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Creativity and Innovation for Sustainability—State of the Art and Future Perspectives

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 September 2019) | Viewed by 21275

Special Issue Editors

Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Erlangen, Germany
Interests: creativity; technology management; innovation management; entrepreneurship
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Business and Economic School ,Universidad Anáhuac México, Huixquilucan 52786, Mexico
Interests: creativity; self-beliefs; situated cognition; consumer decision making
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Creativity and innovation are key areas for research, for companies and even countries to foster economic development. Hence, this Special Issue aims to gather current research on creativity and innovation, and how these areas foster sustainability on a micro level (e.g., individuals or companies), as well as on a macro level (e.g., industries or countries).

Creativity and innovation are two multi-disciplinary fields of scientific research by themselves [1]. Sustainability is also a multi-disciplinary discipline. Hence, the potential for combining knowledge and research approaches from creativity and innovation with sustainability is unlimited. Surprisingly, there is still a huge gap in literature adressing this interesting intersection. Hence, we are excited to introduce this Special Issue on “Creativity and Innovation for Sustainability—State-of-the-Art and Future Perspectives”.

Creativity is usually defined as the generation of products that are novel and useful within a given social context [2]. Innovation usually involves the successful implementation of novel and useful ideas [3]. When examining the implications of creativity and innovation for sustainability, several possibilities come to mind. One can think of novel and useful approaches to obtain sustainability, conduct research on sustainability, or even define what sustainability should be. Similarly, one can think about the challenges involved in implementing a novel and useful idea to seek sustainability.

Hence, we invite researchers from different disciplines to submit their work on sustainability from the perspective of creativity and innovation (and vice versa). We are specifically calling for novel methods in approaching creativity, innovation and sustainability, as well as international research approaches.

Some potential (not binding) areas of investigation for creativity and innovation:

  • Novel and useful conceptual definitions of sustainability
  • Novel and useful theoretical models of sustainability
  • Novel and useful ideas to solve environmental, social problems with implications for sustainability
  • Novel and useful methodological approaches to conduct research on sustainability
  • Novel and useful approaches to ethics and sustainability
  • Challenges faced when implementing novel and useful solutions to problems of sustainability
  • Technological developments with implications for sustainability

References

  1. Brem, A.; Puente-Diaz, R.; Agogué, M. Creativity and innovation: state of the art and future perspectives for research. J. Innov. Manag. 2016, 20, 1602001.
  2. Stein, M.I. Creativity and culture. J. 1953, 36, 311–322.
  3. Amabile, T.M. (1988). A model of creativity and innovation in organizations. Organ. Behav. 1988, 10, 123–167.

Prof. Dr. Alexander Brem
Prof. Dr. Rogelio Puente-Diaz
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Creativity
  • Innovation
  • Sustainability
  • Psychology
  • Design Thinking
  • New Work
  • Social Innovation
  • Self-beliefs
  • Creativity Measurement
  • Digitalisation

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Editorial

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5 pages, 841 KiB  
Editorial
Creativity, Innovation, Sustainability: A Conceptual Model for Future Research Efforts
by Alexander Brem and Rogelio Puente-Díaz
Sustainability 2020, 12(8), 3139; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12083139 - 14 Apr 2020
Cited by 17 | Viewed by 5494
Abstract
The interaction of creativity, innovation and sustainability is gaining momentum, but a lot more research is necessary. Some potential (not binding) areas of investigation for creativity and innovation are novel and useful conceptual definitions and theoretical framings of sustainability, as well as ideas [...] Read more.
The interaction of creativity, innovation and sustainability is gaining momentum, but a lot more research is necessary. Some potential (not binding) areas of investigation for creativity and innovation are novel and useful conceptual definitions and theoretical framings of sustainability, as well as ideas for how to solve environmental and social problems with implications for sustainability. In addition, there is a high need for different methodological approaches to conduct research on sustainability, which might come from different fields like sociology or engineering. Before this background, this article introduces a conceptual framing of creativity, innovation and sustainability. Full article
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Research

