The absence of a creative focus in the conventional engineering design process : identifying research opportunities to address this

Date
2016-05
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
SAIIE
Abstract
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This paper synthesizes an overview of various models of the engineering design process with an overview of the most relevant theories within the field of creativity studies to conclude that (i) creativity plays a role throughout the engineering design process, and it is possible to incorporate creativity into the engineering design process in a systematic manner; (ii) doing so, at the very least, holds significant potential for economic benefit; and (iii) due to the complex interplay between creativity and the wide range of factors that influence it, organisational climates and management practices cannot simply be assumed to support creativity effectively. It is proposed that organisations be managed proactively to support creativity in engineering design. For this study, a structured literature search protocol was implemented to determine whether there is any evidence in the literature that engineering organisations are being managed proactively with this in mind; none was found. Two opportunities for future research are suggested based on these findings: (i) the development of a framework to guide the proactive management of engineering organisations to support creativity; and (ii) the development of mechanisms for measuring creativity in engineering organisations and engineering design.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie navorsing kombineer ’n oorsig van die verskillende modelle van die ingenieursontwerp-proses met ’n oorsig van die mees relevante teorieë binne die veld van kreatiwiteitstudies en kom tot die gevolgtrekking dat (i) kreatiwiteit deur die volledige gang van die ingenieursontwerp-proses ’n rol speel, en dit moontlik is om kreatiwiteit op ’n sistematiese wyse in die ingenieursontwerp-proses in te lyf; (ii) so ’n benadering minstens die potensiaal vir beduidende ekonomiese voordeel inhou; en (iii) weens die komplekse interaksie tussen kreatiwiteit en die breë stel faktore wat dit beïnvloed, dit onakkuraat is om aan te neem dat organisasies se klimate en bestuurspraktyke noodwendig kreatiwiteit ondersteun. Daar word voorgestel dat organisasies proaktief bestuur behoort te word om kreatiwiteit in ingenieursontwerp te ondersteun. ’n Gestruktureerde protokol word gevolg om vas te stel of daar in die literatuur bewyse is dat ingenieursorganisasies tans so proaktief bestuur word. Geen bewyse word gevind nie. Twee geleenthede vir verdere navorsing word na gelang van hierdie bevindinge voorgestel: (i) die ontwerp van ’n raamwerk om riglyne te bied vir die proaktiewe bestuur van ingenieursorganisasies om kre`atiwiteit te ondersteun; en (ii) die ontwikkeling van meganismes om kreatiwiteit in ingenieursorganisasies en in ingenieursontwerp te meet.
Description
CITATION: Oosthuizen, L. & Vlok, P. J. 2016. The absence of a creative focus in the conventional engineering design process : identifying research opportunities to address this. South African Journal of Industrial Engineering, 27(1):137-150, doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.7166/27-1-1297.
The original publication is available at http://sajie.journals.ac.za
Keywords
Creativity, Creativity in engineering, Engineering design, Engineering -- Education
Citation
Oosthuizen, L. & Vlok, P. J. 2016. The absence of a creative focus in the conventional engineering design process : identifying research opportunities to address this. South African Journal of Industrial Engineering, 27(1):137-150, doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.7166/27-1-1297