. The main areas covered by the survey and in-depth focus group face-to-face interviews were the individual creativity, organisational creativity and innovation, creativity and innovation in action and creativity innovation and training. The focus group interviews provided further information on how to get insight into the needs of fostering creative thinking in ICT industry how to gather further information and ideas for real business cases, example practices and problematic situations which will be used for the further development of creativity and innovation skills of our InnoSpark Toolkit (IO3) identifying barriers in front of boosting creative thinking and innovation skills ideas on how to shape the Toolkit. 2

3 Outcomes: 1. Six country reports based on online survey; 2. Six country reports based on focus group interviews; 3. Analysis of collected data; 4. Elaboration of State-of-the-art report. Target groups for the focus group interviews: ICT employees and employers Completed actions for the conduction of the online survey and focus groups: + development of the framework and methodology documentation and a template interview questionnaire for the deep interviews; + development of the interview guide; + translation of the questionnaires to all partners language; + implementation of the focus group interviews (based on the approved questionnaire); + country report on key findings of focus group interviews (summary of the collected information, data, ideas, suggestions, and outline occurred problems if any). Annexes IO1 - State-of-the-art report on creativity thinking skills and innovation practices in the ICT sector in partner countries: Annex 1: Country Reports IO1 - United Kingdom Annex 2: Country Reports IO1 Hungary Annex 3: Country Reports IO1 Bulgaria Annex 4: Country Reports IO1 Italy Annex 3: Country Reports IO1 Estonia Annex 3: Country Reports IO1 Spain Framework and methodology for IO1: Annex 1: Interview Questionnaire for in-depth interviews for ICT SMEs Annex 2: Interview Guide Annex 3: Result Analysis Annex 4: Comment Sheet 3

4 COUNTRY REPORT Conduction of Online Survey in United Kingdom /O1/ Each partner shall collect results from their own country and collide them into the country reports. For the purposes of developing the State of the Art Report /O1/ all country reports shall be comprehensive following the same structure. This template provides the format of the country reports. A. ACTIVITY INFORMATION Report objective: Time frame for online survey conduction /O1/: Deadline for submitting the report: To collect and analyse responses from the online survey conducted in the partner country February 15-19, 2016 February 22-26, 2016 B. REVIEW OF ONLINE SURVEY RESULTS Please, provide a brief narrative summary of the online survey results in your country using the template format below. 1. Basic Report Information 1.1 Partner organization: Europa Training UK 1.2 Period of online survey conduction /O1/: February Number of completed surveys: Number of represented organizations: Reporting date: 24 th February

5 2. Participant Details 2.1 The total number of companies represented in the online survey in the United Kingdom was 24. Among them were Software development companies /7/, Web Designers /4/, IT service provider companies /4/, IT outsourcing organizations /4/, Product provider /2/, and System integration services /3/. According to the number of employees /Chart 1/ the distribution of companies type that took part in the surveys is as follows: 9 or less 11 between 10 and Between 51 and Type of ICT companies / type of activity and number of employees in % Chart 1 Number of employees in the company 9 or less 12% 33% between 10 and 50 55% between 50 and A total of 24 respondents filled in the INNOSPARK online survey. According to the information provided there were many different types of professions mentioned, as 33% of all participants were Managing Directors and 13% were Directors. The rest of the respondents were Managers, Owners, Technical/ Operations or Engineering Directors etc. 5

6 The charts below show the respondents position in figures and percentages. Chart 2 Position in the Company /In figures/ Manager Managing Director Director Technical Director Owner Engineering Director ICT Manager Director of Operations Graphic & Digital Manager Design Engineer Chief Executive Officer Chart 3 Position in the Company /in %/ Manager Managing Director 4% 4% 4% 8% 8% Director Technical Director 8% 33% Owner 4% 8% 4% 13% Engineering Director ICT Manager Director of Operations Graphic & Digital Manager Design Engineer Chief Executive Officer According to the survey results 3 respondents have from 0 to 5 years of experience at their current position. Five of the participants have from 6 to 10 years, another 5 of the respondents have 11 to 20 6

7 years professional experience and finally, 1 of the participants ticked off 26 years of experience at the same company. Profile of participants / current position and work experience in figures 6 Chart 4 Number of years working for the current enterprise/organisation years 6-10 years years years The overall professional experience of 7 respondents is 11 to 20 years. The next group 21 to 30 years is represented by 4 of the participants. Then in the 6 to 10 year group there are 2 respondents. In the last three groups 0 to 5, 31 to 40 and 41 to 50 years there is 1 participant per group Chart 5 Total number of years of working experience years 6-10 years years years years years 7

8 3. Individual Creativity 3.1 Individual Creativity- Questions asked to participants and answers in percentages Chart 6 Creativity at work is important to me I am not afraid when facing challenges at work 29% 46% 48% 79% 75% I feel confident that I can perform creatively on many different tasks at work I demonstrate originality at my work 54% 54% 67% I see problems, complaints, and bottlenecks as opportunities rather than as issues My colleagues think of me as a creative employee I avoid following procedures strictly by the rules I am very astute person (I have the ability to see how to take advantage of a certain situation) Chart 7 I am versatile person and I can easily come up with innovative solutions no matter the work field 54% 46% 63% 52% 50% 42% 63% I look for things in my environment to inspire me to find new interpretations of problems My previous experience makes me more creative in the workplace The opinion of other work colleagues has a positive effect on my individual creativity I ignore good ideas because I don't have the resources to implement them Everyday routine doesn t impede on my creativity Time pressure inhibits my individual creativity at work 8

9 For 79% of the respondents, creativity at work is important, as 67% feel confident to perform creativity on many different tasks at work. In this regard 75% of participants stated that they are not afraid when facing challenges at work and for 54% of all filled in the survey problems, complaints and bottlenecks are seen as opportunities rather than issues. 48% of all asked in the survey are thought to be creative employees. A further 54% of participants demonstrate originality at work for which contributes their previous professional experience. 29% of respondents avoid following procedures strictly by the rules and for 46% of the participants would class themselves as an astute person and have the ability to see how to take advantage of a certain situation. (See Chart 6) At the same time, 50% of respondents stated that they can easily come up with innovative solutions in any work field. 63% stated that time pressure inhibits their individual creativity at work and 54% ticked that everyday routine does not impede on their creativity. 46% of participants ignore good ideas, because they do not have the resources to implement them. For 42% of respondents, they look for things in their environment to inspire them to find new interpretations of problems and 63% have stated that previous experience makes them more creative in the workplace. Finally 52% find the opinion of other work colleagues has a positive effect on their individual creativity. (See Chart 7) 4. Organizational Creativity 4.1 Chart 8 My organization shares visions and goals clearly with all employees 46% 50% 79% 50% 63% 65% In my organization we set goals for innovation (new ideas for products, services, processes) My organization supports participation of staff in decision making My organization supports freedom to express ideas 46% 58% My organization acts on new ideas providing the time and resources to develop and implement those ideas worth acting upon My organization encourages employees to keep looking anew at the way they approach their work My organization implements techniques for increasing employees motivation and boosting their performance (brainstorming, lateral thinking and mind-mapping, etc.) My organization gives a satisfying level of autonomy to employees in performing tasks 9

10 In section Organizational Creativity 50% of respondents state that their organization share visions and goals clearly with all employees, also 63% think that their organization set goals for innovation, new ideas for products, services and processes. 65% of the participants believe that their organization supports participation of staff in decision making & 58% supports freedom to express ideas within the company. 46% of respondents act on new ideas providing the time and resources to develop and implement those ideas worth acting upon. From 46% to 50% respondents encourage employees to keep looking anew at the way they approach their work and implement techniques for increasing employees motivation and boosting their performance (i.e. brainstorming, lateral thinking and mind-mapping etc.). 79% of participants believe that their organization give a satisfying level of autonomy to employees in performing tasks. (See Chart 8) Chart 9 54% 54% My organization periodically gathers employees opinion about alternative ways of working and what might be achieved by doing things differently My organization supports open (frequent exchange of ideas, etc.) communication amongst employees 75% 65% My organization supports knowledge sharing (via formal/ informal meetings, etc.) 65% 58% 65% My organization s (internal and external) network triggers creativity at work My organization tolerates a certain amount of risktaking allowing at the same time employees to learn from their mistakes My work setting (well illuminated, relaxing, quiet, clean, etc.) supports creativity at work My organization organizes team buildings, group workshops and trainings in order to enhance team performance and creativity Chart 9 (see above) shows the distribution of responses on the second part of the section, where participants are being asked about their companies attitude towards participation of staff. 54% of the organizations periodically gather employees opinion about alternative ways of working and what might be achieved by doing things differently, they support open communication amongst employees (65%). Meetings are organized whether this is formal or informal which includes knowledge sharing (65%). 58% of respondents believe their organization s network (internal and external) triggers creativity at work and will only tolerate a certain amount of risk-taking also allowing at the same time for employees to learn from their mistakes (65%). 54% of participants organize team buildings, group workshops and trainings in order to enhance team performance and creativity. Finally a large 75% think that their work setting supports creativity at their work placement. 10

11 5. Creativity and Innovation in Action 5.1 According to the survey results from section Creativity and Innovation in Action the main areas of using creativity and innovation in ICT in the United Kingdom are related to research, product and service development (95% of all responses), Finding new ideas (75%), Company strategy (71%), Management and Communication (both 54% each) and Optimizing company processes & individual work processes both 42%, Saving resources and improving processes (38%). Chart 10 Other Creativity and innovation are not used Accounting and administration For work well-being HR Saving resources and improving processes Optimising individual work processes Optimising company processes Communication Management Company strategy Finding new ideas Research, product and service development 13% 25% 25% 33% 33% 38% 42% 42% 54% 54% 71% 75% 95% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% At the same time the main activities/departments which most lack creative thinking in ICT are HR and For work well-being (both at 33%). Accounting & Administration and Creativity and innovation are not used (again both 25%) and finally 13% of respondents said other (See Chart 10) Chart 11 (see below) shows who in the organization gives creativity and innovation inputs and ideas. At the top of the chart are Management/CEO at 88%. Then following is the Marketing team at 75%. Chart 11 Other I do not know No one All Human Resources management team Public relations team External consultants and organisations Employees in production and other internal Employees in direct contact with the customers Product and innovation development team Marketing team Management/ CEO 0% 0% 0% 4% 17% 21% 25% 25% 42% 54% 75% 88% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% 11

12 The factors that most support creativity and innovation at work according to the responses given is the workplace atmosphere (71%) and the Management following (63%). Only 25% of the participants find the innovative and motivation from employees directly engaging in similar tasks (See chart 12 below). Chart 12 Other 0% I do not get any support 0% I do not know 0% External creativity trainers and tools (also virtual) 25% Innovative and motivating working environment 33% Motivation system, e.g. bonus system rewarding new 33% Personal networks 38% External experts 38% Colleagues dealing with other tasks 38% Professional networks 54% Colleagues engaged in similar tasks 58% Management 63% Workplace atmosphere (interpersonal) 71% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% Chart 13 Other I do not know Innovation bootcamps or intensive courses Ideation boxes for new ideas and initiatives Consultants Idea boards e.g. in the kitchen, staff room and office Participating in local, regional and national Cooperation with research organisations and universities. Product development teams Open innovation Training Benchmarking other sectors and disciplines Cooperation with other organisations and companies Workshops Cooperation between sectors and departments within Use of ICT Cooperation with users Creativity techniques (e.g. brainstorming, mind-mapping) Cooperation with clients 0% 4% 8% 13% 17% 21% 33% 33% 42% 42% 46% 46% 50% 54% 54% 58% 63% 67% 83% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 12

