Innovation is the lifeblood of all organizations in the competitive global environment. The current global environment is forcing all managers to either come creative and innovative or risk the failure of their firms ( Anderson, Potočnik, and Zhou, 2014, p.1298) . The competitive market is always demanding better ideas into their profile, and people are spending more time at the office looking for new and better ideas. The company leadership is responsible for exploring new methods, mechanisms, techniques, and ideas that will either produce new or better products. Therefore, the survival of all companies is dependent on continuous improvement of its organizational performance ( Yoshida, Sendjaya, Hirst, and Cooper, 2014, p.1395) . The culture of innovation can be achieved by fostering an innovation culture that is directed towards assisting employees to develop better ideas ( Isaksen, and Ekvall, 2010, p.73) . All innovations are the outcomes of an effective innovation process. Hence, the research paper will evaluate how to improve creativity and innovation in an organization and the importance of the topic. It will also analyze how the model is related to other works in the field.
The culture of an organization may have adverse effects on the creativity and innovation because there may be barriers such as knowledge sharing among stakeholders in the organization ( Morgan, 2013, p.5) . The obstacles may be caused by restriction of employees and a rigid organizational structure that hinders employees from proposing or prevent them from testing new ways of acting and thinking. However, companies should have a culture that encourages employees to be innovative through proper reward systems ( Jiang, Wang, and Zhao, 2012, p.4025) . Accountability is one of the key factors in promoting innovation in a company, and it gives the organization and employees a sense of purpose. Fostering effective personal accountability should be focused and based on employees’ desire and willingness to foster actions. Effective knowledge management in any organization may be achieved by promoting an innovation culture that will determine new behaviors and ways of thinking among employees ( Baer, 2012, p.1103) .
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Research Objectives
The main goal of the research paper will be to develop an integrated model for promoting creativity and innovation in an organization. The model will utilize result based accountability system and coordination of work, an adaptive rewards system, and a combined assessment system ( Zhang and Bartol, 2010, p.109) . An innovation culture needs developing an adaptive reward system, a result based accountability system, and an effective assessment system. Furthermore, it should off maximum involvement of all employees in the innovation process through the collaboration of all employees across all levels in the organizational culture ( Klijn and Tomic, 2010, p.325) . Improving organizational performance through creativity and innovation needs determined practical actions. The paper will also evaluate how to push for knowledge, have a shared vision, implementing effective teamwork, identifying key employees, and how to use high involvement in innovation. The key aspects of the model are rewarding, inspiring, measuring, creating needed values, observing, building accountability, observing, and idea management ( Dawson, P. and Andriopoulos, C., 2014, p.1) .
The research will make a difference because creativity and innovation in any organization are highly influenced by the corporate culture. The model will propose constructive ideas by changing the current employee behavior and values to the desired organizational values ( Zhang, Tsui, and Wang, 2011, p.856) . There are various factors regarding the organizational culture that affect creativity and innovation. The factors include communication, leadership strategy, behaviors that promote the vision and flexible organizational structures that encourage reward, interaction, and recognition ( Sung, and Choi, 2014, p.395) . The model will propose specific leadership methods and practices that will foster an organizational culture that will foster innovation and organizational efficiency. Furthermore, it will encourage knowledge sharing among all stakeholders in the organization especially the employees. It will also evaluate the importance of sharing knowledge among employees because it is one of the significant factors in knowledge management ( Chang, Gong, and Shum, 2011, p.818) . Successful knowledge creation and transfer are dependent on a management style based on the effective and shared culture.
The research is exciting because it emphasizes and encourages the need for employees to share knowledge through organizational development while offering methods that will promote interactions to foster knowledge sharing and knowledge creation within an organization. The success rate of innovation processes within the organization is highly influenced by the effectiveness of knowledge management ( Černe, Jaklič, and Škerlavaj, 2013, p.85) . The research paper will propose a model that will facilitate knowledge management through human resource practices and organizational culture change such as rewarding employees and performance evaluation. Knowledge management has an essential role in enhancing, supporting and sustaining innovation activities within a company. Building a result based accountability system within an organization boosts innovation within an organization. If the organization properly utilizes accountability, they will improve organization performance and job satisfaction. Also, employee motivation is an essential factor in fostering creativity and innovation within the company.
