ENTREPRENEURIAL CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION (part 3)
continuation
4. Discussion
Findings
from both phases of this study indicate high levels of entrepreneurial
creativity and innovation in Malta. The entrepreneurs in this study generate,
develop and implement new ideas for their start-ups, foster a climate that is
conducive to creativity and innovation, and reap the benefits of such a climate
by making good use of their employees’ creative ideas. Furthermore, their
creativity and innovation are reflected in the innovative products and services
that they offer through innovative methods of production and delivery.
The personal
interviews provided various examples of how these entrepreneurs employ their
creative thinking skills to compensate for shortcomings, overcome obstacles and
create opportunities in their start-ups. The telephone interviews later
demonstrated that nearly all entrepreneurs personally generate, develop and
implement new ideas for their start-ups. Together, these findings offer
substantial support for the literature that argues that creativity is central
to and inseparable from the entrepreneurial process (Barringer & Ireland,
2006), and confirms that creative thinking is an essential entrepreneurial
skill (Pretorius et al., 2005).
Creativity
and innovation are contingent upon a supportive climate and a top-down approach
(Kuczmarski, 1996; Thacker & Handscombe, 2003). A supportive climate is in
turn strongly shaped by the attitudes and practices of entrepreneurs who play
such a central role in all business activities. The fact that the entrepreneurs
who participated in this study generate, develop and implement new ideas for
their start-up makes them positive role models for their staff. Furthermore
they provide top-down support and foster an organisational climate that is
conducive to creativity and innovation, according to the criteria dictated by
Martins and Terblanche (2003) and by the Harvard Business Essentials (2003).
The
extensive encouragement and implementation of employees’ ideas are strong
elements of a supportive creative climate (Martins & Terblanche, 2003). The
high percentage of respondents who claimed to practice an open-door policy
indicates ease of communication across all organisational levels. Together with
the reported high levels of trust, this increases the likelihood that employees
would share their ideas with colleagues and superiors, and therefore enhances
creativity and innovation (Martins & Terblanche, 2003).
With regards
to innovative products and services, it is interesting to note that several
respondents in both phases of the study claimed that their products or services
were not only new to the Maltese market but were the first of their kind in the
world. Four respondents declared during the personal interviews that their
products were too advanced for the market of the time. One of these respondents
was even in the process of obtaining an international patent for his product.
Furthermore a high percentage of entrepreneurs reportedly added products or
services which were new to the market, or upgraded their existing products,
services or methods of production or delivery as time elapsed. Although one may
wonder whether these reportedly new-to-market products or services caused any
sleepless nights to their competitors, or whether they were really only me-too
products or trend-of-the-moment products (Kuczmarski, 1996), they may still be
assumed to be indicative of some level of product, service and process
innovation respectively.
5.
Limitations and Directions for Future Research
Although
this study was designed to address the research question as closely and
accurately as possible, the research design and methodologies gave rise to a
number of inherent limitations which could not be eliminated. Other limitations
arose at a later stage of the study from circumstances that were beyond the researchers’
control. The fact that the research sample was made up exclusively of
entrepreneurs raised the possibility of biased responses where indicators of
creativity and innovation were concerned. The respondents may have refrained
from providing information which they felt would reflect negatively on
themselves or their start-up. One should bear in mind that many entrepreneurs
take great pride in their start-up, and some even refer to it as if it were
their child. It is likely that, just as a parent would want to mask his/her
child’s shortcomings to strangers, entrepreneurs would be reluctant to admit
the deficiencies of their start-up to third parties. Thus there is a
possibility that they prov
ided
responses that they believed were socially desirable. There is also a
likelihood that they replied truthfully, but their perception of the situation
was somewhat distorted and biased. This would mean that they inadvertently
provided misguided views of their start-ups’ indicators of creativity and
innovation.
One way to
compensate for this limitation would have been to use triangulation, obtaining
the views of employees and to personally visit the start-ups for direct
observation. This would have been too time-consuming, excessively invasive and
disruptive for the start-ups involved and was therefore avoided. One should
also consider that it is unlikely that employees would be in a position to
provide information regarding start-up success factors. The lifeblood of a
start-up runs through the veins of its entrepreneur: no one else is better
equipped to divulge which factors contributed to business success.
Nevertheless,
it would be beneficial for future research into creativity and innovation in
start-ups to include triangulation of methods to obtain a holistic picture and
reduce as much as possible that bias resulting from perceptual data that is
bound to influence results.
On a
positive note, the use of purposive sampling ensured the selection of a
theoretically relevant sample, which is highly recommended for entrepreneurial
research (Davidsson, 2004). Thus although the small sample size does not allow
confident generalisations to the population of start-up entrepreneurs in Malta,
the sampling method used ensures that the enterprises under investigation were
all perfectly suited for the purpose of this research. This in turn increased
the validity of the findings that are largely in line with the relevant
literature.
Entrepreneurial
Creativity and Innovation © Leonie Baldacchino, University of Malta, 2009 Page
12
6.
Conclusion
In summary,
the entrepreneurs in this study are highly creative and their start-ups
innovative. These entrepreneurs foster creative climates, provide top-down
support for creativity and innovation, and offer innovative products and
services through innovative methods of production and delivery. This confirms
the central role of creativity and innovation to the entrepreneurial process
(Barringer & Ireland, 2006).
This implies
that the Maltese have migrated from the traditional role of traders to the more
creative and innovative role of entrepreneurs. This augurs well if Maltese
entrepreneurs are to meet the challenges of competing on a European and global
market, as this demands enterprises to reinvent themselves, which in turn requires
creativity and innovation (Xuereb, 2004).
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