Seminar on Creativity, Transformation and Economic Growth in Poland
On 27 October, the day of the 2009 Dutch Polish Trade Award ceremony, Nyenrode also held a seminar about creativity, transformation and economic growth in Poland. The seminar was opened by Prof. Dr. Willem Burggraaf, Dean of
the Business School, who spoke about the ties between the Netherlands and Poland and discussed these connections in relation to 2009 being the European Year of Creativity and Innovation.
Creativity for organizational transformation
Prof. Dr. Scott Isaksen, president of the Creative Problem Solving Group and professor at the Norwegian School of Management, got the seminar underway. The Creative Problem Solving Group is located in Buffalo, and according to Isaksen this is not by chance: Buffalo is the birthplace of the term ‘brainstorming’, and is still well known as a centre of creativity.
Prof. Isaksen began by asking each audience member to find a discussion partner whom they did not know, and
together decide which organization they found to be the most creative and innovative, and what that
organization’s underlying characteristics and qualities really are.
Isaksen sees creativity as “the making of and communicating about meaningful new connections and insights,”
whilst innovation is “the transformation of these ideas and insights into deliverable business results.” In his opinion,
creativity can therefore exist without innovation, but the reverse does not hold true.
He believes that innovation is about much more than just products, adding that we see Apple, a company that
takes innovation very seriously, primarily as a company that manufactures products, but which, at the same time,
is the largest music retailer in North America.
Isaksen discussed a study by PricewaterhouseCoopers, which concluded that companies that perform the best
have the following characteristics: inclusive leadership, a deliberate process and a creative climate. Isaksen cited
Best Buy from the retail industry as an example of a company that has ‘inclusive leadership,’ where employees are
allowed to work wherever and whenever they want to as long as the work is done, leading to a highly result-
oriented work environment. Unilever is a good example of a company with deliberate processes, with their Chief
Innovation Officer believing that innovation should be viewed more as a marathon than a sprint.
Isaksen spoke about creating a creative climate, and compared the differences between culture and climate: an
organization’s culture reflects the things it views as important, although making any changes within the culture
cannot be achieved quickly. The climate of an organization, meanwhile, is about how people experience the
organization, which is easier to change. As a result, it is better to aim for a creative climate than a creative culture.
He went onto speak in detail about the Situational Outlook Questionnaire, a tool used by the Creative Problem Solving Group to identify the climate of organizations. His colleague Luc De Schrijver explained this tool in more detail based on research carried out in Belgium, concluding that organizations that showed decreased sales had a worse climate than companies that showed an increase in their earnings. Isaksen and De Schrijver subsequently stated: “The management of creativity is at the heart of meeting the innovation and transformation challenges.”
Partnerships
Joint ventures (JVs) can be compared to marriages, was the position of Mr Remco van der Kroft, lawyer and 
partner at BSJP, which is affiliated with Taylor Wessing, and vice-president of the Dutch-Polish Chamber of Commerce. He noted that it is disheartening that many joint ventures end in ‘divorce,’ including those between Dutch and Polish companies. In his speech, he discussed how these types of splits could be avoided and what companies should do if things proceed to such a point. To avoid such a split, it is vital to know your partner well, he said. What should Dutch companies know about Poland before they go into business with Polish companies? Van der Kroft briefly touched on recent Polish history and discussed how different generations are placed in society. Before entering into a joint venture, companies should understand what the other party wants to get out of the partnership, was Van der Kroft’s message, thereby preventing future difficulties.
Our future together
Prof. Dr. Andrzej Kozminski, founder and Dean of Kozminski University in Warsaw, spoke about the economic development and future of Poland within the European Union. He began his lecture with the statement that, generally speaking, the Polish are creative people, borne out of the necessity to survive, although he believes that they are less innovative in the business sector. Kozminski spoke about the country’s hopes and fears prior to its EU membership in 2004, when many Poles were afraid that their country would end up in German hands or be unable to handle the EU subsidies properly, and the fears of other EU member states, when some were afraid that their countries would be flooded with cheap Polish labor.
Kozminski also looked at the positives and negatives for Poland and the ‘old’ EU. Poland’s positives include good
education and skill levels, good prospects of economic growth and a high level of entrepreneurial activity. In
addition, it has its inflation well under control. On the negative side are issues such as corruption, unstable- and
high-taxation, as well as the low quality of government and lack of consistent pro-business policies. Additionally,
Kozminski believes the country’s infrastructure is not yet as advanced as it needs to be.
He discussed new sources of insecurity within the enlarged EU, such as problems regarding ratification of the
Treaty of Lisbon, relations between the US and Russia and the enlargement of the Euro zone. In addition, it is not
yet fully clear how the financial crisis will play out at both the national (Polish) and EU levels, Kozminski thinks.
Extremists and nationalists, meanwhile, are trying to take advantage of the social discontent and it is not yet clear
how Europe will be able to act against this in the future.