13 The creativity and innovation approaches, tools and methods used in ICT according to the survey results are mostly Cooperating with clients at 83%, Creativity techniques for example brainstorming and mind-mapping which was 67% and Cooperation with users at 63%. Only 17% of participants rely on consultants. Ideation boxes for new ideas and initiatives are also lowly ranked at 13%. Innovation boot camps or intensive courses are at the bottom of the ranking scale with only 8% of the respondents along with 4% answering I do not know (See Chart 13 above). 6. Creativity and Innovation Training 6.1 In section Creativity and Innovation Training respondents were asked whether they have received innovation and/or creativity training at their workplace. This resulting in a high figure of 17 out of 24 participants gave the positive answer of Yes. Only 7 out of 24 respondents gave the answer of No (see Chart 14 below /in figures/) Chart 14 Have you received innovation and/or Creativity Training at your workplace? 7 17 Yes No Chart 15 In what form have you received Creativity & Innovation Training at your workplace? Other Tutoring, mentoring Literature and case studies Discussions and debates Visual learning, e.g. creativity boards and mind Drama, role play Learning by doing Seminars and lectures Learning games and simulations Online or mobile training course or material

14 Chart 15 (see above) shows that 12 participants received Creativity and Innovation Training learning by doing. 11 respondents have been to Seminars and Lectures. Only 2 participants received Drama and role playing. According to the survey results 71% of respondents have already received training on Innovation and Strategy training within their workplace. Followed by a further 62% of participants have gained knowledge by training on Creativity techniques and Design thinking. Innovation culture and Continuous innovation - 57% each. Product/ service innovation - 52%, Open innovation - 48%. The next ranking in scale is Operational innovation - 29% then, Idea management and Innovation and foresight - 24% each. The least interest are Change management and Idea generation - 19% each, as well as Crowdsourcing which was at the bottom with 10%. (See Chart 16 below). Chart 16 Innovation and strategy Creativity techniques 24% 24% 29% 19% 19% 10% 71% 62% Design thinking Innovation culture Continuous innovation Product/ service innovation 48% 62% Open innovation Operational innovation 52% 57% 57% Idea management Innovation and foresight Change management Idea generation Crowdsourcing Chart 17 (see below) the survey results show that 71% of respondents are most interested to gain knowledge on Innovation and strategy, although most have gained training on this already. Idea management then follows at 67%. 57% of participants would like training in Innovation culture, Creativity techniques, Open innovation, Operational innovation, Product/ service innovation, Design thinking and Innovation and foresight. Close to this it then Idea generation & Continuous Innovation at 52%. 43% of respondents would like training on changing management and 24% on Crowdsourcing. 14

15 Chart 17 Innovation and strategy 24% 5%5% Idea management Innovation culture 52% 52% 43% 71% 67% 57% Creativity techniques Open innovation Operational innovation 57% 57% 57% 57% 57% 57% Product/ service innovation Design thinking Innovation and foresight Idea generation Continuous innovation Change management Crowdsourcing Not in any topics Other Also In section Creativity and Innovation Training respondents were asked what kind of approach is the most useful to them. The best training approach for ICT employees and employers as per the survey results gather is the training in E-Learning (74%) followed by Self-training through reading of textbooks and Training led by an instructor (61%). Learning through games (30%) are found as least attractive/favourite. Chart 18 Learning through games Business simulations Training in real work settings Traditional classroom training Blended-learning 30% 35% 35% 35% 35% Self-training through reading of textbooks Training led by an instructor or a mentor 61% 61% E-learning 74% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 15

16 7. Additional Comments 7.1 Analyzing the level of Creativity and Innovation of the ICT SME s in the United Kingdom it seems the industry is more than capable of competing in the global market and is very well-known. As regards the survey analysis Creativity and innovation of the ICT SMEs in the United Kingdom is considered to be at a good level. According to the responses given (50%) IT companies have clear goals and objectives written down and communicated to the staff. Moreover, IT employees consider themselves to be creative individuals (48%) demonstrating originality at work (54%), for which previous professional experience contributes (44%). 79% of respondents stated that their organizations give employees a satisfying level of autonomy in performing tasks, as just 65% ticked off that companies support participation of staff in decision making. At the same time 65% of participants rated positively the statement that their organizations tolerate a certain amount of risk-taking allowing employees to learn from their mistakes. This means that those people are not afraid of making a mistake or being criticized, sounding dumb or looking foolish, when facing challenges at work (75%). Instead they feel confident that they can perform creatively on many different tasks (67%). They see problems, complaints, and bottlenecks as opportunities rather than issues (54%). What additionally contributed to increasing their individual creativity at work is the opinion of the other colleagues (52%) and the fact that the organization encourages employees to keep looking anew at the way they approach their work (50%). As a whole, IT employees are thought to be proactively thinking rather than passive. ICT organizations support open (frequent exchange of ideas, etc.) communication amongst employees (65%), promote knowledge sharing (65%) and trigger creativity at work (58%). 7.2 Based on the survey results the identified barriers to creative thinking and innovation in ICT SMEs in the United Kingdom can be summarized as follows: Lack of time or other Resources 15 out of 24 respondents (63%) consider time pressure as an obstacle to showing individual creativity at work. Only 46% of the participants in the survey state that they are being provided with time and resources to develop new ideas that worth acting upon. In addition, 10 respondents indicated that they look for things in their environment to inspire them to find new interpretation of problems, as just 18 of the participants believe that their work settings support creativity at work. Striving for Constancy Just 29% of respondents stated that they avoid following companies procedures strictly by the rules, which means that most participants are afraid of doing or saying something new or different from what has been assumed to be. 16

17 COUNTRY REPORT HUNGARY prepared by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Csongrad County Conduction of Online Survey and focus Group Interviews in Partner Countries /O1/ C. ACTIVITY INFORMATION Report objective: Time frame for online survey conduction /O1/: Deadline for submitting the report: To collect and analyse responses from the online survey conducted in the partner country February 2016 March 2016 D. REVIEW OF ONLINE SURVEY RESULTS Please, provide a brief narrative summary of the online survey results in your country using the template format below. 8. Basic Report Information 1.1 Partner organization: Chamber of Commerce and Industry Csongrad County 1.2 Period of online survey conduction /O1/: February Number of completed surveys: Number of represented organizations: Reporting date: 30/03/2016 The purpose of this country report is to describe and analyze the findings of the Online Survey and Focus Group in-depth interviews, conducted in Hungary, within the framework of the INNOSPARK project, financed by the Erasmus+ Programme. 30 representatives, both employers and employees working in the ICT sector filled in the Online Survey, and 6 persons have taken part in the in-depth interviews from both categories. 17

18 Data collection has been done via online platform in form of a questionnaire and via face to face meetings for the focus group interviews. The main areas covered by the current survey and in-depth focus group interviews are individual creativity, organizational creativity and innovation, creativity and innovation in action and creativity innovation and training. The focus group interviews provided further information on how to get insight into the needs of fostering creative thinking in ICT industry how to gather further information and ideas for real business cases, example practices and problematic situations which will be used for the development of creativity and innovation skills of our Toolkit identifying barriers in front of boosting creative thinking and innovation skills ideas on how to shape the Toolkit 9. Participant Details 2.1 Type of ICT companies / type of activity and number of employees share in %/ The respondents 27% is working in a company where the number of employees is between 1-9, 43% of the respondents are working in a company employing people, and 30% of the responses come from the biggest of SMEs, employing between persons. 18

19 2.2 Profile of participants / current position and work experience share in %/: Participants details 5, 17% 9, 30% 14, 46% Top managers/ceo Engineers Developpers Other 2, 7% Our aim was to ensure that the online survey is filled out by a wide spectrum of participants, ranging from ICT top managers/ceos, to employees working within the field of ICT. 46% of the respondents are representing the employer and top managerial level (e.g. CEO, commercial director, managing director, operative director etc.), 30% of those filling in the survey are developers (software developers, junior and senior developers, R&D specialists ect). 7% are engineers (hardware engineer, software test automation engineer), and 17% are representing the Other category (programmer, advisor, specialist etc.). 60 % of the respondents are working for their current company for 1-5 years, 20% spent 6-10 years, and the remaining 20% spent more than 10 years in their current workplace. The majority of our sample, 31% have more than 20 years of work experience, 27% have between years of experience, only 15% have between 6-10 and 27% of the respondents work for 1-5 years in total. 19

20 Number of years within the company 20% 20% 60% from 1 to 5 from 6 to 10 more than 10 20

21 Total number of years of work experience 10, 31% 9, 27% 9, 27% 5, 15% from 1 to 5 from 6 to 10 from 11 to 20 more than Individual Creativity 3.1 The aim of the first Chapter of our Online Survey, entitled Individual Creativity, was to discover whether the employees believe themselves to be creative at their workplace and to find out what factors do they think are most affecting their individual creativity. Based on the answers received from the respondents, it is evident that creativity at work is a very important factor both for employees and employers. 70 % of the respondents strongly agreed and 30% agreed with the statement that creativity at work is important (0% was neutral, or disagreeing or strongly disagreeing). 21

22 The vast majority of the representatives of the ICT sector are very open to new challenges and are ready to face them (36,7% strongly agree, 53,3 % agree with the statement that they are not afraid of facing challenges at work, whereas only 6,7 % of the respondents are disagreeing, and 3,3 % considered their attitude towards the statement as neutral). 22

23 The vast majority of the respondents are confident that they can perform creatively on many different tasks at work (B % strongly agree, 46, 7% agree, and only 13, 3% was neutral to the topic. 0% stated that they are disagreeing or strongly disagreeing) and that they demonstrate originality at their work (B , 7 % strongly agree, 36, 7% agree, 26,7% neutral and 0% disagreed or strongly disagreed). 23

24 Most of the respondents are very open to perceiving problems, complaints and bottlenecks as opportunities rather than as issues, and none of them feels the opposite way round (B.5. 16,7% strongly agreed, 56,7 % agreed, 26,7 % was neutral. None of the respondents disagreed or 24

25 strongly disagreed with the statement that problems, complaints, and bottlenecks are rather opportunities than issues.). On the basis of the responses, it can be stated that the majority of people working in the ICT sector think that they are perceived by their colleagues as creative employees (B6. 20% strongly agree, 63,3% agree, 16,7 % neutral. 0% disagreed or strongly disagreed.). 25

26 The attitude of the respondents towards the statement B. 7. I avoid following procedures strictly by the rules was not that homogeneous % strongly agreed, 43, 3% agreed, 23, 3 % was neutral, and 20% disagreed with the statement above. 26

27 Most of the respondents see themselves as someone who knows exactly how to take advantage of certain situations. 6, 7% strongly agreed, 53, 3% agreed and 40 % was neutral to the statement B. 8. I am astute person (I have the ability to see how to take advantage of a certain situation.). None of the respondents disagreed or strongly disagreed. 27

28 With the statement B.9. I am versatile person and I can easily come up with innovative solutions, no matter the work field 20% of the respondents strongly agreed, 60% agreed, whereas the 13,3% was neutral and 6, 7 % disagreed. 28

29 The vast majority of the sample is looking for things in their environment to inspire them to find new interpretations of problems (B % strongly agreed, 63, 3% agreed, 16, 7 % was neutral. 0% disagreed or strongly disagreed.). They are also perceiving their previous work experience as a factor increasing their creativity at work (B. 11. even 50% strongly agreed, 36, 7% agreed and only 6, 7% was neutral. None of the respondents disagreed or strongly disagreed.). 29

30 We can conclude that the opinion of other work colleagues has a positive effect on the employees individual creativity (B , 7 % strongly agreed, 43, 3 % agreed, 26, 7 % was neutral, and 3,3 % disagreed.) and even if they do not have the resources to implement good 30

31 ideas, they do not ignore them (B.13. I ignore good ideas because I do not have the resources to implement them. 0% strongly agreed, only 10% agreed, 16,7 % was neutral, more than half of the respondents, 56, 7 % disagreed and 16,7 % felt that they strongly disagree.). 31

32 Everyday routine impedes on the creativity of the employees only in limited amount, many of the respondents maintain their creativity despite their daily workload. B. 14. Every day routine does not impede on my creativity. 6, 7 % strongly agreed, 46, 7% agreed, 23,3% was neutral, whereas only 16,7 % disagreed and 6,7% strongly disagreed. Time pressure is an inhibiting factor for the individual creativity of the employees (B % agreed, 33, 3% was neutral and 26, 7% disagreed.) 32

33 11. Organizational Creativity 4.1 The Organizational Creativity & Innovation part of the survey is dedicated to assessing if organizations implement creativity techniques and strategies that help to enhance creativity. 33

