Doctoral Degrees (Industrial Engineering)

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Browsing Doctoral Degrees (Industrial Engineering) by Author "Bam, Louzanne"

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    Foundational elements of a managerial framework to support team creativity in engineering organisations: Organising and expanding the body of knowledge.
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2019-12) Bam, Louzanne; Vlok, P. J.; De Stobbeleir, K. E. M.; Schutte, C. S. L.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Engineering. Dept. of Industrial Engineering.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Creativity plays a role throughout the engineering design process, and therefore in the problem-solving activity that lies at the root of engineering work. Due to the complex interaction between creativity and the range of factors that influence it, engineering organisations cannot simply be assumed to be conducive environments for creative activity. The research presented in this dissertation seeks to lay the foundation for the development of a managerial framework to support team creativity in engineering organisations, primarily by organising and expanding the body of knowledge on antecedents and outcomes of team creativity. A key perspective that is adopted in the research is that creativity in itself is not a desirable outcome for organisations to pursue. A framework should, therefore, include information on boundary conditions that cause team creativity to lead to positive outcomes that are meaningful to the organisation, rather than to negative outcomes. The large body of empirical research on antecedents of team creativity is deemed sufficiently mature to support the development of a framework. Hence, a metaanalysis is conducted to determine the construct-level relationship between team creativity and various antecedents that have been proposed in literature. The body of empirical research on the outcomes of team creativity is limited, with notable gaps including a lack of research on potential negative outcomes. Consequently, this body of research is deemed not to be sufficiently mature to support the development of a framework. A number of contributions to the body of knowledge on the outcomes of team creativity is offered in this research, including: the outcomes that have been studied are summarised into an extension of an organising framework for knowledge on antecedents of team creativity; and empirical research is conducted on a potential negative outcome, namely unethical behaviour by the team. The findings of the empirical study indicate that, when team members experience increased levels of either challenge or hindrance stressors, team creativity can lead to unethical behaviour by the team. The mechanism of moral disengagement which facilitates this unethical behaviour differs, based on the type of stressor that is experienced. Specifically, increased levels of hindrance stressors lead to unethical behaviour by the team through a process of displacement of responsibility, while increased levels of challenge stressors lead to unethical behaviour by the team through a process of both moral justification and displacement of responsibility. Seven elements of a managerial framework to support team creativity in engineering organisations are also recommended, based on the systems perspective on creativity, namely: person; process; place; product; leadership; persuasion; and potential.