Creative managers and managing creativity: a hermeneutic exploration

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore how executives assimilate creativity in business‐to‐business (B2B) services.

Design/methodology/approach

The author employed an inductive, qualitative research approach to elicit and explore the definition and interpretation and individual meaning of the creative process by top‐level advertising agency executives.

Findings

The findings show that an understanding of creative cultures and processes can enable their application in other business functions.

Research limitations/implications

In‐depth interviews may involve interview effects that influence the information elicited, despite adequate measures to conduct interviews in situ at the workplace and in a detached, impartial manner.

Practical implications

The results suggest that creativity in B2B services incorporates a complex set of results‐driven interactive components. These components simultaneously affect and are affected by the interaction of artistic and aesthetic elements, as well as business strategy.

Originality/value

Creativity is critical to developing and implementing business strategies. However, creativity in advertising as a B2B service has scarcely been examined.

Citation

Granot, E. (2011), "Creative managers and managing creativity: a hermeneutic exploration", American Journal of Business, Vol. 26 No. 2, pp. 161-182. https://doi.org/10.1108/19355181111174534