34 Most of the respondents (53, 3 %) agree that their organization shares visions and goals clearly with all employees (13, 3 % strongly agree, 20 % disagree and 13, 3 % was neutral. 0% strongly disagreed), and almost everyone 96,7% agreed that that in the organization they set goals for innovation, that is new ideas for products, services and processes ( 50% strongly agreed, 46,7% agreed and only 3, 3% was neutral. None of the respondents disagreed or strongly disagreed.) 34

35 The survey revealed that there is a tendency that the staff is involved in the decision making processes of the companies (23, 3 % strongly agreed, 46, 7% agreed, 16, 7% was neutral and 13, 3 % disagreed. None of the respondents strongly disagreed. 35

36 In most of the situations, respondents feel that they can express their ideas freely (C , 7% strongly agree, 33, 3% agree, 6, 7 % neutral, 3, 3% disagree and 0% strongly disagree.). Although the vast majority of the representatives of the ICT sector felt that they agree with the statement My organization acts on new ideas providing the time and resources to develop and implement those ideas worth acting upon., some of them did not find it true for their own organization, and a relatively high percentage found this statement indifferent to their work (13, 3 % strongly agree, 53, 3 % agree, 23, 3 % neutral, 6, 7 % disagree and 3, 3% strongly disagree.). 36

37 The numbers of neutral and agreeing respondents are almost the same in case of the statement My organization encourages employees to keep looking anew at the way they approach their work., whereas the number of disagreeing responses is relatively low (C , 3 % strongly agree, 33,3 % agree, 40 % neutral, 6, 7% disagree and 6, 7 % strongly disagree). 37

38 It is also clear from the responses given to C.7. that many organisations implement techniques for increasing the employees motivation and boosting their performance, so brainstorming, lateral thinking, mind-mapping and other motivation boosting 38

39 techniques are not unknown to the respondents. The number of neutrals is also relatively high, and fortunately enough, the disagreeing respondents are representing the minority in this case (C. 7. 3, 3% strongly agree, 40% agree, 33,3 % neutral, 16, 7 % disagree and 6, 7% strongly disagree). Answers given to C.8. can be rated as rather positive, as they show that more than 80% of the respondents feel that they are given a satistfying level of autonomy when performing different tasks at their workplaces (30% strongly agree, 53, 3% agree, 10% neutral and only 6, 7% is disagreeing). Although the respondents experience this satsfying level of autonomy in their task performance, the general picture is not that promising when it comes to gathering employees s opinion about alternative ways of working and what might be achieved by doing things differently (C. 9.) The answers are far from showing a homogenious picture, and can be considered as rather diverse, as the number of strongly agreeing and strongly disagreeing is basically the same, the number of agreeing and disagreeing is also approximately the same, and the number of those maintaining a neutral attitude towards the statement is also relatively high. This implies that ICT companies attitude towards employee s opinion is not at all unified, and often they are not taken into consideration (13, 3 % strongly agree, 26, 7% agree, 23, 3 % neutral, 23, 3% disagree, and 13, 3% strongly disagree). 39

40 Answers given to C. 10. and C. 11. show a very positive tendency that ICT organizations are to a great extent supporting both open communication amongst employees, and knowledge sharing via informal and formal meetings. (C. 10. My organization supports open (frequent exchange of ideas etc.) communication amongst employees. 30 % strongly agree, 50 % agree, 16, 7% neutral, 3, 3 % strongly disagree. C. 11. My organization supports knowledge sharing (via formal/informal meetings, etc.) 46, 7% strongly agree, 46, 7 % agree, only 3, 3% disagree and 3, 3 % strongly disagree). 40

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42 Results also show that the organizations internal and external networks do contribute to the increased level of creativity at work (C , 7% strongly agree, 53, 3% agree, 20 % neutral, 6, 7% disagree and 3, 3% strongly disagree). Risk taking is a crucial factor when we talk about innovation and creativity, as it is impossible to achieve innovation without taking the necessary amount of risk. In order to achieve good innovational results, creativity and risk taking must be encouraged within an organization, and for the best results, the possibility of failure must be tolerated, and seen as integral part of the learning process, leading towards successful innovation. More than half of the respondents stated that their organizations tolerate a certain amount of risk-taking, and enabling them to learn from their own mistakes (C , 3% strongly agree. 40% agree, 36, 7% neutral, 6, 7% disagree and 3, 3% strongly disagree), but the number of neutrals is still rather high. 42

43 The work setting is also a very important aspect affecting the creativity of the employees, so it is important to ensure that the office is well illuminated, relaxing, quiet and clear. All these are contributing to the creativity and innovation potential of those working there. The physical work environment of the respondents can be rated as good, as more than 70 % agreed that their work settings are supporting their creativity at work (C % strongly agreed, and 53, 3% agreed, 16, 7% was neutral, and only 10% disagreed. None of the respondents strongly disagreed). Although team buildings, group workshops and trainings are crucial for enhancing team performance and creativity, only half of the respondents think that their organization pays proper attention to this way of team performance and creativity boosting (C , 3% strongly agreed, 26,7% agreed, 26, 7% was neutral, 16, 7% disagreed and 6, 7% strongly disagreed). 43

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45 12. Creativity and Innovation in Action 5.1 The Creativity and Innovation in Action part of our Survey aimed at exploring how creative thinking and innovation are applied at work, who are the persons within the organization responsible for ensuring a creative environment within the company, which tools, methods and approaches are used at ICT companies in order to enhance creativity and innovation. Based on the results of our Survey, it is evident that in case of Hungarian ICT companies, creativity and innovation are most often applied for research, product and service development (84,8%), but also for finding new ideas (48, 5%) and for optimizing both company processes and individual work processes (33, 3% both). Creativity and innovation are barely used for HR (9, 1%), accounting and administration (6, 1%) and for well-being at work (12, 1%). Positively enough, Hungarian ICT companies are applying creativity and innovation at their everyday work without an exception (0% chose the option Creativity and innovation are not used ). 45

46 It is also clear from the responses provided, that in case of Hungarian ICT companies it is most often the management/ceo who gives creativity and innovation inputs and ideas (66, 7%), followed by the product and innovation development team (42, 4%), but the employees in production and other internal processes (30, 3%) are also very active in providing ideas for creativity and innovation. Those working within the human resource management (9, 1%) department and Public relation team (15, 2%) are the least active in providing creativity and innovation inputs and ideas. In Hungarian ICT companies, creativity and innovation at workplace are most of all supported by the colleagues engaged in similar tasks (54, 5%), by the management (51, 5%) and by the interpersonal workplace atmosphere (48, 5 %). Motivation systems like bonus systems rewarding nem ideas, colleaugues dealing wiht other tasks or professional networks all are somewhere in the middle, receiving 24, 2% each of them. 46

47 In Hungarian ICT companies, the most commonly used creativity and innovation approaches/tools/ methods are cooperation with clients (60, 6%), creativity techniques (e.g. brainstorming, mind-mapping) (54, 5%), cooperation between the sectors and departments within the organization (multi-disciplinary) (36, 4%) and cooperation with research organizations and universities (also 36, 4%). Open innovation, innovation bootcamps or intensive courses, ideation boxes for new ideas and initiatives are not that widespread. 47

48 ,,Creativity and Innovation Training Surprisingly enough, only 26, 7 % of the respondents received innovation and/or creativity training at their workplaces. These took prevailingly the form of seminars and lectures (72, 2%) or online or mobile training course or material. Learning by doing, tutoring, mentoring and discussion and debates are also widely used. (36, 4 % each). The most emphasized topics of the trainings were change management (38, 1%), product/service innovation (28, 6%) idea management and idea generation (14, 48

49 3% each). None of the respondents received training on open innovation, crowdsourcing, operational innovation and innovation and foresight. 49

50 Respondents would find useful to receive training on idea management and product/service innovation (34, 5 % - 34, 5%), but they are also rather interested in being trained in creativity techniques (27, 6%), design thinking (27, 6%), innovation culture (20, 7%), change management (20, 7%), innovation and foresight (20, 7%) and continuous innovation (20, 7%). There is a need from the respondents side to acquire knowledge on those knowledge areas they have never ever been trained before (open innovation, crowdsourcing, operational innovation and innovational foresight). 50

51 The vast majority of the representatives of the Hungarian ICT sector think that e-learning is the best learning approach for the ICT employees and employers (62, 1%), which is followed by training in real work settings (48, 3%) and blended training (41, 4%). Traditional classroom training and learning through games were rated as the least useful approaches for acquiring new knowledge. 7. General summary of the results 5.1 I. Individual creativity Individual creativity is of vital importance for the survival of companies, as employees must be actively involved in their work, in order to productively generate new products, ideas and processes, which is a key factor influencing the competitiveness of the company on a given market. All relevant literature states that individual creativity is the basis for successful organizational creativity and innovativeness (Amabile et.al., Shalley and Gilson, 2004), that is why individual creativity was one of the areas our survey was most focused on. On the basis of the results of the online survey, it can be concluded that in Hungary, both employers and employees working in the ICT sector agree without any exception that creativity at work is important. It is very positive that the vast majority of the respondents are not intimidated by, and are ready to face challenges occurring during their everyday work. 51

52 The majority of the literature has shown that creative people share a particular set of personality characteristics 1. These people are self-confident (Cummings, Oldham, 1997:26), tolerant to ambiguity and intuitive, so it is absolutely positive that the vast majority of the respondents are confident that they can creatively perform many different tasks and that they demonstrate originality at carrying out their tasks at work, which is a clear sign of their self-confidence. Furthermore, their self-confidence is clearly demonstrated by the fact that in their opinion, they are perceived by their colleagues as creative employees, and that they claim to be very astute persons, knowing exactly how to take advantage of a certain situation. Even more than 80% of the respondents stated that they can easily come up with innovative solution, no matter the work field. A different way of approaching things is always a clear indicator of individual creativity, which can be seen in the fact that more than 70% of the respondents are perceiving problems, complaints and bottlenecks as opportunities, rather than as issues, which is a clear indicator of their creative attitude, and more than half of them are clearly avoiding following procedures strictly by the rules. Existing studies show that individual creativity is nurtured by three major factors: expertise, creative thinking skill, and intrinsic task motivation (Amabile, 1997; p. 42) the latter referring to the desire to work on something because that something is interesting, involving, exciting, or personally challenging. More than 70% of the sample stated that they do not ignore good ideas because they do not have the resources to implement them, which implies how task motivated they are, which is crucial in turning creative potential into actual creative ideas. The most important barriers to creativity and innovation of the employers and employees in the Hungarian ICT sector on the individual level are the time pressure and the everyday routine tasks. It is also important to add that the results of the conducted focus group in-depth interviews show that apart from the daily routine, the biggest barrier to creative thinking is of financial nature. It is very often the case that satisfying the clients needs bringing money to the company is higher in the hierarchy of importance than a hypothetically good, innovative and creative idea. Companies try to overcome this obstacle by applying for funds for carrying out and bringing into life their innovative and new, creative ideas. 1 Highly innovative and creative persons are characterized by "high valuation of esthetic qualities in experience, broad interests, attraction to complexity, high energy, independence of judgment, autonomy, intuition, selfconfidence, ability to resolve antinomies or to accommodate apparently opposite or conflicting traits in one's self-concept, and a firm sense of self as creative" (Barron & Harrington, 1981, p. 453) 52

53 II. Organizational Creativity and Innovation Apart from individual creativity, which consist of, as we have seen previously, personality factors, cognitive factors and intrinsic motivation, the organizations climate is also a very important and determining factor for the general level of creativity and innovation thereof. The organizational climate can both promote and inhibit the creativity and innovational skills of the employees. Factors promoting creativity and innovation at an organizational/environmental level are freedom, appropriate project management, sufficient resources, various organizational characteristics, encouragement, recognition, sufficient time, challenge and pressure 2. On the other hand, factors inhibiting creativity and innovation on an organizational level are various organizational characteristics 3, constraint 4, organizational disinterest manifested in a lack of organizational support, interest or faith in a project, poor project management, inappropriate evaluation or feedback system, unrealistic expectations, insufficient resources and time pressure, but also factors such as overemphasis on the Status Quo 5, that is striving for constancy, and competition. a )Creativity boosting aspects of our Survey Making a parallel with the above factors, our study reveals that the vast majority of the representatives of Hungarian ICT companies, both employers and employees agree that they experience freedom in their workplaces to express their ideas, and they are given enough resources and time to develop and implement ideas worth acting upon. The level of autonomy in their task performance is also rated by the vast majority as satisfying (more than 80%), which is a clear indicator of freedom they experience in their workplace. 2 Amabile, T. M.(1988) A Model of Creativity and Innovation in Organizations, Research in Organizational Behaviour, Vol. 10. pages inappropriate reward system in the organization; excessive red tape; a corporate climate marked by a lack of cooperation across divisions and levels, little regard to innovation in general, ibid., page lack of freedom of deciding on what to do or how to accomplish the task, lack of sense of control over one s own work and ideas. Ibid., page Reluctance of managers or co-workers to change their way of doing things, an unwillingness to take risks. Ibid., page

