Exploring the influence of the creative environment on advertising creativity in the context of Maltese companies

Abstract

The importance of fostering creativity, especially within the advertising sector, has increased manifolds for organizations that rely on the creative potential of their employees to get the competitive edge in the market. The aim of this empirical exploratory research study was to understand how Maltese firms with a strong creative advertising component and operating in creative industries can leverage the creative thinking abilities of their employees by fostering a positive work environment. The empirical exploration of creativity drivers and hinderers in the selected Maltese organizations suggested the management to adopt holistic view and ensure explicit alignment between organizational culture and objectives to promote the creativity. Furthermore, the research suggested that a correct understanding of creativity as the scientific term by the company management correlates with the greater levels of creativity in the advertising content. The researcher used the purposive sampling strategy to conduct the 15 semi–structured interviews with top and middle management personnel employed in different creative industries. Manual thematic analysis technique was used to present the key empirical insights. The discussion of key interview findings proposed that internal organizational factors put strong influence on the employees’ creative potential and overall organizational creativity, including the production of creative advertising. – Employees’ creative thinking abilities determine the advertising creativity and organizational effectiveness in creative industries. Considering the limitations of current research, more empirical research is required to confirm the proposed findings in the similar research settings.