Creative Thinking Techniques To Foster Innovation In Carsales Homework Answer

Answer :

Assignment Task 2

Report

Carsales is considered the largest online automotive, motorcycle and marine classifieds business that is established in Australia. The organisation has a growing team of over 1400 employees who belongs from different locations across the globe. This helped them to combine a strategically designed approach to attract more Australians interested in buying or selling cars, motorcycles, trucks, caravans and boats from them (Connolly, 2013). Founded in around the early 1997s, Carsales today boasts a large national portfolio and an ever-expanding international portfolio as well. As a business, the organisation is valuing technology and innovation to ensure their offerings always remain first-class, with customer experience at the forefront.

In this regard, innovation is played an essential role within the organisational context of Carsales Australia. The current research problem that is found to be associated with this organisation is that it needs to design strategic approaches to implement innovation at the organisation regarding the tackling of number plate cloning (Toscano, 2021). Considering the areas associated with the working and operation of Carsales, the design structure and the management requires some additional support from externally driven resources to capitalise on their innovation practices as per the market standards. While Carsales has the potential to drive authentic output from the organisation to meet customer demands, the organisation's management structure is found to be critically designed in a disruptive manner. 

Some of the key reasons that are found to be upholding the initiation of innovation in the organisation include their capabilities to redesign their employees' culture and productivity. However, the founder of the organisation has stated that they are now focusing more on employee relationships by establishing potential training and development programs for the professionals. Thus, the organisation is found to be exhibiting a requirement in the areas associated with employee management as well. Through this way, an organisation, likewise Carsales, might have the potential to develop key strategies for innovation with an advantage in the marketplace. 

Additionally, the innovative practices that might help the organisation maintain its position in the marketplace will include a transformational leadership style. A transformational leadership style helps to influence other employees of the organisation to exhibit a similar mindset and vision to thrive towards a common goal (IT News, 2021). Concerning the aspects associated with the organisation's current leadership techniques, the autocratic style is found to be dis-balancing the outputs that are commonly expected by the niche. Thus, for this purpose, an effective approach must be driven so that innovation and creativity can accumulate into an optimum result from the organisation's end. 

However, to carry out the innovation planning that will include both organisational and external efforts, Carsales will require a significant amount of clarity and investment in regards to both the R&D (Research and Development) and KM (Knowledge Management) in the organisation (Forbes, 2021). These might include some sort of risks that are required to be mitigated on a priority basis. Some of these risky areas include cost benefits, acceptance level, and wastage of resources, ineffective investment, safety risks, and operational risks. Below is the QnA on the same company to get a broader look into the innovative practices. 

Question and Answers

1. Research, and document, a range of techniques and tools which suitable to use to generate new ideas and thinking, including creative thinking techniques to foster innovation. 

In order to figure out the portals for innovation at Carsales Australia, the six hats thinking technique might help. The six hats under technique include facts, feelings, control, creativity, positivity, and negativity. This technique is found to be playing an essential role when it comes to a decision making for innovation at an organisation. It significantly helps develop a sense of habitual thinking beyond the reach of the human mind. As a result, it helps develop and acknowledge innovations that might help bring new businesses to the table. De Bono designed these six different coloured hats represent information, emotions, discernment, optimistic response, creativity, and managing the process control (De Bono, 2017). The first hat in this regard helps identify things that the business already knows - what else is required to be known - and how to get such information. On the other hand, the second hat helps to express what does the gut reflects. Similarly, the third one helps in judging the weaknesses and threats in the process, and the fourth one helps to recognise the strengths and opportunities in the business. Lastly, while the fifth hat helps identify creativity areas such as the idea, opportunities, and improvisation techniques, the sixth hat helps to acknowledge the learning processes and what to plan next. 

2. Using the identified techniques and tools, research, review and critically analyse the trends which are shaping organisation’s current and future thinking and practice, including the key concepts, current theories and processes. Document the analysis.

ADSL: ADSL (Asynchronous digital line subscriber) can turn out to be one of the greatest advancements in the marketplace if equipped by Carsales Australia. In this regard, it helps to process all the acronyms that are no longer required to be learned. Precisely, it is a short-form for broadband but diversely helps to strategise the necessities (Drakulic et al., 2014). 

Broadband: The concept of broadband is not new in the market. However, with the rapid technological advancements, acknowledging 5G connections might potentially help Carsales gain a threshold in the industry. The 5G technology comes with high-speed internet services that offer a bandwidth of 50000 Hz.  