54 It is also very positive that many organizational characteristics 6 supporting creativity is present in Hungarian ICT sector, e.g. open communication amongst employees, frequent exchange of ideas, knowledge sharing. Approximately half of the respondents stated that a certain amount of justified risk-taking is tolerated in their companies, allowing at the same time the employees to learn from their mistakes. In this way, the lack of punitive measures in case of failure is very much contributing to the enhancement of creativity and innovation. This rate could be higher for better results (High percentage was neutral to this topic). A very high percentage, reaching even 97% stated that they set goals for innovation, new ideas for products, services and processes in their companies, visions and goals of the organizations are also to a great extent shared with the employees, which are clear indicators of appropriate project management. b) Creativity and innovation inhibiting aspects of our Survey It is apparent from the results of the survey, that in Hungarian ICT SMEs overemphasis of the Status Quo is a general problem, as many of the respondents agreed that their organization is not gathering any feedback or opinion about alternative ways of working and doing things differently, but are rather safe and sound with the old way of doing things, which inevitable sets obstacles to the implementation of new and creative ideas. Time pressure and the daily tasks, however, represent a big obstacle for the ICT sector s creativity. 5.2 Further implications based on the results of the In-depth Focus Group Interviews Needs of fostering creative thinking in the ICT sector in Hungary The general impression gained after the conduction of the in-depth focus group interviews was that basically all the respondents evaluated the level of creativity and innovation as satisfying, and they emphasized that in a so quickly changing global environment the ICT sector cannot survive without proper level of innovation and creativity. They especially mentioned that the creativity of young employees is outstanding and that they are full of new ideas, which is a great advantage to the company. 6 A mechanism for considering new ideas, a corporate climate marked by cooperation and collaboration accross levels and divisions, an atmosphere where innovation is prized and failure is not fatal. Ibid., page

55 In order to adjust to the changes, continuous adaptation is vital, quick response to the changes in clients needs and changes in legislation is inevitable. For this reason, Hungarian ICT companies are regularly attending/organizing different trainings to be able to react properly to the changes. New ideas are positively accepted, and provided there is enough money for its implementation and bringing to life. Many of the respondents expressed that clients needs come first, as they are the primary source of ensuring the financial security of the company, and that being the case, they have priority over innovational ideas for the reasons mentioned. However, each company aims at supporting creativity in many ways: e.g. they put ideation boxes into the offices, they have annual best innovative idea contest with money award etc. Some of them mentioned that creativity is more easily handled and gives better results in smaller groups, as the gathering and further developing of new ideas is more feasible when there are not too many actors. They also expressed that innovative and creative tasks are refreshing for the employees, as they enjoy creating something new and valuable. This is the case not just for the developers and designers, but also for the top managers. Respondents also realize that competitive advantage cannot be achieved without technological innovation, and the lack of open source for own developments is a big problem. More frequent professional meet ups for sharing technological innovational knowledge would be a solution, even more because innovative technology increases the satisfaction of the employees, increases the inner efficiency and contributes to the competitive advantage of the company. Results of the conducted focus group interviews also show that ICT companies in Hungary are very closely cooperating with universities, clusters, research centers and even with concurring SMEs from the sector. They perceive these cooperations as an advantage and use them in new product development, in employee recruitment (newly graduated students) and implementation of joint projects. Real business cases, example practices for creating the Toolkit One of the respondent company, IKRON, had developed a software called INCA, which was a great success and has been purchased by a Swiss company. They also had a very important 55

56 IP network management system development, which is now available and used in more than 20 countries. Their web-based enterprise resource planning system is one of the company s flagship products, used by a large number of Hungarian SMEs. Our other respondent company, the Exicom, presented a real creativity success story, where a small group of their employees, doing their daily work, found out how to block radio waves and in this way, make eavesdropping impossible. They had their patent legalized, which became a great success for the company. But there are also numerous smaller, yet significant innovative solutions that are directly developed upon customers needs. It very often happens that it is the client who explains to the ICT company what is lacking or which function shall be improved in order to meet the needs of the everyday business life. Obstacles and barriers in front of boosting creativity and innovation Representatives of the Hungarian ICT sector taking part at the in-depth focus group interviews all agreed that the basic and most important obstacle and barrier in front of boosting creativity and innovation is the lack of financial resources. Most of the creativity and innovation boosting possibilities, like attending conferences, seminars, or even reserving a certain amount of time from the working hours for generating new ideas is money consuming. They are aware of the importance of innovative ideas, but simply satisfying clients needs always come first, as it brings money to the company. As a way of resolving this contradictory situation, ICT companies see projects as a potential solution. As the second most important factor inhibiting creativity and innovation was the lack of free capacities, and that the employees are very often overwhelmed by their daily routine and work obligations making profit for the company. Respondents also emphasized that innovation and creativity, despite of these obstacles, are very strongly supported by the managerial level, ensuring a bottom-up implementation of good ideas whenever possible. Main actors of innovation and creativity promotion Based on the results of the in-depth focus group interviews, the most important actors of innovation and creativity boosting are managers from the inner side, and the customers from the outside. Customers are constantly coming up with new requests that would satisfy their needs more properly, more quickly, so they are providing ideas both for innovation and the direction of product development. Afterwards, the developers translate their needs into 56

57 the language of IT and arrive at a quicker final product that satisfy customers needs to a considerably greater extent than the previous one. It would be great if we could ensure the luxury of separating a certain number of working hours a week for just sitting in a room xboxing, and chatting, brainstorming, giving a flow to new ideas, like Google does, but our company is simply too small for affording it. -said one of the respondents/managers (number of employees approximately 50). Concerning the innovation boosting factors, many of the respondents emphasized that spontaneous brainstorming sessions are occurring regularly, where employees generate new ideas. They also mentioned the importance of continuous learning, and knowledge development, mostly focusing on case studies and best practice examples, rather than on theory, as the latter is changing extremely quickly. Respondents agreed that the most important innovational and creativity skills are individual learning, self-development, professional knowledge boosting of the developers, openness, communication skills, technical knowledge and good ability to work in teams. It is also very important to know the customers needs and the market environment, and quick reaction and adaptation to the needs and changes. Best learning approaches and contents for boosting creativity and innovation in the ICT sector Without any exceptions, all respondents expressed that case studies and best practice examples are the most important parts the Toolkit shall contain. They are also interested in seeing international models showing how a good, innovative idea generated market expansion, and they are all giving priority to practical examples over theory, provided they are applicable and educative. The participants of the in-depth interview also agreed that they prefer seminars and webinars, learning through doing, and small-group teaching approaches to conferences, as conferences are to a great extent focused on so to say banalities and have low practical value. For the developers, individual learning is also effective. 57

58 Bibliography: Amabile, T. M. (1988). A Model of Creativity and Innovation in Organizations. Research in Organizational Behaviour, Vol Amabile, T.M. (1997). Motivating Creativity In Organizations: On Doing What You Love and Loving What You Do. California Management Review, 1, Barron. F. B.. & Harrington. D. M Creativity, intelligence, and personality. Annual Review of Psychology. 32: Basadur. M..& Finkbeiner. C. T Measuring preference for ideation in creative problem solving training. Journal of Applied Behavioral Science. 21: Cummings, A. & Oldham, G. R. (1996). Enhancing Creativity: Managing Work Contexts For The High Potential Employee. California Management Review, 1, Shalley, C. & Gilson, L. (2000). Matching Creativity Requirements And The Work Environment. Academy of Management Journal, 2,

59 COUNTRY REPORT Conduction of Online Survey in Bulgaria /O1/ E. REVIEW OF ONLINE SURVEY RESULTS 14. Basic Report Information 1.1 Partner organization: European Center for Quality Ltd. /ECQ/ 1.2 Period of online survey conduction /O1/: February 12 19, Number of completed surveys: Number of represented organizations: Reporting date: February 26, Participant Details 2.1 The total number of companies represented in the online survey in Bulgaria was 20. Among them there were Software development companies /9/, IT outsourcing organizations /3/, System integration services /3/, Web design firms /1/, Digital marketing agencies /2/, IT service provider companies /2/. According to the number of employees /Chart 1/ the distribution of companies type that took part in the survey is as follows: 9 and less 6 between 10 and 50 5 between 51 and Type of Company /number of employees/ 45% 30% 25% 9 and less between 10 and 50 between 51 and 250 Chart 1 59

60 2.2 A total of 20 respondents filled in the INNOSPARK online survey. According to the information provided there were quite different types of professions mentioned, as 25% of all participants were IT Team Managers and 15 % were Project Managers. The rest of the respondents were Software Engineers and Developers, Web Designers, Solution Architects, Programmers, IT Quality Specialists, QA Automation Engineers, etc. The charts below show the respondents profile in figures and percentages Respondents' Profile /in figures/ Software Engineer Marketing Manager Programmer Website Coordinator Manager Sofware Developer Project Manager Web Designer Solution Architect IT Quality Specialist QA Automation Engineer Lead ScrumMaster Chart 2 Respondents' Profile /in %/ 10% 5% 5% 5% 5% 5% 10% 5% 5% 15% 5% 25% Software Engineer Marketing Manager Programmer Website Coordinator Manager Sofware Developer Project Manager Web Designer Solution Architect IT Quality Specialist QA Automation Engineer Lead ScrumMaster Chart 3 60

61 According to the survey results 11 out of 20 respondents have from 0 to 5 years of experience at the current position. Five of the participants have from 11 to 20 years professional experience, 3 of the respondents have from 6 to 10-year experience at the current job and 1 of the participants ticked off 23 years of professional experience at the same job position in the same company. 12 Work Experience at the Current Position years 6-10 years years years in figures in % Chart 4 The overall professional experience of 9 out of 20 respondents is 0-5 years. The next group years is represented by 5 of the participants. In the rest three groups 6-10 years, and years there are two respondents per group. 10 Overal Professional Experience years 6-10 years years years years in figures in % 61

62 Chart Individual Creativity 3.1 Creativity at work is important to me. I am not afraid when facing challenges at work. 65% 65% 90% I feel confident that I can perform creatively on many different tasks at work. 70% 70% 75% 80% 95% I am versatile person and I can easily come up with innovative solutions no matter the work field. I see problems, complaints, and bottlenecks as opportunities rather than as issues. My colleagues think of me as a creative employee. I demonstrate originality at my work. My previous experience makes me more creative in the workplace. Chart 6 For 90% of the respondents creativity at work is important, as 80% feel confident to perform creativity on many different tasks at work. In this regard 95% of participants stated that they are not afraid when facing challenges at work and for 70% of all filled in the survey problems, complaints and bottlenecks are seen as opportunities rather than issues. 75% of respondents stated that they can easily come up with innovative solutions in any work field, as 70% of all asked in the survey are thought to be creative employees. 65% of participants demonstrate originality at work for which contributes their previous professional experience. (See Chart 6) At the same time, 60% of respondents stated that time pressure inhibits their individual creativity at work. For 45% of the participants everyday routine does not impede on their creativity and they have the ability to see how to take advantage of a certain situation. 40% of participants avoid following 62

