Creativity in work settings and inclusive governance: Survey based findings from Italy

Citation

Sacchetti S, Sugden R & Tortia E (2010) Creativity in work settings and inclusive governance: Survey based findings from Italy. Research Papers in Economics, 10/2010. http://www.econbiz.de/en/search/detailed-view/doc/all/creativity-in-work-settings-and-inclusive-governance-survey-based-findings-from-italy-sacchetti-silvia/10008677652/?no_cache=1

Abstract
We define the use of creativity as a property of decision-making processes, and hypothesize that access to decision-making, by allowing individuals to use their creativity, can increase individual satisfaction. Consequently levels of satisfaction can tell us, amongst other things, about how much the work environment supports the use of individual creativity. To test our hypothesis, we use survey data encompassing 4,134 salaried workers in 320 Italian social enterprises (specifically, cooperatives with social aims). Whilst popular wisdom uses to put creativity exclusively in the realm of innate, idiosyncratic features of the individual (NACCCE 1999) or as the outcome of serendipity, our results deliver a different picture. We implement latent regression analysis with factor-wise score regression. Factor-wise scoring is used to accomplish logit, OLS, and instrumental variable analysis. Results support the view that the use of creativity associated with diverse organizational processes generates different levels of satisfaction. In particular, elements defining the degree of involvement, the quality of relationships with managers and fairness of procedures emerge as preconditions for individuals to be satisfied with the use of creativity in strategic decisional contexts and to fulfill their personal job aspirations. Teamwork boosts instead the practical use of creativity in work-settings. Instrumental variable analysis does not contradict the existence of a causal relation between organizational processes and creativity.

Keywords
creativity; inclusive governance; motivations; satisfaction; social enterprises; work organization