Creative Work in Japanese University Staff:

A Focus on Abilities Used to Generate Improvements and New Work

Abstract

Japanese university staff is going to be required to work more creatively in the near future. However, the current level of creative work in university workplaces has not been identified clearly. This paper reports on a questionnaire survey of 393 university staff, many of whom were members of academic societies and/or had studied at graduate school. The survey assessed their use of 27 abilities in their everyday work, related to generating improvements, and designing and implementing new projects. The results demonstrated that creative work requires more time than everyday work, to collect and analyze information, and consult with diverse stakeholders prior to implementation. It also discovered that staff in lower positions can gain an understanding of how managers work through their involvement in creative projects.