63 procedures strictly by the rules, as only 15% ignore good ideas, because they do not have the resources to implement them. (See Chart 7) % 15% 60% I look for things in my environment to inspire me to find new interpretations of problems. Time pressure inhibits my individual creativity at work. 45% 45% 55% 60% The opinion of other work colleagues has a positive effect on my individual creativity. I am very astute person (I have the ability to see how to take advantage of a certain situation). Everyday routine doesn t impede on my creativity. I avoid following procedures strictly by the rules. I ignore good ideas because I don't have the resources to implement them. Chart 7 63

64 4. Organizational Creativity 4.1 My organization shares visions and goals clearly with all employees. My organization supports freedom to express ideas. 50% 50% 50% 75% 84% My organization gives a satisfying level of autonomy to employees in performing tasks. My organization supports knowledge sharing (via formal/ informal meetings, etc.). 74% 80% 80% My organization supports open (frequent exchange of ideas, etc.) communication amongst employees. In my organization we set goals for innovation (new ideas for products, services, processes). My organization s (internal and external) network triggers creativity at work. My organization tolerates a certain amount of risk-taking allowing at the same time employees to learn from their mistakes. Chart 8 64

65 4.1 In section Organizational Creativity 84% of respondents think that their organizations support freedom to express ideas, as 80% stated that they are given a satisfying level of autonomy in performing tasks. From 80% to 74 % of participants believe that their organizations support knowledge sharing and communication among employees. 50% of all respondents stated that their organizations set goals for innovation, trigger creativity and tolerate a certain amount of risk-taking allowing at the same time employees to learn from their mistakes. (See Chart 8) Chart 9 shows the distribution of responses on the second part of the section, where participants are being asked about their companies attitude toward participation of staff in decision-making process (45%) and organization of team buildings, workshops, etc. (40%) to enhance team performance and creativity. 45% of respondents find their work settings as a good condition supporting creativity at work. Although 45% of participants stated that their organizations encourage employees to look anew at the way they approach their work, just 20% responded that their companies periodically gather staff s opinion about alternative ways of working and doing things differently than used to. 35% of respondents indicated that their companies provide time and resources to employees to elaborate on ideas they come up with and the same number of people ticked off that their organizations implement techniques for increasing employees motivation and boost their work performance. 65

66 My organization supports participation of staff in decision making. My organization encourages employees to keep looking anew at the way they approach their work. 35% 20% 45% My work setting (well illuminated, relaxing, quiet, clean, etc.) supports creativity at work. 35% 45% My organization organizes team buildings, group workshops and trainings in order to enhance team performance and creativity. 40% 45% My organization acts on new ideas providing the time and resources to develop and implement those ideas worth acting upon. My organization implements techniques for increasing employees motivation and boosting their performance (brainstorming, lateral thinking and mind-mapping, etc.). My organization periodically gathers employees opinion about alternative ways of working and what might be achieved by doing things differently. Chart 9 5. Creativity and Innovation in Action 5.1 According to survey results from section Creativity and Innovation in Action the main areas of usage creativity and innovation in ICT SMEs in Bulgaria are related to research, product and service development (65% of all responses), finding new ideas (55%), saving resources and improving processes (35%), marketing activities (30%) and optimization of company processes (30%). At the same time the main activities/departments which most lack creative thinking in ICT SMEs are communication (15%) and management activities (10%), well-being issues (10%), HR (5%) and accounting and administration (0%). The company strategy and optimization of individual work processes received per 15% each. 66

67 Accounting and administration I do not know HR Creativity and innovation are not used For work well-being Management Communication Optimising individual work processes Company strategy Optimising company processes Marketing Saving resources and improving processes Finding new ideas Research, product and service development 0% 5% 5% 10% 10% 10% 15% 25% 25% 30% 30% 35% 55% 65% Chart 10 Chart 11 shows who in the organization gives creativity and innovation ideas. At the top of the chart are management and product and innovation development team (45%). No one External consultants and organisations Human Resources management team Employees in production and other internal processes All Employees in direct contact with the customers Product and innovation development team Management/ CEO 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% Chart 11 35% of respondents indicated that employees in direct contact with the customers along with all other staff in the company generate new ideas and feed innovation. Understandably, HR and external consultants are the least ones contributing to the creation of new/creative ideas. The factors that most support creativity and innovation at work according to the responses given are the employees directly engaged in the similar tasks (65%) and the interpersonal workplace atmosphere (40%). Just 20% of the respondents find the innovative and motivating working environment as a prerequisite to support creativity at work. Management team (10%) and the 67

68 motivation system (15%) were also among the least important factors stimulating creativity and innovation. External experts Management I do not get any support Motivation system, e.g. bonus system rewarding Innovative and motivating working environment Professional networks Personal networks Colleagues dealing with other tasks Workplace atmosphere (interpersonal) Colleagues engaged in similar tasks 5% 10% 10% 15% 20% 20% 30% 30% 40% 65% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% Chart 12 The creativity and innovation approaches, tools and methods used in ICT SMEs according to the survey results are mostly creativity techniques used in the company (35%), cooperation with clients (35%) and collaboration between sectors and department within the organization (45%). Only 20% of participants rely on trainings. Cooperation with research institutes is also lowly ranked - 15%. Consultants and idea board in the kitchen, staff rooms and offices are at the bottom of the ranking scale with only 5% of the responses. Use of ICT and participation in local, regional and national development programmes were chosen by barely 10% of the respondents as creativity and innovation approaches, tools and methods. (See Chart 13) 68

69 Consultants Idea boards e.g. in the kitchen, staff room and office 6. Creativity and Innovation Training Use of ICT Participating in local, regional and national development programmes I do not know Cooperation with research organisations and universities. Training Open innovation Cooperation with users Cooperation with other organisations and companies Cooperation with clients Cooperation between sectors and departments within organisation (multi-disciplinary) Creativity techniques (e.g. brainstorming, mind-mapping) 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% Chart In section Creativity and Innovation Training respondents were asked whether they have passed any type of training in creativity and innovation at the workplace. Just 1 out of 20 participants gave positive answer underlying Online or mobile training course or material as the form of training provision. The training received was on creativity techniques. 69

70 5% Yes No 95% Chart The type of creative thinking and innovation skills respondents found useful to train, develop and boost at work are shown on Chart 15. According to the survey results respondents are most interested to gain knowledge on Idea Generation (55%), followed by Innovation & Strategy, Change Management and Design Thinking (40%). Creativity Techniques 35%, Idea Management 30% and Innovation and Foresight 30% are next in the ranking scale. Least interest are the themes Open Innovation, Operational Innovation and Continuous Innovation, as well as Crowdsourcing (per 15% each). Not in any topics Continuous innovation Operational innovation Crowdsourcing Idea generation 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Innovation and strategy Change management Design thinking Creativity techniques Open innovation Idea management Innovation culture Product/ service innovation Innovation and foresight Chart 15 70

71 Traditional classroom training Self-training through reading of textbooks Learning through games Training led by an instructor or a mentor Training in real work settings Chart 16 The best training approach for ICT employees and employers as per survey results gathered is the training in real work settings (55%), followed by E-learning and Blended-learning (50%). Selftraining through reading of textbooks (35%) and traditional classroom trainings (15%) are found as least attractive/favourite. (See Chart 16) 7. Additional Comments Business simulations Blended-learning E-learning 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 7.1 At a glance the Bulgarian IT-industry seems more than capable of competing in the global market. Creativity and innovation are well-known terms in Bulgaria. Moreover, the Bulgarian industry as a whole (primarily made up of small to middle sized companies) can benefit from a highly skilled workforce. The industry is today constantly growing, money is again being made and the workforce size is steadily increasing. In addition, a more thorough examination of the industry reveals a positive picture in the areas of creativity and innovation as essentials for creating a competitive edge in the fast moving and extremely competitive IT-industry. As regards the survey analysis creativity and innovation of the ICT SMEs in Bulgaria is considered to be at good level. According to the responses given (75%) IT companies have clear goals and objectives written down and communicated to the staff. Moreover, IT employees consider themselves to be creative individuals (70%) demonstrating originality at work (65%), for which previous professional experience contributes (65%). 80% of respondents stated that their organizations give employees a satisfying level of autonomy in performing tasks, as just 45% ticked off that companies support participation of staff in decision making. At the same time 50% of participants rated positively the statement that their organizations tolerate a certain amount of risktaking allowing employees to learn from their mistakes (50%). This means that those people do not afraid of making a mistake or being criticized, sounding dumb or looking foolish, when facing challenges at work (95%). Instead they feel confident that they can perform creatively on many different tasks (80%). They see problems, complaints, and bottlenecks as opportunities rather than as issues (70%). What additionally contributed to increasing their individual creativity at work is the 71

72 opinion of other colleagues (55%) and the fact that the organization encourages employees to keep looking anew at the way they approach their work (45%). As a whole, IT employees are thought to be proactively thinking rather than passive. ICT organizations support open (frequent exchange of ideas, etc.) communication amongst employees (74%), promote knowledge sharing (80%) and trigger creativity at work (50%). 7.2 Based on the survey results the identified barriers to creative thinking and innovation in ICT SMEs in Bulgaria can be summarized as follows: Lack of Time or Other Resources 12 out of 20 respondents (60%) consider time pressure as an obstacle to showing individual creativity at work. Only 35% of the participants in the survey state that they are being provided with time and resources to develop new ideas that worth acting upon. In addition, 12 respondents indicated that they look for things in their environment to inspire them find new interpretation of problems, as just 9 of the participants believe that their work settings support creativity at work. Striving for Constancy just 40% of respondents stated that they avoid following companies procedures strictly by the rules, which means that most participants are afraid of doing or saying something new or different from what has been assumed to be. 72

73 COUNTRY REPORT - ITALY Conduction of Online Survey in Partner Countries /O1/ Each partner shall collect results from their own country and collide them into the country reports. For the purposes of developing the State of the Art Report /O1/ all country reports shall be comprehensive following the same structure. This template provides the format of the country reports. F. ACTIVITY INFORMATION Report objective: Time frame for online survey conduction /O1/: Deadline for submitting the report: To collect and analyse responses from the online survey conducted in the partner country February 15-19, 2016 February 22-26, 2016 G. REVIEW OF ONLINE SURVEY RESULTS Please, provide a brief narrative summary of the online survey results in your country using the template format below. 17. Basic Report Information 1.1 Partner organization: Promimpresa 1.2 Period of online survey conduction /O1/: 15/02/ /03/ Number of completed surveys: Number of represented organizations: Reporting date: 25/02/ Participant Details 2.1 Type of ICT companies / type of activity and number of employees share in % Type of ICT companies E-commerce (2) 12% Web agency (4) 24% 73

74 Software production/development/services (6) 35% Digital solutions/design/services (apps, interactive environments, mobile solutions 5) 29% Number of employees Number of employees 5% 9 or less Between o , 5% 25% 70% 2.2 Profile of participants /current position and work experience share in %/: Position in the company Employers (10) 50% Employees (9) 45% Unknown (1) 5% 74

75 Number of years working for the current enterprise/organization Less than 2 years Between 2 and 10 Between 10 and 15 More than 15 years 25% 20% 5% 50% Total no. of years of working experience Less than 2 years Between 2 and 10 Between 10 and 15 More than 15 years 35% 10% 40% 15% 75

76 19. Individual Creativity 3.1 Please analyze survey results from section Individual Creativity providing the data in a graph and numeric format (e.g. tables). You might: Create a frequency histogram of the responses for each question to demonstrate the variation in the responses Use a bar chart to display the percent of respondents selecting particular response. 76

77 Comments B. Individual Creativity Creativity emerges to be of crucial importance for the participants in the survey (B1, B4) as well as for the interviewed companies as it is the basis of every project/work. Problems and challenges are seen like opportunities rather than obstacles (B2, B5, B10). Flexibility and versatility (B9) appear to be characteristics very common to the profile of the professionals working in this sector. Moreover the interviewed organizations are composed by teams of people with different background/ competencies, but that are complementary in order to achieve their goals. Time pressure shows to be a common issue in ICT organizations (B14, B15), the lack of time is seen as the major obstacle to creativity, especially for the organisation s projects, time resources are more allocated for working on projects commissioned by clients. Input and inspiration from the surrounding environment, the work and the suggestions from the others (B10, B12) are taken into great consideration, this emerged consistently also from the interviews. 77