Jump to: Editorial

20 pages, 2090 KiB  
Article
The Influence of Teacup Shape on the Cognitive Perception of Tea, and the Sustainability Value of the Aesthetic and Practical Design of a Teacup
by Su-Chiu Yang, Li-Hsun Peng and Li-Chieh Hsu
Sustainability 2019, 11(24), 6895; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11246895 - 04 Dec 2019
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 5847
Abstract
The ceramic industry is among the most profitable industries in the world, but, because of the use of nonrenewable materials and high fuel consumption, it also has a carbon footprint. Ceramic materials account for the majority of drinking vessels. Several scholars found that [...] Read more.
The ceramic industry is among the most profitable industries in the world, but, because of the use of nonrenewable materials and high fuel consumption, it also has a carbon footprint. Ceramic materials account for the majority of drinking vessels. Several scholars found that consumers’ awareness of drinks and purchasing desires are highly correlated with a vessel’s shape and color—in other words, the visual stimulation. However, since prior studies have focused on alcohol, bubble drinks, juice, coffee, cocoa, etc., there has rarely been any research on the appropriate drinking vessels for Chinese tea. This study intends to investigate the visual design of vessels for Chinese tea, in terms of its impact on the taste of the drink, by integrating the thinking and methods of expert users and designers for the sustainability of design and industry. In this study, tea experts and designers were asked for their opinions as a means of data collection. Fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (Fs/QCA) was used for data analysis. This study proved that the design of a tea-drinking vessel could have an influence on the perception of the taste and scent of the tea. This research not only brings new meaning to the traditional concept of teacup design, but also reflects famous Japanese craftsman Liu Zongyue’s idea of practical beauty, which is beneficial to promoting Chinese tea culture, and contributes to sustainable design and sustainable behavior. Full article
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20 pages, 923 KiB  
Article
The Impact of the Openness of Firms’ External Search Strategies on Exploratory Innovation and Exploitative Innovation
by Mingfeng Tang, Peng Xu, Patrick Llerena and Asghar Afshar Jahanshahi
Sustainability 2019, 11(18), 4858; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11184858 - 05 Sep 2019
Cited by 16 | Viewed by 3258
Abstract
Innovation activities of private firms are crucial for sustainable economic growth in every society. Therefore, the majority of firms around the world spend large amounts of capital (money, time, and human resources) in searching for novel innovative opportunities in the marketplace. In our [...] Read more.
Innovation activities of private firms are crucial for sustainable economic growth in every society. Therefore, the majority of firms around the world spend large amounts of capital (money, time, and human resources) in searching for novel innovative opportunities in the marketplace. In our study, we sought to understand how the openness of firms’ external search strategies (external search breadth and external search depth) affects firms’ innovation capabilities as measured by awareness, decision-making, interpretation, and implementation capability. Furthermore, using survey data collected from 112 Chinese manufacturing firms over a six-month period, this study conducted an empirical analysis about the association between firms’ innovation capabilities on the type of innovation (exploratory innovation vs. exploitative innovation). This study also provides important managerial insights for manufacturing companies. Full article
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17 pages, 552 KiB  
Article
The Influence of Leader Encouragement of Creativity on Innovation Speed: Findings from SEM and fsQCA
by Cong Cheng, Liebing Cao, Huihui Zhong, Yining He and Jiahong Qian
Sustainability 2019, 11(9), 2693; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11092693 - 11 May 2019
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 5308
Abstract
Adopting the empowerment perspective of leadership, this study proposes and examines the mediating model that leader encouragement of creativity affects innovation speed through strengthening employees’ engagement in the creative process. Using a sample of 245 participants in China, the results from structural equation [...] Read more.
Adopting the empowerment perspective of leadership, this study proposes and examines the mediating model that leader encouragement of creativity affects innovation speed through strengthening employees’ engagement in the creative process. Using a sample of 245 participants in China, the results from structural equation modeling (SEM) suggest that the impact of leader encouragement of creativity on innovation speed is significantly mediated by creative process engagement, and positively moderated by organizational ambidexterity at the same time. Additionally, the results from fuzzy-set comparative qualitative analysis (fsQCA) with the same data set reveal that the aforementioned factors have a holistic effect on enhancing innovation speed. The results of fsQCA reinforce and refine the findings of the SEM analysis concerning the limits and conditions for how leader encouragement of creativity affects innovation speed. Full article
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