Creativity Management in Creative Organizations : The Economic versus Creative Perspective

For businesses that rely on creativity for their success, its effective and thought-out management is necessary for the entity to thrive. The field of creativity management has emerged as a result, highlighting the employment of a ‘creative climate,’ motivational tools, and an appropriate organizational structure as essentials for the asset’s optimization (Dubina, 2013, Sternberg and Lubart, 2004, Tonnquist, 2018, Csikszentmihalyi and Wolfe, 2014, Karambayya and Reid, 2009). However, the current literature fails to address how outside factors may influence the effectiveness of creativity management’s employment, such as the financial and organizational obligations of an operation (Knight and Harvey, 2015). Creative organizations, in particular, are affected by this issue, as the success of their end-product lies directly in their ability to harness creativity effectively (Jones et al., 2016). The aim of the study is therefore to understand how executives within creative organizations attempt to maximize creativity, while continuing to heed exterior business initiatives. The following investigation has attempted to tackle the subject by exploring it through the lens of the film production process. We pose the question: What are the conflicts that arise between an economic outlook and a creative outlook on a film, and how has this power struggle been managed? Semi-structured interviews were conducted with industry professionals, with producer and director pairs representing the two perspectives, respectively. We find that the two primary points of contention are the intrusive measures enforced by producers for ‘profitability’ and ‘scheduling & budget control,’ which often lie in direct contrast to a project’s creative vision (Bérubé & Demers, 2019, Knight and Harvey, 2015, Senge, 1990). We then identify three winning strategies employed by the consulted professionals to handle these conflicts: clear communication on financial and organizational boundaries from the planning phase, an established relationship of trust between the artistic and managerial leader, and a capacity for empathy with the competing perspective. These principles should support and contribute to the existing knowledge on creativity management, in identifying where it may be challenged, and suggesting methods for conflict minimization. It has laid the ground for future studies within this domain of creativity management, by opening up room for research in other creative industries that may share these same challenges, to confirm the findings.