78 20. Organizational Creativity 4.1 Please analyze survey results from section Organizational Creativity providing the data in a graph and numeric format (e.g. tables). You might: Create a frequency histogram of the responses for each question to demonstrate the variation in the responses Use a bar chart to display the percent of respondents selecting particular response. 78

79 79

80 Comments C. Organisational Creativity An open environment where to express ideas and opinions freely and share view with the team emerge to be a recurrent feature in responses both in the survey (C1-C4) and in the interviews. To share/confront opinions and ideas in team is confirmed to be one of the approaches used for fostering creative thinking from the interviews. 21. Creativity and Innovation in Action 5.1 Please analyze survey results from section Creativity and Innovation in Action providing the data in a graph and numeric format (e.g. tables). You might: Create a frequency histogram of the responses for each question to demonstrate the variation in the responses Use a bar chart to display the percent of respondents selecting particular response. In this section you shall also make a short comment on: The main areas of usage creativity and innovation in ICT SMEs in your country identifying at the same time the main company activities/departments which most lack creative thinking in ICT SMEs; The factors that most support creativity and innovation at work; The creativity and innovation approaches, tools and methods used in ICT SMEs according to the survey results in your country. 80

81 D.1 Where are creativity and innovation used in your company? Comments The areas in which creativity and innovation are mostly used are research, (90%), finding new ideas (65%) marketing (55%). The area in which it is not used is accounting. D.2 Who in the organization gives creativity and innovation inputs and ideas? 81

82 Comments The majority of respondents indicated management/ceo as the main actor to ensure creativity and innovation input in the organisation. Product and innovation development team (35%) and all (35%) are considered as well, the interviewees in focus groups, although stating management/ceo as the main actors of ensuring a creative atmosphere within the company, underlined that the contributes of each member of the team/organisation are essential and equally important to foster creativity and innovation inputs. D.3 Which are the factors that most support your creativity and innovation at you workplace? Comments The answers to this question confirm that the working environment and the work atmosphere are the main factors that support creativity and innovation at the workplace. D.4 Which creativity and innovation approaches, tools and methods are used in your company 82

83 Comments The cooperation with clients emerges to be the main approach to creativity and innovation (60%). Creativity techniques (45%) are considered as well, within the focus groups the following approaches and tools have been listed: brainstorming, mind maps, weekly briefings, design thinking (oriented to final users), share/confront opinions and ideas in team. None of the participants in the survey has indicated ideation boxes; while the lowest share is for workshops (5%). 22. Creativity and Innovation Training 6.1 Please analyze survey results from section Creativity and Innovation Training providing the data in a graph and numeric format (e.g. tables). You might: Create a frequency histogram of the responses for each question to demonstrate the variation in the responses Use a bar chart to display the percent of respondents selecting particular response. In this section you shall also make a short comment on: 83

84 The type of creative thinking and innovation skills respondents would find useful to train, develop and boost at work; The best training approach for ICT employees and employers. E.1 Have you received innovation and/or creativity training at your workplace? E.2 (if yes) In what form have you received creativity and innovation training at your workplace? Comments Only the half of respondents has received a training in innovation/creativity in the workplace. The training took place in the form of learning by doing for the majority of respondents (90,9 %). With a share of 36,4% we have online training, seminars and lectures, discussion and debates. No one indicated as a response learning games, drama and role play, visual learning. E.3 In what topics have you received or would be interested to receive training at your workplace? 84

85 1) I ve been already trained in : 2) I m interested in receiving training in: Comments Concerning the answers related to the received training, two more answers have been added (other): project management/indexing, SEO, Social Marketing. As far as the training topics are concerned, the greatest interest is for change management (50%), followed by product innovation (43,8%) innovation culture, idea management, open innovation (37,5%). What kind of learning approach is the most useful for you? 85

86 Comments The favorite approaches to learning are: training in real work settings (65%), e-learning (50%), business simulation (35%). Traditional classroom training has the lowest share. What emerges so far and as confirmed by the results of the focus groups is that a practical approach to learning is favoured by the organisation working in the ICT sector. 23. Additional Comments 5.1 Please give a short analysis of the level of creativity and innovation of the ICT SMEs according to the survey results in your country. Hint: To analyze the level of creativity and innovation of the ICT SMEs you shall pay attention to all survey sections compiling and summarizing results provided. The level of creativity and innovation is considered high e.g. for setting innovation goals (C2), involvement of the team/members in creativity and innovation processes (C1, C3, C4) as well as for attitude towards the allocation of time and resources for innovation and motivation to new approaches (C5, C6). As for the use of techniques to increase employees motivation and boost their performance we the majority of respondents state to be neutral (C7), this is valid also for the team buildings, group workshops and trainings in order to enhance team performance and creativity (C15), while the work setting is considered by the majority of participants in the survey as supportive of creativity at work (C14). Employees are given a satisfying level of autonomy for performing tasks (C8) and their opinions are taken into consideration (C9), supporting exchange of ideas and communication within the organisation (C10), and sharing of knowledge (C11). Risk taking is tolerated by the majority of respondents (C13), and the network of the organisation is considered a trigger of creativity and innovation (C14). Creativity and innovation are applied mostly in research, (90%), finding new ideas (65%) marketing (55%). 86

87 The working environment and the exchange of ideas/views among colleagues are the main factors that support creativity and innovation at the workplace. The cooperation with clients emerges to be the main approach to creativity and innovation (60%). 5.2 Please comment on the barriers to creative thinking and innovation in ICT SMEs*emerging from the online survey in your country. Findings show that everyday routine and time pressure are the main barriers to creating thinking in ICT SMEs. Questions B14 ( Everyday routine doesn t impede on my creativity ) and B15 ( Time pressure inhibits my individual creativity at work ) shows the majority of responses to be neutral, followed by disagree for B14. Question B7, I avoid following procedures strictly by the rules, has received answers that range from neutral to disagree. Procedures are not seen as an obstacle or a limitation to creativity but as an instrument to pursue and achieve an objective. Results from focus groups have clarified that creativity without direction may produce problems to the organisation such as waste of time/resources. 87

88 COUNTRY REPORT Conduction of Online Survey in Estonia /O1/ H. ACTIVITY INFORMATION Report objective: Time frame for online survey conduction /O1/: Deadline for submitting the report: To collect and analyze responses from the online survey conducted in the Estonia February 15-19, 2016 February 22-26, 2016 I. REVIEW OF ONLINE SURVEY RESULTS 24. Basic Report Information 1.1 Partner organization: TALLINNA TEHNIKAÜLIKOOL 1.2 Period of online survey conduction /O1/: February 15-19, Number of completed surveys: Number of represented organizations: Reporting date:

89 25. Participant Details Type of ICT companies/type of activity, share in %: 2. Number of employees in the company, share in %: 89

90 In chart: companies that are marked with more than 250 employees are not an ICT companies. These are coming from other sectors but they have own big IT departments and the survey participants are working for those companies in IT field. This is why we made a special category for companies like that Profile of participants/current position, share in %: 90

91 2. Work experience, share in %: 26. Individual Creativity 3.1 Survive result from section Individual Creativity. In this section we created a frequency histogram of the responses for each question to demonstrate the variation in the responses: 1. Creativity at work is important to me. More than 50% think that is creativity at their workplace important for them. 91

92 2. I am not afraid when facing challenges at work. 3. I feel confident that I can perform creatively on many different tasks at work. 4. I demonstrate originality at my work. 92

93 5. I see problems, complaints, and bottlenecks as opportunities rather than as issues. 6. My colleagues think of me as a creative employee. 7. I avoid following procedures strictly by the rules. 93

94 8. I am very astute person (I have the ability to see how to take advantage of a certain situation). 9. I am versatile person and I can easily come up with innovative solutions no matter the work field. 10. I look for things in my environment to inspire me to find new interpretations of problems. 94

95 11. My previous experience makes me more creative in the workplace. 12. The opinion of other work colleagues has a positive effect on my individual creativity. 13. I ignore good ideas because I do not have the resources to implement them. 95

96 14. Everyday routine does not impede on my creativity. 15. Time pressure inhibits my individual creativity at work. Most of participants believe that creativity at work is important to employees, they are not afraid facing challenges at work, they try to demonstrate originality during doing their job, and they do not ignore good ideas. However, about half of respondents said that they follow the rules and procedures. In this case, it could be linked with mentality of Estonian people: "do what you need to be done by the due date just as you were taught to do it", in other words people are tending to follow rules and instructions. It could be barrier for being creative and innovative at work. 96

97 27. Organizational Creativity 4.1 Survive result from section Organizational Creativity providing the data in a graph and numeric format: 1. My organization shares visions and goals clearly with all employees. 2. In my organization, we set goals for innovation (new ideas for products, services, processes). 97

98 3. My organization supports participation of staff in decision-making. 4. My organization supports freedom to express ideas. 5. My organization acts on new ideas providing the time and resources to develop and implement those ideas worth acting upon. 98

99 6. My organization encourages employees to keep looking anew at the way they approach their work. 7. My organization implements techniques for increasing employees motivation and boosting their performance (brainstorming, lateral thinking and mind-mapping, etc.) 8. My organization gives a satisfying level of autonomy to employees in performing tasks. 99

100 9. My organization periodically gathers employees opinion about alternative ways of working and what might be achieved by doing things differently. 10. My organization supports open (frequent exchange of ideas, etc.) communication amongst employees. 11. My organization supports knowledge sharing (via formal/ informal meetings, etc.) 100

101 12. My organization s (internal and external) network triggers creativity at work. 13. My organization tolerates a certain amount of risk-taking allowing at the same time employees to learn from their mistakes. 14. My work setting (well illuminated, relaxing, quiet, clean, etc.) supports creativity at work. 101

102 15. My organization organizes team buildings, group workshops and trainings in order to enhance team performance and creativity. In this section, many participants answered neutrally. The reason could be that people are not aware of how their organization helps employees to be creative or they do not want to give an answer. However, most participants answered, that their organization supports freedom to express ideas and organizes team building and group workshops in order to enchase team performance and creativity. Analyzing data a strange situation appeared, as most of the employees believe that organization supports open communication amongst employees and knowledge sharing, but only 49% believe that their organization s internal and external network triggers creativity at work and 40% answered neutrally. All participants from interview mentioned that the level of creativity in their companies is very high. In some companies, the atmosphere is very free and they always searching for innovative solutions, but in some companies the creativity is ignored, because some projects has very specific rules and requirements (public sector). All participants from interview agreed that creative thinking could improve the results of their company, because it could make customers happier if they get effective and attractive solution. Additionally, using creative thinking in the company is step forward from where others are. Overall, all participants agreed that cooperating with other organizations is very important, because it gives different valuable insight and sharing of experience especially if very needed when you need to know a pros and cons of some software for example. However, as online survey shows (Sector D), cooperation with other organizations is not very popular approach among organizations. All participants from interview agreed that creative thinking is encouraging and vital, but several participants strongly felt that in their organization there is no time for the implementation of new ideas. However, most of participants noted that they use creative thinking in their organizations and leaders encourage the use of new solutions. 102

103 28. Creativity and Innovation in Action 5.1 Survey result from section Creativity and Innovation in Action providing the data in a graph and numeric format: 1. D1. Where are creativity and innovation used in your company? 2. D2. Who in the organization gives creativity and innovation inputs and ideas? 103

104 3. D3. Which are the factors that most support your creativity and innovation at your workplace? 4. D4. Which creativity and innovation approaches, tools and methods are used in your company? 104

105 The main areas of usage of creativity and innovation in ICT SMEs in Estonia are Research, product and service development; Company strategy; Marketing; Optimizing individual work processes and Finding new ideas. In the organizations, creativity and innovation inputs and ideas give mostly Management/CEO and employees in direct contact with the customers. Some creativity and innovation inputs and ideas come from Product and innovation development team and employees in product production and internal processes. It shows that management takes care about creativity in their organizations and customers have another viewpoint of the product. Sometimes if employees have no time limit, they can produce creativity and innovation inputs and ideas into their work in more efficient way. The main company departments, which most lack creative thinking in ICT SMEs in Estonia is Accounting and administration. In addition, less creativity and innovation inputs and ideas come from Public relation teams and External consultants and organizations. The factors that most support creativity and innovation at work are Workplace atmosphere; Colleagues engaged in similar tasks and innovative and motivating work environment. Some other factors as Colleagues dealing with other task and Personal networks support creativity and innovation at work a little bit less. It is positive, because the same results show Individual and Organization creativity sections. The creativity and innovation approaches, tools and methods used in ICT SMEs in Estonia are Creativity techniques (e.g. brainstorming, mind mapping); Cooperation with clients; Cooperation 105