Early Adopters: Carsales can even conceptualise their capabilities to innovate in new areas in the marketplace. One such area is considered to be recognised as electric vehicles and their charging stations. 

Radical Innovation: Radical innovation is considered a portal that can destroy an existing business model of the company. It helps to replace the existing business model with something new that might help businesses, likewise Carsales, gain an advantage in the marketplace (O’Connor & Rice, 2013). 

China incremental innovation: China’s growth in such industries is immense and influential for others in the industry. In this regard, Carsales can adopt China’s strategy of innovation to help themselves with low labour costs, advanced technology, and better management for the organisation. 

Trends to help in conceptualisation and design thinking: The opportunities are everywhere, and so does the designing capabilities. Thus, acknowledging something that is currently trending in the marketplace might help an organisation like Carsales gain a significant advantage (Cousins, 2018). One such area is found to be including the capability of social media and digital marketing. 

3. Evaluate the overall context for innovative and creative thinking at both the individual level and the collective level, including for the organisational context, and for the broader industry context. Document the evaluation. 

The overall context of innovation and creative thinking is that it potentially helps organisations foster effective output to gain better engagement and conversions from the consumer’s end. From the industry’s point of view, innovation becomes essential to foster as it helps setting-up an influential position in the marketplace. It also helps to process effective advantage in the marketplace (Mumford et al., 2013). Thus, innovation is essential only when the organisation, likewise Carsales, is ready to enhance its management techniques and styles. On the other hand, it has also been found that supermarket and the revolving industry is changing their product findings. With that said, the technology and innovation become essential to be introduced in the organisation and the choices of customer towards the products and services changes with new introductions. Thus, it could be echoed loud that enhancing the menu and services and offer changes with the new innovation in the marketplace. Hence, the concept of innovation and product evaluation is necessary to keep up with the new market trends. 

4. Research, analyse and document the specific conditions for innovation and the issues that impact on individual and collective innovative thinking and creativity.

Some of the essential conditions that are required to be considered while processing innovation at an organisation include labour problem, salary hike, and the company's technology up-gradation. These factors are found to be impacting both individual and collective innovative thinking and creativities. 

Labour problem – Labor problems are everywhere. That is why it becomes essential for the businesses to foster an effective relationship with the union leaders and the staffs working under them. If the labour problems such as strike and demands start showing up during an early innovation program, there are two ways the innovation strategy can get deflected. These will include an increase in the budget and a delay in time. 

Salary Hike – Uncertainties and salary spike are co-related. With that said, Carsales must consider the potential of salary hike as a tool for innovation as a destructive method as well (Noruzy et al., 2013). In this regard, the employees' salary expectations associated with the innovation program might deflect the budget of the task more comprehensively. 

Company's technology up-gradation – Lastly, technology plays an essential role when it comes to innovation and creativity in the business. For this purpose, it becomes essential for the organisations likewise Carsales to consider upgrading their technology to foster effective innovation in their business model that will help to deliver the optimum. 

5. Research, and document a review on the innovation drivers and enablers which are relevant to the organisation facilitating innovative thinking and decision making process. 

The innovation drivers and enablers help the process of innovation becomes smoother and effective for businesses. In this regard, two of the essential drivers are considered to be including innovative thinking and the decision making processes. 

Innovative thinking – The mindset plays an essential role when it comes to innovation and creativity in business. For this purpose, possessing innovative thinking might help the organisation assess optimum results from the driver's end to deliver what is planned and aimed (Ozorhon, Abbott & Aouad, 2014).  Evidently, it is also echoed loud that innovative thinking and the capability to think creatively always helps to bring out something that is purely out of the box. 

Decision-making process – The decision-making process plays an essential role in every aspect of a business. Regarding innovation and creativity in the organisation, effective and planned decision-making processes might help the management of the organisation likewise Carsales to bring the effective business on the company's table. 

6. Review and consider the different leadership styles, selecting and using a personal leadership style to use in the workplace to model positive innovative thinking and practice. Document the personal leadership style selected, and at least three examples of how it was used to model positive innovative thinking and practice.

Leadership is found to be playing an essential role when it comes to fostering effective innovation practices in the organisation. In this regard, some of the curative leadership styles include democratic leadership, consultation and collaboration type of leadership, autocratic type of leadership, and transformational leadership. Considering the aspects associated with Carsales and the type of innovation required in the organisation, the transformational leadership style suits them best. 

