Paper Example on Innovation and Information Technology

Introduction

Innovation and creativity are critical skills for achieving success in any organization. Creativity is referred to as the ability to come up with novel ideas and concepts. On the other hand, innovation refers to the actualization of creativity. The focus of this paper is to provide a measure that can be implemented to foster an environment of innovation and creativity in an organization while maintaining ethics.

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Fostering Innovation and Creativity in an Organization

According to Nahavandi et al., (2013) an organization can encourage creativity by having a challenging work environment. Such a situation will create intrinsic task motivation, which can make one engage his or her expertise and critical thinking abilities at work. Nahavandi et al., (2013) also add that having supportive supervision at the workplace can significantly increase employee creativity. Practicing supportive supervision enables employees to provide input through participation in decision-making as well as increases their intrinsic motivation to become creative. Besides, creativity in an organization can be fostered by having an organizational culture that rewards and appreciates creativity, provides tools for the development of new ideas and has a fair methodology for evaluating ideas.

On the other hand, Martini, Ciobo, and Rose (2016), innovation in an organization can be fostered by having an open culture. The open culture encompasses allowing employees to network externally and developing a process that nurtures learning and the advancement of skills. Also, an organization should ensure that it has a clear and specific focus that shows how ideas can be scaled and adapted to a company's core functions. Additionally, Martini, Ciobo, and Rose (2016) suggest that an organization can foster innovation by encouraging proximity to innovation. The approached is encouraged since it can be manifested in real life experiences where leaders in innovation cluster together to solve problems and explore ideas. Therefore, the organization can set up an innovation center within its premises where individuals converge and brainstorm ideas.

How to Ensure Technology used is Ethical

According to the Tavani (2011), one of the ways a business can ensure that the technology used is ethical is through the provision of proper oversight for the technology. The company can establish a system of governance which will include monitoring and auditing of technology to ascertain if it is operating as intended. The monitoring and auditing process should also determine if the technology is working as per defined protocols and policies.

Also, a business that operates using technology should have chief ethicists. The ethicists will be responsible for ensuring that the technology is working as per the defined protocols and policies (Baltzan, 2014). For instance, if the business uses an enterprise resource planning system, the ethicists can audit operations. The audit procedure may encompass determining if the ERP system is working using a trained set of data that was used to build it. The process may be instrumental in deciding if a malicious individual has installed another algorithm that he or she uses transmit company data to a competitor.

Conclusion

Ideally, fostering innovation and growth in an organization is beneficial to a business. A business can undertake the process by having a challenging work environment, practicing supportive decision making and having an open culture. An organization can ensure that the technology it uses is ethical by proper oversight for the technology which is conducted by ethicists.

References

Baltzan, P. (2014). Business-driven technology. McGraw-Hill/Irwin.

Martini, L., Ciobo, M., & Rose, L. (2016). Eight steps to foster innovation through successful ecosystems. Accenture Strategy, 1-8. Retrieved July 15, 2018, from https://www.accenture.com/t00010101T000000Z__w__/au-en/_acnmedia/PDF-37/Accenture-Eight-Steps-Innnovation.pdf.

Nahavandi, A., Denhardt, R. B., Denhardt, J. V., & Aristigueta, M. P. (2013). Organizational behavior. Sage Publications.

Tavani, H. T. (2011). Ethics and technology: Controversies, questions, and strategies for ethical computing. John Wiley & Sons.