106 with users; Trainings. Cooperation with clients or users shows good result to give creativity and innovation inputs and ideas inside organization. Not high results shows Cooperation between sectors and departments within organization; Cooperation with other organizations and companies; Open innovation; Public development team; Ideas board e.g. in the kitchen, staff room and office and Workshops. It could be that organization do not do cooperation work and do not share ideas with other organizations. Very sad, that employees do not share their thoughts in the kitchen. Maybe it could again be linked with Estonian mentality or respondents just do not like share their ideas. However, Organization creativity survey shows, that organizations share knowledge and support open communication amongst employees, but the same questions that were mentioned before do not give the same result in this section. Most of participants from interview said, that they do not know to what disadvantage for their company the lack of creativity and innovation led. However, two answers were interesting and worthy of note: changes in the testing area has the resistance, which was one reason why the testmanager quit his job; trying to implement software functionality by the documentation cost a lot of valuable time because it was discovered too late that it could have been made in an easier way. It seems like conflict, because the creative thinking is encouraged and needed, but no one want to implement innovations in their process. These two examples about lack of creativity of innovation were from those employees, who answered, that in their companies creative thinking is encouraged and needed and they use tools for innovative creativity. Most of participants from interview asked, that they do not know a business case in their companies where the implemented innovation idea led to business success. Only two answers were: discover value with connecting two big-time companies via a developed plugin; during corporate event tickets were scanned for Mobile and visitor names and the company name appeared on the big screens in large. This created a very good impression on customers. Two examples of a business case were from those employees, who answered, that in their companies creative thinking is encouraged and needed and they use tools for innovative creativity. One of them was from company, where trying to implement a software functionality by the documentation cost a lot of valuable time because it was discovered too late that it could have been made in an easier way. The main barriers for creativity and innovation development in companies according to respondents are lack of time, lack of experience and trainings, lack of colleagues, no motivation package and limited thinking. As we see in figure D3 of online survey, the minor factors that most support their creativity and innovation are Motivation system, External creativity trainers and tools, Professional networks and Management. If we compare those answers, we can see that there is the same picture. It is positive for survey. However, company managers can change those factors by including more trainings for employees, give them more time to implement and improve creativity. Opposite to those factors that most support interviewed employee s creativity and innovation at their workplace are Workplace atmosphere and colleagues engaged In the similar tasks. This atmosphere can help with using creativity at work even though they have time limit for implementing ideas. Because cooperation with other colleagues motivates and brings good results. All of participants from interview said, that the main actors of ensuring a creative atmosphere within their company is Manager/CEO. Analyzing data from online survey and interviews shows that Manager/CEO gives creativity and innovation inputs and ideas, but in the same time, they are 106

107 the barriers for creativity and innovation development in the companies. Management/CEO wants to use innovative and creative thinking in the companies, but do not give the time and resources for implementation and trainings to increase the knowledge. 107

108 29. Creativity and Innovation Training 6.1 Survey results section Creativity and Innovation Training providing the data in a graph and numeric format: 1. E1. Have you received innovation and/ or creativity training at your workplace? 2. E2. (If Yes) In what form have you received creativity and innovation training at your workplace? 108

109 3. E3.1. In what topics, have you received training at your workplace? 4. E3.2. In what topics would you be interested to receive training at your workplace? 109

110 5. E4. What kind of learning approach is the most useful for you? Over 70% of respondents answered that they do not have received innovation or creativity trainings at their workplace. It shows that our organizations must help employees activate and develop creativity and innovation in their workplace. The type of creative thinking and innovation skills that participants find useful to train, develop and boost at work are Design thinking; Idea generation; Product/Service innovation; Innovation and strategy; Innovation and foresight. These 5 choices is the best description for thinking innovation. Respondents know what creative thinking is, and want to do it better. The best training approach for ICT employees and employers is The training in real work. The reason is that it is better to describe how to use theoretical knowledge in real work. Some respondents like Blended learning and Training led by an instructor or mentor. Less respondents use e-learning and Learning through game. It shows that employees want to get new knowledge and materials quickly and they need exactly to know, why they need it and where they can use it. The participants from interview said that the innovation and creativity skills that are the most important for the success of the company are skills to show yourself or your product as different from others and approaching every customer personally; sharing experience and communicate professionals for supporting; ability to see the bigger picture, good analysis skills and generate ideas; thinking out of box and fearlessness to be different. However, for employees type of creative thinking and innovation skills that are useful to train and develop were innovative solution; having focus on easy-and-useful ways to create better product; analytical skills; thinking out of the box and idea generation. The graph E3.1 shows that organizations are mostly providing next trainings: Idea generation; Innovation and strategy; Continuous innovation; Innovation and foresight; Creativity techniques; Design thinking; Product and service innovation; Idea management; Open innovation. First, interviewees had good overview about what are the creativity skills that are the most important for the success of the company. Second, trainings that provided by companies helped to create product different from others are product and service innovation and Creativity techniques trainings. Design thinking and idea management trainings helps employees and managements have good analysis skills, generate ideas and thinking out of box without fear to be different. In this case were provided the same trainings as employees thought which creativity skills are good for company success. 110

111 All participants from interview mentioned, that the ideal of boosting creativity and innovation and type of learning is the most effective in their companies and ICT employees in general is exercise. Online survey E2 figure shows that those companies has provided next trainings: Learning games and simulations; Seminars and lectures; Learning by doing; Discussions and debates; visual learning; Tutoring and mentoring. Online survey participants said, that most useful for them were Training in real work setting and Training led by an instructor or a mentor. It shows that companies need to provide more exercises, because this is better choice for their employees as they mentioned in interview and online survey. 30. Additional Comments 7.1 Short analysis of the level of creativity and innovation of the ICT SMEs according to the survey results in Estonia. Analyzing the level of creativity and innovation of the ICT SMEs in Estonia online survey shows that employees know what are creativity and innovation, they want to use it, but unfortunately mentality, and time limits prevent to be creative at work. At the same time, work settings, using innovative techniques and hardware for working, workplace atmosphere and colleagues engaged in similar tasks supports their creativity at work. Organizations do team buildings, group workshops and trainings; support open communications amongst employees and support knowledge sharing, but because of mentality or human characteristics, respondents answered, that they do not share their ideas in the kitchen and organizations do not support cooperation work with other corporations. It seems that level of creativity and innovation of the ICT SMEs is low because something prevents to develop and use creativity on high level. 7.2 Barriers to creative thinking and innovation in ICT SMEs emerging from the online survive in Estonia: #1: Lack Of Direction- analysis of statements C1, C2 and C3 In Estonia ICT SMEs organizations share vision and goals clearly with all employees, support participation of staff in decision making and employee's set goals for innovation. However, 20% answered neutrally. It could mean, that they are a new staff in organization, or in their organization goals and objectives are not very clear for them, or they do not care about goals and visions of organization. It is a small mistake of management. #2: Lack of Time or Other Resources - analysis of statements B10, B15, C5, and C14 Unfortunately, many projects in Estonian ICT field have time limit. As a reason of tough competition, companies are trying to win projects by proposing the best possible completion time to customer. Our study shows that adding time limit to project inhibits individual creativity at work of over than 50% of interviewees. Additionally 90% of respondents claim that they look for things in their environment to inspire themselves to find new interpretations of problems. 61% of participants noted having work settings, which supports creativity at work. It helps them to demonstrate originality at work. 49% of 111

112 interviewees believe that their company acts on new ideas providing time and resources to develop and implement those ideas. Analysis of online survey data shows that half of participants are under time pressure but company helps its employees by providing good environment, work settings and resources for acting on new ideas. #3: Lack of Experience with Creativity and Innovation analysis of statements B4, B6 and B11 Analyzing Work Experience chart: 94% of respondents have work experience of over 5 years and 70% believes that their previous experience makes them more creative in the current workplace. The more you have experience the better you understand how to be creative in your work field. People with bigger work experience have broader vision and more knowledge. However, it is not possible to make sure, if they are creative or not. The answer of these respondents is "Yes". Still the opinion of their colleagues is unknown because of 50% participants answered neutrally. Only 39% of interviewees are aware of what their colleagues think about them as a creative person. Nevertheless, most of respondents believe that the opinion of co-workers have a positive impact on individual creativity. #4: Lack of Empowerment and Encouragement for Staff - analysis of statements B3, C3 and C8 Respondents believe that organization supports them in making decision; organization gives a satisfying level of autonomy to employees in performing tasks and they feel confident that they can perform creatively on many different tasks and works. It seems that there no lack of Empowerment and Encouragement for staff. Maybe, if some organizations will not use time limit, this level of supporting and freedom in performing tasks will be higher. #5: Fear Of Failure analysis of statements C8 and C13 Employees in Estonian organizations do not have fear of failure, due to organizations giving them a satisfying level of autonomy in performing tasks and organizations tolerating a certain amount of risktaking allowing at the same time employees to learn from their mistakes. #6: Fear Of Criticism analysis of statements B2, B3, B5, B12, C6 and C13 The level of fear of criticism from organization is low in Estonian organizations. Employees not afraid when facing challenges at work and they feel confident that they can perform creatively on many different tasks at work, because organization tolerates a certain amount of risk-taking allowing at the same time employees to learn from their mistakes. Organizations are not criticizing a lot employee's works, but conversely, are supporting them. What about fear of criticism from colleagues? Employees in organizations do not know, what colleagues think about them, maybe because they do not share their ideas in the kitchen. It can be that employees have fear of criticism, because they do not share ideas, or just local mentality and no fear of criticism from colleagues. #7: Striving For Constancy analysis of statements B2, B7, B9, B14, C6 and C9 As data shows: organizations encourage employees to keep looking anew at the way they approach their work, but 40% of participants do not agree that organizations periodically gather employees opinion about alternative ways of working and what might be achieved by doing things differently. At the time, 50% of interviewees are not versatile persons and can easily come up with innovative solutions no matter the work field. Organizations do a lot to help and support employees creativity and innovativity, but people's nature or local mentality do not allow to use this help to develop human potential. Most employees are not afraid of facing challenges at work, but they have procedures and rules to follow for 112

113 eliminating their challenges, because most employees have routines at the work, and this kills potential, which will hinder them from achieving success. #8: Passive Vs. Proactive Thinking analysis of statements B3, B4, B5, B8, B9, C4, C7, C9 C12, C14, C15 It seems that mentality, human passive nature, time limits and routines contribute to not stimulating people s minds with new ideas and information; this is why they lose their vitality and energy. However, organizations are trying to help their employees by supporting open communication amongst employees, by sharing knowledge, by organizing work settings for supporting creativity at work, and by organizing team buildings, group workshops and trainings. Seems that organizations should provide more cooperation with other organizations and lessen the impact of time limits and routines; then the employees may use more proactive thinking in their everyday work. 113

114 COUNTRY REPORT SPAIN Conduction of Online Survey in Partner Countries /O1/ J. ACTIVITY INFORMATION Report objective: Time frame for online survey conduction /O1/: Deadline for submitting the report: To collect and analyse responses from the online survey conducted in the partner country February 15-19, 2016 February 22-26, 2016 K. REVIEW OF ONLINE SURVEY RESULTS This report has been developed as part of the Erasmus + supported INNOSPARK Project. The aim of the project is the development of an intergraded training framework (material and methodologies) for Creativity and Innovation. INNOSPARK aims to train individuals with the relevant creativity skills needed in the ICT sector, attract new ICT talents and as a consequence - to fuel innovation, productivity and growth in the EU Among others INNOSPARK courses will include techniques of how to build frameworks for filtering and value high quality ideas as well as to identify the negative attitudes that block Creativity and Innovation (organizational and personal), how to foster a climate of creativity, what are the characteristics of the creative person, where to look for new ideas and how to identify them when they occur. One of the initial phases of the project involved a Training Needs Analysis across the participating countries. This analysis will verify the needs of European ICT SMEs and potential users in relation to Creativity and Innovation Management as well as helping to define the characteristics and guiding the development of the training material and the methodology to be followed. The following report analyses the results of the Training Needs Analysis undertaken in Spain. Twenty two responses were received all of them coming from the private sector. Because of the relatively small sample size it was decided instead of applying full statistical principals to this analysis, to investigate only the existing trends identified in respondents opinion. Nevertheless this study gives a good insight as to the current awareness and level of Creativity and Innovation in the ICT sector in Spain. 114