A transformational leadership style can be echoed as a process under which the leader or the manager exhibits effective, influential traits within the organisational culture. It significantly helps in influencing other folks to possess effective, innovative, and creative ideas, products, and services related to the business (Long et al., 2014). 

Further, the transformational leadership style also helps to foster a relationship with the employees where the consultants do not feel uncomfortable sharing whatever idea they have in their mind. Thus, it could potentially help to model positive innovation and thinking practices in the organisation from the business context. 

7. Review, challenge and refine your own style and practice in relation to modelling and supporting innovation. Document the review, including methods applied to refine your style and practice.

My leadership style and practice to foster effective planning for supporting and modelling innovation at the workplace include an influential type of leadership. This could also be termed as transformational leadership practice where the manager or the leader tries to exhibit transformation in terms of mindset and creativity from all the associates involved with the organisation. 

Framework and method of innovation (Ahern, Cilliers & Niemela, 2014) – 

The methods I follow to process transformational leadership for innovation in a business context include four stages. These include influencing, motivating, building intellectual stimulation, and assess individual consideration and evaluation. While influencing as a stage includes encouraging others to possess similar mindset and goals for exhibiting innovation in the business, motivation includes boosting the employees' self-esteem to make them realise their worth. Similarly, while intellectual stimulation includes assessing their capabilities to foster creativity and innovation in the organisation, individual consideration and evaluation include assessment of each employee in regards to the results they have shown. 

8. Assess, determine and document the requirements to promote sustainable innovative activity for the operational context, and for the people involved.

To promote innovative sustainable practices for the operational context, three factors are required to be considered. These areas are included based on the shreds of evidence from recent researches and assessments. Thus, from the operational context, some of the essential areas include solar installations, Sustainable energy practices, workplace health and safety practices, and establishing a skill-full environment (Giacomo et al., 2019). 

Solar Installations: Solar panels are considered the fastest growing practice that allows the use of solar energy to induce electricity or energy for various purposes. The requirement to assess solar installation in today's modern era is a must because it reduces the costs associated with the organisation's energy consumption. 

Sustainable Energy Practices: Similarly, exhibiting sustainable energy practices might help the organisation acknowledge the areas associated with CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility). In this regard, promoting the need to acknowledge sustainable energy practices might help the organisation set an influential benchmark for others. Also, it will potentially help the organisation attract heavy traffic of consumers via social connect. 

Workplace Health and Safety Practices: Workplace health and safety practices are found to be emerging as an essential area of development in the modern business environment today (Geldart et al., 2010). With that said, acknowledging such innovative activity for the operational context might help the organisation gain significant acknowledgement from the staff’s and humanity’s point of view. 

Establishing Skill-full Environment – Individuals in organisations intend to learn and adapt to the new advancements in the industry. For this purpose, establishing a skilful environment might help the business foster effective results and a strong foundation of the organisation's task force. Thus, the requirement to establish a skilful environment is must to seek potential output from innovation's point of consideration. 

9. Devise, document and implement an appropriate means to promote knowledge transfer.

Some of the essential ways to transfer knowledge within an organisational context include establishing an R&D department, acknowledging potential knowledge management systems, and developing a sense of peer learning amongst the employees of the organisation (Paulin & Suneson, 2015). The research and development department helps to find and research the areas that were unknown to the business and the management assessing it. Similarly, by establishing an effective KM management system, the organisational structure might become capable of driving effective communication and knowledge within their hierarchies. Lastly, by establishing a sense of peer-learning, the organisational culture might become potent to drive effective mentorship programs and simulations with the employees working under them. 

10. Identify, document and evaluate the risks associated with innovation within an organisation, documenting control measures suitable to manage these risks. 

There are various factors that are found to be contributing to the risks that are associated with an organisation. Some of these include the following (Chapman, 2011)–

Cost benefits – This include the areas of supplier management and logistics. There are various risks associated with this area, but the primary risk involves cost fluctuations. In order to mitigate such risks, a strong pool of research and market analysis is required. 

Acceptance level – This includes the areas associated with management and handling various available resources within the organisation. One of the primary risks in this regard includes ineffective management. To manage such risks, the organisation requires revising the set of existing norms and cultures. 

Wastage of resources – Wastage is one of the essential risks that are associated with an organisation. In this regard, an organisation, likewise Carsales, should possess effective inventory management systems to use their resources effectively and waste less. 