There are various gaps that will be filed by the research. Most companies have ineffective methods of knowledge management. Therefore, ineffective knowledge management leads to reduced organizational performance or inability to achieve the desired goals. Knowledge management assists in fostering the creativity of the employees. In most cases, organizations do not have self-forming collaborative groups of employees across all levels in the company that are aimed at building innovation. There should a balance between collaboration and competition among employees. Furthermore, most organizations do not have proper methods or recognizing and rewarding employees ( Jafri, 2010, p.62) . Moreover, the rewarding systems have not been linked to the assessment and measurement of their contribution and accountability in the innovation process. Also, organizations should identify the key employees who will be accountable for achieving the desired outcomes and the course of actions if they do not achieve the desired results. There is a need for building an integrated approach that will promote creativity and innovation within organizations through the use of adaptive reward systems and result based accountability systems.
The research will add value to the topic by promoting creativity among employees, determining the best course of action, and identifying the importance of employees who will be accountable for the desired innovations. The assessment system will show the importance of peer and manager assessment, and their desire and willingness to collaborate in the entire process. Besides, there should be a level of accountability in the organization according to the job description. Also, there should be shared accountability. All employees should have a role in achieving the desired changes. Individuals are more likely to be creative when they experience higher levels of intrinsic motivation because such motivation boosts their persistence, curiosity, risk-taking, and flexibility in the face of barriers ( Puccio and Cabra, 2010, p.161) . The factors facilitate the development of creative and innovative ideas. However, fostering creative and innovative ideas always comes at a cost regarding resources such as time and capital.
The research is achievable within the allocated time, three years. The research proposal will involve identifying the importance of the topic, the research goals, the differences made by the research, and the research gaps that the paper will fill. It will also evaluate how the model relates to other works completed by other authors in related fields. It will also involve using new and existing theories and methods to develop a new approach that will promote creativity and innovation within the company ( Ayuso, Ángel Rodríguez, García-Castro, and Ángel Ariño, 2011, p.1399) . Most companies fear revealing factors that make them successful because competitors may take advantage of the information. However, the research paper ill evaluates some of the most successful companies and the techniques they use to promote creativity and innovation. Furthermore, the research will spend adequate time analyzing the results of the finding.
Background Knowledge and Research
The research will compare the research findings of different researchers. The common aspect of all researches in the field is that human resources are the key asset in any organization. Also, organizations have become increasingly interested in innovation and creativity as part of their response to the immense pressure associated with technology changes, globalization, economic factors, and competition ( Cheung and Wong, 2011, p.661) . Most organizational leaders are identifying creativity as a significant chance of achieving sustainable competitive advantages. However, recognizing the importance of promoting creativity and innovation is not enough. They should propose and implement models that will assist them to achieve the desired goals. The result or outcome is depicted as creative if it is both appropriate and novel. Although most of the initial research on the topic was focused on radical ideas and breakthroughs in art and science, some of the creative ideas may not be applicable in modern day organizations. Currently, the organization may need a proper analysis of data and information and how it will affect their activities in the long term ( Škerlavaj, Song, and Lee, 2010, p.6402) .
The research is not only important to organizations but also the department because institutions and organizations have similar activities that may affect creativity negatively or positively. Although the practices may be unintentional, they may have short and long-term impacts on any institution or organization. One of the factors that may affect the current organization creativity includes job characteristics ( Eisenbeiß and Boerner, 2013, p.63) . The job description may influence the company’s creativity because it determines the level of autonomy when they are working on particular projects. Employees who feel that they have a high level of flexibility or freedom in how they carry out her responsibilities are more likely to feel freer to come up with creative ideas. Workers who enjoy complex and positive challenges are highly likely to be innovative and creative unless the responsibilities become overwhelming.
Organizational leaders have an essential role in promoting creativity and innovation through goal setting. Goal setting offers employees and the entire organization a purpose. Setting innovative and creative goals increases the motivation to participate and sustain the innovative tasks. Making clear expectations and dictums offers employees a chance to be creative. However, the goals should have boundaries so that the outcomes are meaningful in the organization. Boundaries offer a framework that can assist employees to self-manage ( Hogan and Coote, 2014, p.1619) . The other issue is organizational support. Companies that encourage and offer support employees to manage conflicts may be unintentionally facilitating employee creativity. When they solve conflicts among themselves, it may spur creative ideas when facing various tasks or challenges. Controlled conflicts encourage creativity. Furthermore, supervisors may provide supportive supervision. They may act as role models to employees when solving the conflict, and in turn, employees can identify creative and innovative methods of solving issues.