115 Research Methodology Target SMEs and public sector organisations related to ICT sector were contacted by using survey monkey software. s were sent to 160 target clients. The main focus of the outlined the purpose of the project, highlighting the aim of the research. The also contained a link to the poll translated in Spanish. The Spanish team (Tecnalia) started by using a database of SMEs that have successfully implemented a Management Improvement Programme based on the EFQM model called PREMIE which is promoted by the Diputación Foral de Bizkaia since 10 years ago, with the Collaboration of the Regional Development Unit of Tecnalia. This database was completed with a web research (database, web site, etc.). The research resulted in around 100 organisations, most of them local SMEs. The Spanish Team faced considerable difficulties in finding respondents interested in devoting some time to filling the questionnaire out. The total number of answers collected was twenty two and the target number was twenty. In many cases responses were received directly as a result of the mail shot and follow-up. In other cases, however, it was necessary to follow-up with telephone calls in order to secure some of the responses. Context information 7 : Spain is one of the most important ICT market by volume in Europe: 89,894 Million. There are more than 30,000 ICT companies, including digital content, operating in Spain. The sector is currently 1 employing more than 425,000 workers. The gross added value at market prices represents the 4.4% of GDP in Spanish companies are present and recognized in major international markets Spain is a leader in advanced technologies i. Spanish software for landing is worldwide renowned and used ii. Major events/complex, distributed international delivery iii. High-Tech and Defense Industry iv. Telecommunications, Utilities, Energy, Banking 7 ICEX Report: ICT Sector in Spain

116 31. Basic Report Information 1.1 Partner organization: FUNDACIÓN TECNALIA RESEARCH & INNOVATION 1.2 Period of online survey conduction /O1/: 29 TH February March 21 st Number of completed surveys: Number of represented organizations: Reporting date: 25 th March Participant Details 2.1 Type of ICT companies / type of activity and number of employees share in %/ In analysing the responses Concerning the profile of the respondents, 27% were top managers, 33% belong to middle management and 40% in the core staff. Furthermore, respondents were asked to state the number of employees in the company they worked for, 40% of the respondents belonged to companies with among 10 and 50 employees, being SMEs employees the most representative share of respondents. Figure

117 2.2 Profile of participants / current position and work experience share in %/: 38% of respondents had less than five years experience with their current organisation, 61% had work experience for more than five years Figure

118 33. Individual Creativity Project Title: Sparking Creativity and Innovation Skills in the ICT Sector 3.1 Please analyze survey results from section Individual Creativity providing the data in a graph and numeric format (e.g. tables). Figure 1 3 This part of the survey aims to discover if an employee believes themselves to be creative, if they act creatively in his/her workplace and what he/ she believes to be the issues which affect individual creativity. When it comes to Spain, in general the respondents identify the creativity as an important aspect at their work environments, as most of the respondents agree or strongly agree that this is an important part. Overall, most of the respondents identify themselves as original and creative persons. The highest positive answers when it comes to Individual Creativity belong to the following statements: Creativity is important to me The opinion of other work colleagues has a positive effect on my individual creativity This means that in the workplace context the creative output of employees is often related to others opinions. On the contrary, the highest non- positive answers belong to the following two statements: I ignore good ideas because I don't have the resources to implement them. Everyday routine doesn t impede on my creativity. 118

119 I see problems, complaints, and bottlenecks as opportunities rather than as issues. The main concerns related to negative impact in developing creativity are the lack of resources and routines together with the lack of time On the other hand problems and bottlenecks are not perceived in general as opportunities. The following Figure sums up the variation in the responses obtained: Figure

120 34. Organizational Creativity Project Title: Sparking Creativity and Innovation Skills in the ICT Sector 4.1 Please analyze survey results from section Organizational Creativity providing the data in a graph and numeric format (e.g. tables). Answer Options Stro ng ly Stro ng ly Ra ting Re sp o nse Ag re e Ne utra l Disa g re e Ag re e Disa g re e Ave ra g e Co unt My organization shares visions and goals clearly with all employees ,91 22 In my organization we set goals for innovation (new ideas for products, services, processes) ,68 22 My organization supports participation of staff in decision making ,09 22 My organization supports freedom to express ideas ,05 22 My organization acts on new ideas providing the time and resources to develop and implement those ideas ,27 22 My organization encourages employees to keep looking anew at the way they approach their work ,14 22 My organization implements techniques for increasing employees motivation and boosting their performance ,18 22 My organization gives a satisfying level of autonomy to employees in performing tasks ,86 22 My organization periodically gathers employees opinion about alternative ways of working and what might be ,86 22 My organization supports open (frequent exchange of ideas, etc.) communication amongst employees ,68 22 My organization supports knowledge sharing (via formal/ informal meetings, etc.) ,50 22 My organization s (internal and external) network triggers creativity at work ,68 22 My organization tolerates a certain amount of risk-taking allowing at the same time employees to learn from their ,36 22 My work setting (well illuminated, relaxing, quiet, clean, etc.) supports creativity at work ,09 22 My organization organizes team buildings, group workshops and trainings in order to enhance team performance ,41 22 Figure 1 5 The answers in this section are focused on some the factors that affect organisational creativity and innovation and assesses if organisations implement creativity techniques and strategies which help to enhance creativity. Amongst the respondents who completed the questionnaire (22 in total), confirmed that they are working in a quite traditional line of business. Regarding creativity. At this point, it is really important to stress out the status of each responding organization so as to observe the level of innovation in use and their familiarity to its components including Creativity. As it is depicted in the following graph and concerning the status of each respondent Many of them thought that the organization/ enterprise is not supportive enough towards the employees with regards to risk-taking and that it does not penalize them when they fail. In general the respondents agreed with the fact that employees have the chances to share their creative potential within their organization and propose new solutions. The highest positive answers when it comes to Organizational Creativity belong to the following statements: In my organization we set goals for innovation (new ideas for products, services, processes). My organization supports open (frequent exchange of ideas, etc.) communication amongst employees. answered question skipped question

121 My organization s (internal and external) network triggers creativity at work. So, networks, exchange of ideas and product or service innovation reflections are the most popular strategies which help to enhance creativity On the contrary, the highest non- positive answers belong to the following two statements: My organization tolerates a certain amount of risk-taking allowing at the same time employees to learn from their mistakes. My organization organizes team buildings, group workshops and trainings in order to enhance team performance and creativity. My organization acts on new ideas providing the time and resources to develop and implement those ideas worth acting upon. This means that in general there is a lack of training related to this topic and enterprise is not supportive enough towards the employees with regards to risk-taking. In coherence with the previous question (Individual creativity) main concerns developing creativity are the lack of resources together with the lack of time. The following Figure sums up the variation in the responses obtained: Figure

122 35. Creativity and Innovation in Action 5.1 Please analyze survey results from section Creativity and Innovation in Action providing the data in a graph and numeric format (e.g. tables). This question aims at who are the main actors in building a creative environment in the organization; and what are the main creativity and innovation tools, skills, methods and approaches used at the workplace in the ICT companies. In a related question participants were asked about where creativity is used in the company. In the following graph someone could notice the significance of each of the above categories. The main areas of usage creativity and innovation in ICT SMEs in Spain are Research, product and service development and Company strategy followed by Finding new ideas. lack creative thinking in ICT SMEs; When it comes to the actors involved in Creativity Management, the main company activities/departments which most lack creative thinking in Spanish ICT SMEs are: Employees in production and other internal processes Employees in direct contact with the customers Public relations team On the contrary Product Development teams together with the Marketing Departments and CEOs is where Creativity Management is mainly concentrated. 122

123 Figure 1 7 The factors that most support creativity and innovation at work are, as described I the graph below: Workplace atmosphere (interpersonal) Colleagues engaged in similar tasks Professional networks Innovative and motivating working environment 123

124 To conclude, the creativity and innovation approaches, tools and methods used in ICT SMEs according to the survey results in Spain show the following ranking : Cooperation with users Participating in local, regional and national development programmes Training Consultants Cooperation between sectors and departments within organisation (multi-disciplinary) Cooperation with other organisations and companies Creativity techniques (e.g. brainstorming, mind-mapping) Cooperation with research organisations and universities. Open innovation Product development teams Workshops Benchmarking other sectors and disciplines Cooperation with clients Innovation boot camps or intensive courses Ideation boxes for new ideas and initiatives Idea boards e.g. in the kitchen, staff room and office 124

125 The following graph show the percentage of responses for each of the categories: 36. Creativity and Innovation Training 125

126 6.1 Please analyze survey results from section Creativity and Innovation Training providing the data in a graph and numeric format (e.g. tables). Only the 36% of the respondents have received Creativity and Innovation Training in their professional lives. I In this regard, the ones who have received training, the most popular form have been through Learning by Doing, Visual Learning, Learning games and simulations followed by Seminars and Lectures and Discussion and Debates. And taking into consideration the topics in which respondents have been trained, the respondents answered that have received training in: Ideas generation, Operational innovation and Innovation and strategy. 126

127 The type of creative thinking and innovation skills respondents would find useful to train, develop and boost at work show preference in the following topics: Design Thinking Ideas Generation Crowdsourcing Service Innovation Idea Management 127

128 The best training approach for ICT employees and employers is through E-Learning and Trainning in real work settings, followed by Blended Learning and Self training. 128

129 37. Additional Comments 5.1 Please give a short analysis of the level of creativity and innovation of the ICT SMEs according to the survey results in your country. Please comment on the barriers to creative thinking and innovation in ICT SMEs* emerging from the online survey in your country. It could be said that Spanish organizations view Creativity and Innovation as an important topic, as evidenced from their responses to issues concerning: categories of connection to creativity, risktaking, team and individual creativity, important factors capable of nurturing creativity. This view is further supported by the fact that in the majority they are familiar with the term Creativity and Innovation or at least they have used it in their working experience and have acknowledged its characteristics and usefulness. But on the other hand, they could absolutely gain more knowledge and expertise after acquiring training tools for a further exploitation of Creativity. As a further insight to the analysis and as it is acknowledged from the above survey, some of the most fundamental connections that the participating Spanish organizations/ enterprises gave to creativity have to do with idea sharing as well as the idea that the creative output of employees is often related to others opinions. The notion behind creativity is mainly supported by the different ideas being shared among employees. At this point, it is very important to take into account another important element of creativity application which could be attributed to team creativity and networks. Linked to that, internal communication as well as collaboration is being considered as a very important factor that could nurture creativity at work, together with the workplace atmosphere (interpersonal). Networks, exchange of ideas and product or service innovation reflections are the most popular strategies which help to enhance creativity according to the survey respondents. Another important point that could be drawn from the above analysis is the fact that a big percentage of respondents have stated that in general, enterprises are not supportive enough towards the employees with regards to risk-taking when it comes to idea generation and Creativity. The main concerns developing creativity are the lack of resources together with the lack of time. There are some more fundamental issues to be considered as many of the Spanish respondents have stressed out that have never received any training on creativity. The ones who have received training, the most popular form have been through Learning by Doing, Visual Learning, Learning games and simulations followed by Seminars and Lectures and Discussion and Debates. Nevertheless, most of the proposed materials for training received positive feedback. The type of creative thinking and innovation skills respondents would find useful to train, develop and boost at work show preference in the following topics: Design Thinking, Ideas Generation Crowdsourcing, Service Innovation and Idea Management. The participants were mostly interested in the conduction of the training through E-Learning and Trainning in real work settings, followed by Blended Learning and Self training. It seems that people mainly prefer visual and more interactive means of training rather than the old traditional way. 129

130 This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. 130