Ineffective investment – Ineffective investment can affect a company like Carsales in two broad ways. One is by affecting the capabilities to deploy more potentially, and the other by affecting the existing pool of innovation and creativity appliances. 

Adoption risks – New technologies are showing up daily. Thus, to adopt a new advancement could be a smart move for the organisation but can affect the stability and future evaluations as well (Chapman, 2011). 

Safety risks – The risks associated with the safety and health of the employees and people of an organisation needs effective management. For this purpose, the organisational structure must seek the potential of deploying effective working norms and cautions everywhere to avoid any uncertainties. 

Loss of profit – Loss of profit can impact the organisation in a more comprehensive manner. Hence, it becomes essential to manage the journal and input of the organisations more carefully for mitigating such a risk. 

Operational risks – One of the other organisational risks is found to be including operational risks that are associated with the working of the company. Thus, it becomes essential for the organisation to introduce effective management of the operational department and a stronghold on recruiting and selection processes to mitigate such risks. 

Compliance and legalities – Legal complexities is another area that might ignite a potential risk in the working of an organisation. To mitigate and avoid such a risk, organisations should establish a strong corporate law structure to manage all the lawsuits. 

Implementation tech – Implementation of new technology might affect the organisation more comprehensively. Thus, to avoid and manage such risks, the organisation must seek the potential of acknowledging proper training and orientation of the staff members in regards to the new technology (Berg, 2010). 

Educating the consumers – Educating the consumers is another area where potential risks might show up. An organisation like Carsales Australia should establish proper orientation and seminars for the customers to manage such risks. Avoiding such stages might increase the customer retention rates of the organisation. 

11. Introduce and promote the creative thinking techniques, innovative practices, processes, products and/or services which are appropriate to your audience and to the organisational requirements. Document the introduction and promotions activities.

There are various creative thinking techniques and innovative practices that an organisation like Carsales can adopt as per the organisational requirement (Kampylis & Berki, 2014). A core example in this regard could be the model of Airbnb. The organisation is found to be acknowledging a disruptive type of innovation. It helps them in various ways, such as cost-saving, making the idea look lucrative, and promoting the potential of local experiences. A disruptive type of innovation can be echoed as a concept whose application potentially affects the way an industry functions. 

12. Establish document, and use, appropriate methods to capture, communicate and share innovative ideas and practices within the organisation. 

Knowledge Management System- Carsales will highly benefit from the implementation of KMS, also known as Knowledge Management System, as it will help the organisation in storing and retrieving crucial information so that they could improve their understanding, process alignment and collaboration (Fernandez & Sabherwal, 2014). 

Intranet- The next aspect is an intranet that will highly benefit the organisation in enhancing their communication, document sharing, collaboration, and other aspects inside an organisation. 

Zoom Canvas Classroom- Zoom classroom will allow the organisation to make effective communication when working from homes or from distinct locations. In the current scenario of Covid-19, almost every employee working in organisations have been working through work from home (Zeng et al., 2020). Hence, the tool allows employees to conduct their daily work without interruption. 

Departments share knowledge- with the help of this, employees gain the upper hand and easily access crucial information and deliver better results.

13. Develop, initiate and foster communication, consultation and team development approaches that support innovation. Document the approaches developed and initiated.

Skills training- skills enhancement is an important tool for people in the modern world as they allow organisations to gain a competitive advantage in the market. With the help of a skill training program, employees effectively manage to enhance their skill set and deliver a high-quality product. Skill training is important in increasing employees' innovation level and motivates employees to be hardworking (Kelly et al., 2016). When employees have effective skills, then they also feel like hard work. 

KMS- knowledge is one of the most important tools that foster innovation in the working structure of organisations. Knowledge is important as it allows employees to share the required information from one department to another and one employee to another.  

Team Collaboration Approach- teams are formed for the purpose of effective problem-solving (Siebdrat, Hoegl & Ernst, 2014). A team consists of people from different background and hence, thinks differently in connection to a problem and hence, finding appropriate solutions in regard to it becomes easier. 

14. Identify, document and provide adequate resources as required for innovation to occur

human resources skilled. 

Human Resources Skilled- Human resource is the primary aspect that allows organisations to foster innovation in their organisational culture. When an organisation has skilled labour, then it increases the chance of innovation (Heimerl & Kolisch, 2010).

Sustainable Physical Resources- in the modern world, sustainability is the key to innovation as it helps organisations to build an ecological and sustainable brand image in the market. 

