About the Course

In management, problems arise as different or new situations present themselves and they often require novel
solutions. Frequently, it is difficult to see solutions to problems by thinking in a conventional fashion. Logical
thinking takes our existing knowledge and uses rules of inference to produce new knowledge. However,
because logical thinking in a series of steps, each one dependent on the last, this new knowledge is merely an
extension of what we know already, rather than being truly new.
Over the past few decades creativity has become a highly fashionable topic in both academia and business
worlds. Many management problems require creative insight in order to find satisfactory solution. Creativity is
considered to be a vital asset for any person who is involved in a leadership situation. The course is aimed at
familiarizing students to creativity principles and tools.

Text & Materials

The course is based on the text. Please Other than the text mentioned below, relevant materials would be made
available by the lecturer either in soft or hard copy.
The following text is a requirement for the course:
Creative Problem Solving for Managers,
Proctor, Tony
2002, Routledge, ISBN 0-415-19679-5
Assessment
Attendance and participation
Assignments (4 X 5%)
Grading
A
93

A90 92

B+
87 89

10%
20%

B
83 86

Final Exam
Mid-term Exams (2 X 20%)

B80 82

C+
77 79

C
73 76

C70 72

30%
40%

D
60 69

F
< 60

Notes on Policies
There would be no revision of grading and each student is individually responsible for his/her grade
(including contribution to syndicate exercises, which will be substantial).
Plagiarism or cheating would not be tolerated. Students found guilty will not be allowed to complete the
course.
Absence cannot be erased with the aid of an application. Dont provide any application for absence,
because nothing can undo your absence, and the 0.25% of the grade that you lose.
Simply attending the sessions will not be sufficient to ensure good grades in participation.
Late submissions of assignments will result in deduction of points, and the instructor may chose to
discard your submission altogether. It is your duty to ensure that the projects are submitted within time.
The course content may be modified according to the progress of the course, but this is very unlikely.

Schedule
Wee
k
01

Agenda/ Reading
Admin: Introduction, Understanding of Policies

02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13

Topics: A Perspective on Creative Problem Solving

Topics: Ch. 1: Creativity and its importance in business
Topics: Ch. 2: Blocks to creativity
Topics: Ch. 3: Theories of creativity and the creative problem solving process
Admin: Mid-term 1
Topics: Ch. 5: Morphological analysis and its variants
Topics: Ch. 6: Brainstorming and its variants
Topics: Ch. 7: Lateral thinking and associated methods
Admin: Mid-term 2
Topics: Ch. 9: Miscellaneous ideation
Admin: Assignment Presentation
Topics: Ch. 10: Evaluation
Final Exam