The other issue is the availability of resources. One of the factors that highly influence creativity and innovation is time. Coming up with creative and innovative ideas requires time and energy. Some firms such as the Bank of America often schedule a time when their employees may generate creative ideas. On the other hand, the management may offer informational resources that will allow employees to be appropriately informed, creative, and insightful ( Yuan and Woodman, 2010, p.331) . Also, the management should remove impediments and obstacle that may hinder employee creativity. Removing obstacles is one of reaffirming the organization's commitment to promoting creativity and innovation ( Sung and Choi, 2012, p.12) . The organization should focus on removing negative workload pressures. Employees who are often held by stringent time pressures are less likely to come up with creative and innovative ideas. Removing the obstacles will generate resources and time necessary to develop creative and innovative ideas. Furthermore, new hires often come up with creative ideas. Therefore, the organization should always allow all employees to offer valuable suggestions.
Methodology
The researcher will identify two of the most creative and innovative industries and evaluate their innovative strategies. It will carry out interviews with two employees from both companies and then evaluate the findings. The researcher will come with a set of questions related to the study. The interview will provide primary data that will allow the researcher to compare the findings with the existing theories. The research will also focus on secondary data. Secondary data refers to information that was previously gathered and analyzed for other objectives than the aim of the researcher’s study ( Andriopoulos and Lewis, 2010, p.110) . The data will be available in various forms such as journals and books. Secondary data will be essential in comparing various theories and findings with the results of the primary data. Also, the information collected must be consistent with various research practices related to the study.
The research will use the existing theories and results from the primary data to develop a new model that will encourage creativity and innovation in organizations. There are various theories that attempt to explain innovation and creativity in organizations. Due to the analysis of the existing theories and comparison with the primary data, the research paper will propose an integrated model that will utilize knowledge management in enhancing creativity and innovation in businesses ( Uzkurt, Kumar, Semih Kimzan, and Eminoğlu, 2013, p.97) . The model will offer a qualitative analysis of factors influencing innovation and creativity. Furthermore, it will propose strategies that can be used by the organization to stimulate innovation. It will also explain how leadership affects creativity. Transformational leadership affects not only employee performance but also the entire organizational performance. The research will also point out factors that inhibit creativity and innovation.
Strategies, Timetable, and Research Challenges
The research will be made up of seven major sections: introduction, literature review, methodology, budget, results, discussion, and conclusion. The introduction will explain the topic, significance of research, and the statement of the problem while referring to appropriate research on the topic ( Nonaka, Kodama, Hirose, and Kohlbacher, 2014, p.139) . The literature review will have a detailed explanation of the problem and similar studies on the topic. It will also explain why previous works on the topic should continue while discussing the existing theories. The methodology will explain the techniques used in obtaining data while results section will provide the outcome of the methods. The budget will elaborate the financial needs of the study. On the other hand, the discussion will explain the results of the study while proposing an integrated model that will address the problems. The first year of study will focus on the introduction, literature review, budget, and methodology sections of the study. The second year will be spent on collecting and analyzing the data while the third year will be spent in coming up with a detailed report of the research. Some of the challenges that may occur during the process include inadequate resources, personal life changes, time management, inadequate support from supervisors, selecting the right methodology, selecting appropriate participants, and getting the study participant to reveal the required information ( Moulaert, 2013, p.34) .
Conclusion
The research proposal evaluates how to improve creativity and innovation in an organization and the importance of the topic. It also analyzes how the model is related to other works in the field. The main goal of the research paper will be to develop an integrated model for promoting creativity and innovation in an organization. The model will utilize result based accountability system and coordination of work, an adaptive rewards system, and a combined assessment system. Knowledge management has an essential role in enhancing, supporting and sustaining innovation activities within a company. The paper has evaluated the strategies, timetable, and the challenges. Creativity and innovation are one of the key aspects of any successful company. Creativity and innovation provide sustainable competitive advantages that allow a company to prosper ( Hon, Chan, and Lu, 2013, p.420) .
Organizations have become increasingly interested in innovation and creativity as part of their response to the immense pressure associated with technology changes, globalization, economic factors, and competition. Employees are the main asset in any organization. When they are motivated, they are more likely to come up with creative ideas ( Albrech, 2011, p.39) . The company should empower employees to make quality decisions. They may stumble on various issues but end up coming up with strategies or innovative ideas that will differentiate the organization from its competitors. Employees who feel that they have a high level of flexibility or freedom in how they carry out her responsibilities are more likely to feel freer to come up with creative ideas (Wang and Cheng, 2010, p.107). All in all, there is a gap in models that will promote knowledge management while promoting creativity and innovation in an organization. The research will fill the gaps that were identified.
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