THE ROLE OF CREATIVITY IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Dr Ian Fillis, University of Stirling, Scotland
Professor Ruth Rentschler, Deakin University, Australia
Contact author:
Dr Ian Fillis
Senior Lecturer
Department of Marketing
University of Stirling
Stirling FK9 4LA
Scotland, UK
Tel: 01786 467392
Fax: 01786 464745
e-mail: i.r.fillis@stir.ac.uk
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THE ROLE OF CREATIVITY IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Abstract:
This paper evaluates the contribution of creativity to entrepreneurship theory and
practice in terms of building an holistic and transdisciplinary understanding of its
impact. Acknowledgement is made of the subjectivist theory of entrepreneurship
which embraces randomness, uncertainty and ambiguity but these factors should then
be embedded in wider business and social contexts. The analysis is synthesised into a
number of themes, from consideration of its definition, its link with personality and
cognitive style, creativity as a process and the use of biography in uncovering data on
creative entrepreneurial behaviour. Other relevant areas of discussion include
creativity’s link with motivation, actualisation and innovation, as well as the
interrogation of entrepreneurial artists as owner/managers. These factors are
embedded in a critical evaluation of how creativity contributes to successful
entrepreneurship practice. Modelling, measuring and testing entrepreneurial creativity
are also considered and the paper includes detailed consideration of several models of
creativity in entrepreneurship. Recommendations for future theory and practice are
also made.
Introduction:
A change in the economy has been identified recently, moving from knowledge based
activities to creativity, innovation, entrepreneurship and imagination (van den Broeck
et al. 2008; Oke et al. 2009). Increasing globalisation and technology effects have
resulted in more business opportunities but the marketplace has also become more
crowded and competition has increased (McMullan and Shepherd 2006). Creativity
enables the entrepreneur to act on these opportunities in ways which can result in
competitive advantage for the organisation. It can provide the basis for innovation and
business growth, as well as impacting positively on society generally (Bilton 2007).
Entrepreneurship occurs in all types and sizes of organisations, from the domestic
microenterprise to the global corporation. Entrepreneurship can be defined as the
process of creating value for business and social communities by bringing together
unique combinations of public and private resources to exploit economic, social or
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cultural opportunities in an environment of change. Creativity has been viewed as the
construction of ideas or products which are new and potentially useful (Amabile
1988), although in an entrepreneurial sense there should also be a subsequent link to
innovation and profitability in monetary and social terms. These ideas can be
internally or externally located, although the entrepreneur will tend to search and
identify potential solutions shaped in part by internal competencies. Creativity allows
the organisation to take advantage of opportunities which develop as the result of
changing environmental conditions (Shalley et al. 2004).
Entrepreneurship has three central underlying dimensions: innovation, risk-taking and
proactiveness. Innovation is the manner in which the entrepreneur searches for new
opportunities, or the way in which ideas are brought to a profitable conclusion. The
test of innovation lies in its success in the marketplace of ideas, rather than in its
novelty alone. Risk-taking refers to the manner in which innovation is embedded in
the organisation, society or community. It also relates to the willingness of people to
commit significant resources to opportunities that are calculated to succeed. Pro-
activeness is concerned with making things happen by perseverance, adaptability and
by breaking with the established ways of doing things. Creativity involves a
perceptual response to the environment which may induce a high or low frequency of
creative endeavour. The term ‘creative intensity’ is used by Morris et al. (2003) to
illustrate the combined effects of the degree and frequency of creative behaviour at
the individual, organisational or societal levels. Individual creativity within an
organisation contributes to overall competitive advantage and organisational
innovation, while teams or groups of creative individuals increase this advantage
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further (Hirst et al. 2009). The contribution of creativity to today’s changing
economies makes it central to business, scientific and social endeavour.
Blackburn and Kovalainen (2009) call for more critical perspectives in researching
small firms and entrepreneurship and this paper adopts such an approach when
considering how creativity impacts on entrepreneurship. They remark that research
should be embedded in core disciplines such as economics, psychology and sociology
and this paper will show that creativity research in entrepreneurship needs to be
influenced by these and other diverse disciplines. Blackburn and Kovalainen identify
a number of mature, enduring and novel research topics in entrepreneurship but there
is no specific mention of creativity or innovation. This suggests that, although
creativity does impact across a number of areas of entrepreneurship, there is still
much more potential to fulfil. There is no universally accepted definition of creativity,
although there are a number of overlaps in its interpretation. A preliminary analysis
identifies creativity as showing imagination and originality of thought in moving
beyond everyday thinking. It can be characterised by stretching or even breaking the
rules of convention, with even the smallest departure from the norm being deemed
creative. Young (1985) defines creativity as the actualising of our potential, involving
the integration of our logical side with our intuitive side. It can involve an advance in
thought but may also retain links with the past. Ford and Harris (1992) believe it to be
a modifiable and deliberate process which exists to some degree in everybody. Fillis
and Rentschler (2006) view creativity as being able to do imaginative and non-routine
things while also building on tradition to achieve profitable outcomes. Hunter et al
(2007) view creativity as emerging from an interaction between the individual and the
situation, facilitated by an appropriate environment or climate.
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Creativity has a diverse research base which can be highly complex (Mumford and
Gustafson 1988). Creativity research has implications for teaching and learning, and
has been informed by disciplines such as psychometrics, cognitive psychology,
historiometrics, biology and contextual studies (Petrowski 2000). So important is the
impact of creativity on our lives, that a call has been made for the establishment of a
Creativity University, focusing on the teaching and nurturing of the art and skills of
creativity (Duderstadt 2000). However, despite its perceived importance to society, a
number of factors have contributed to the neglect of creativity as a research topic
including the notion that it is a mystical phenomenon involving a spiritual process
which does not sit comfortably with academic scrutiny. The early twentieth century
schools of psychology such as structuralism, functionalism and behaviourism chose to
ignore creativity (Blumenthal 1980), while popularist creativity ‘experts’ promoted
creative thinking without substantiation through testing the validity of their thoughts.
However, there are now publications devoted to creativity research such as the
Journal of Creative Behavior and the Creativity Research Journal which have helped
to introduce an air of respectability to its study.
Increasing importance is now placed on creativity by governments and their advisors
(Robinson 2001). One way of understanding creativity is to think of its particular
attributes within a process, product, place or person (Rhodes 1961), as a form of
expertise (Rich and Weisberg 2004) or as an ability (Vincent et al. 2002). Evidence
of creativity spans many centuries, if not millennia, and so it is important to also
identify any longitudinal historical factors which have shaped it. Creativity has been
linked to genius and in science, business and art, a number of individuals have
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