Assignment Brief
When it comes to the practices of creativity and innovation within organisations, some managers are of the opinion that one should throw away the textbook. They say that outside the classroom, in the real-world context, there is no place for theory or ‘textbook concepts’. That the best results are gained from common sense and through experimentation and learning from mistakes.
Common sense, experimentation and learning from mistakes are indeed important resources. In this course, however, we contend that innovators benefit strongly from so-called textbook and classroom learning that involves the application of concepts, models, theories, processes, and tools. They understand that the integration of theory and practice results in better innovation outcomes.
Write an argumentative essay in which you support this latter, more theoretical perspective. In addition to drawing on scholarly and professional literature, provide examples of your learnings from Modules 1 – 4 inclusive of this course. Your examples should include at least two theories and any number of frameworks or concepts that you found particularly useful to support your argument. Your arguments should demonstrate relevance to, and potential impact on, contemporary creativity and innovation practices. Therefore, do not simply reproduce the theories and concepts. In your argument, explain how practitioners stand to benefit from implementing these theories and concepts e.g. what outcomes could they expect to achieve through their implementation? Where possible and appropriate, support your arguments with real-world corporate examples that have benefited from such implementation.
Structure of the argumentative academic essay
Your argumentative academic essay must have the following components:
Introduction: must include
(a) A general statement to provide context and background information.
An outline of the scope and organisation of the essay.
A statement (argument) that identifies your specific topic and your position
Body paragraphs: Your argumentative academic essay can include any number of body paragraphs. Give each set of paragraphs that portray a specific topic a descriptive sub-heading. Do NOT use the word ‘body’ in any of these headings.
Each paragraph should:
relate back to the thesis (argument) in your introduction
describe one main idea supported by information and evidence from your research
follow the TEEL strategy (Links to an external site.) to ensure all elements of a good paragraph are included
In the body paragraphs, you must include in-text references of all scholarly work (i.e., journals, academic textbooks, e-books, etc.) and of non-scholarly work (i.e., company websites, newspaper articles, company videos, etc.) used. Non-scholarly work has to be cited when real-world corporate examples are used to support your arguments.
Conclusion:
Your conclusion should:
restate your position
summarise how the most important evidence supports this
show how your position is related to the broader body of knowledge of this field/topic
References: List all scholarly and non-scholarly work you have used in the essay in a Reference List. The reference list is not included in the word count. References should be in RMIT Harvard style (or Harvard style if using Endnote). The list should be in alphabetical order by family name. The list should not be listed by numbers or bullet points.