Infrastructural and Tech Resources- High tech infrastructure, green buildings and other aspects are crucial for fostering innovation in organisations. It expands profitability and brings residents new and better merchandise and enterprises that improve their general way of life (Bygstad, 2010). They may attempt to crash openings for development. 

Financial Resources-inner wellsprings of account are basic for firms' development exercises. This incorporates quite held income, the benefits collected over the long haul, which have not been gotten back to investors.

Technical Teams- The best development groups are comprised of individuals with specialised insight, strong relational abilities and the capacity to break down and hand-off patterns in the market to groups across their association.

15. Develop, document and apply strategies to foster a workplace culture capable of encouraging innovation

Brainstorming and Idea Sharing- Rather than one individual inclination the strain to think of an astounding ground-breaking thought, conceptualising permits representatives to share the heap of advancement, and urges representatives to cooperate consciously and dependably, to create thoughts and make feasible answers for issues (Wang et al., 2011).

Obtaining Consultation- Innovation counselling firms offer the correct devices expected to oversee advancement and rejuvenate thoughts. The board's significance incorporates: Solve dull business, challenges with innovative arrangements, and increment efficiency with new cycles and methodology. 

16. Establish mechanisms at the system and the process level that can support innovation. Document the mechanisms established.

R & D unit- Research and development address the exercises organisations embrace to enhance and present new items and administrations or improve their current contributions. Research and development permit an organisation to remain in front of its opposition.

Quarterly review of workflow - Lean development empowers representatives to test their speculations and fabricate better items quicker with fewer assets. In this process, review and evaluation are found to be playing an essential role. 

17. Develop and document strategies which make innovation an integral part of the organisational activity periodic review for innovation

Enhancing Capacity and Reducing Wastage- Forestalls contamination brought about by diminishing the need to collect new, crude materials, saves energy, decreases ozone harming substance outflows that add to worldwide environmental change, Helps support the climate for people in the future and Saves cash (Moher et al., 2016).

Synergistic Collaboration- In the event that cooperation (channel or counselling) happens at the same time with development, it makes a collaboration that improves benefits.

Adopting New Cutting-Edge Technology- forefront innovation permits associations to acquire an upper hand. They permit them to lessen their lead time and produce top-notch items at much lower costs.

18. Develop and monitor processes to ensure there is ongoing awareness of the individual and collective contributions to innovative thinking and practice. Provide a copy of the develop processes and evidence of the process monitoring.

KPIs- This key figure addresses the advancement movement according to the organisation, likewise Carsales’s deals. It also shows whether the new improvements are fruitfully available or not, on the grounds of estimating the business that what it had previously accomplished with the advancements.

Sets a Standard of the Work- they make a typical system for development and set up the 'rules of the game'. When these standards are set up, the speed of development will be sped up, and achievement will be significantly more likely (Mukerjee, 2013).

Collective - Departmental Commitment- It allows relationship building between departmental development cooperation encourages advancement execution. Simultaneously, it has been recognised as a wellspring of expanded coordination costs.

Reconfigure Departmental Approach- At the point when a business takes out layers of the executives during its rebuilding, correspondence and dynamic regularly improve. Working on administration reorders the hierarchical progressive system of an organisation.

19. Identify and analyse the potential barriers and risks to innovation, devising strategies to respond. Document the potential barriers and the response strategies.

Customer Mindset- it is important to understand that sometimes organisations fail to understand customer requirement and hence, faces innovative failure in the market.

Investment Risk- innovation is not always welcomed by customers, and hence, it also provides an investment risk (Grace & Weaven, 2011). 

Educating Customers-educating customer is long and difficult process hence, the investment done in educating customers could not be worth.

Tech Implementation- When technology is not implemented appropriately, it reduces the probability of effective implementation of technological aspects. 

20. Analyse and reflect on your innovation performance. Document this analysis.

Cost-Benefit Analysis- This allows management to choose between alternate solutions that are most cost-effective, and hence, this is also included in a type of innovation (Pearce, 2016). 

Risk Minimisation- Risk minimisation is important as it allows organisations to perform a risk assessment, and then it further allows organisations in enhancing their innovative chances.  

Customer Understanding – It is one of the most important and crucial aspects as, without customer understanding, it will be vague to develop a product (Lemon & Verhoef, 2016). Customer understanding allows organisations to develop a product that will help in problem-solving.