The aim of this thesis is to examine the impact of strategic intents on a firm’s creative outcomes. Strategic intents are understood as overarching ambitions in a firm that directs creativity and innovation. The resultant creation is largely assumed to be positive. However recent studies point out that some firms use innovations to achieve significant pay offs by creating harms for society as a whole. This research conducted an mixed sequential research to study the correlation between strategic intents and creative outcomes. A randomised control trial (RCT) involving 32 strategic decision makers from four established businesses was conducted through a negotiation simulation. This was followed by a Delphi study with an expert panel comprising of senior leaders in business, academia, and government. The subsequent analysis confirmed that the strategic intent of (a) competitive advantage has a neutral effect on creative outcomes, (b) rent maximisation leads to negative creative outcomes, and (c) problem discovery leads to positive creations. The novelty of this thesis is the use of experimental and Delphi research that validated the occurrence of negative creativity within strategic management, as well as established the element of problem discovery as a strategic intent to maximise creative output. Furthermore the thesis proposed a dynamic definition of creativity. This thesis has contributed to the extant literature on creativity, strategic problem formulations, strategic intent, and strategic decision making, by specifically expanding the literature to include negative creativity and provided opportunities for researchers in strategic management to build upon the theories. Furthermore, the thesis has proposed a behavioural framework for strategic-creative connections that practitioners can use to take better strategic decisions.
Strategic intent, Creativity, Strategic problem formulation, Randomised control trial, Delphi study, Negative creativity, Business management
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