Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources

When there is so much concern today for greater productivity in the private sector andfor increased effectiveness in the public sector, it should be patently clear that the trairaing function is beingforced into a shape up or ship out situation.

Adeliberate diagnosis of organisational ills as the prelude to a programme of management or organisational development is both possible and profitable. Recent advances in the social sciences have led to the development of diagnostic methods which can identify organisational weak spots and evaluate the potential effectiveness of various change techniques. The latter are becoming widely known and used; change techniques are available today which can deal with virtually any organisational problem, although no single cure-all exists.

There is justification for believing that a useful test has been added to the resources of those wishing to use psy chological testing in selection procedures. A group procedure for a simple test of manual dexterity developed in Zambia has been adapted to A ustralian conditions, and the results suggest the test has application in a wide range of situations. The test has high face validity in the eyes of management and some measure of concurrent and predictive validity has been demonstrated with a variety of occupational groups and criteria. There arefew problems in training people to administer and mark the test with an acceptable level of reliability.

The creative process is undoubtedly one of the most personal and elusive through which human beings seek fulfill ment and self-validation. Because of this, and because even the most articulate of people encounter blocks in attempting to analyze and describe something that is so personal and individual, very little has been done in the way of introducing an understanding of creativity and innovation into the main stream of the management literature. Creativity is difficult to analyse and describe because it follows no fixed rules and appears to be based on no visible patterns of logic. In almost every respect, the creative process appears to be at variance with the frames of reference which are applicable to currently accepted theories of management and organisational behavior.

We often sigh and cry for creativity in thinking and action, neglecting the stark reality that most bright ideas will end up on the scrap heap, taking with them unpaid debts of time, energy and resources.

These words have been published to stimulate, to the small extent that such a concentrated writing can, debate on the need for organisations to address, evaluate and manage their internal innovative capacity much as they manage any other significant resource.

It is quite possible that the innovative resource, the ability of an organisation to respond to problems and oppor tunities in a novel way, is the distinctive feature of progressive organisations compared to the 'also rans'. It is probable that this ability will become even more significant for Australian companies in the 80's, as:

(a) We are coping with an increasing bureaucratic load. And bureaucracy is the antithesis of innovation.

(b) We are facing novel challenges, problems and opportunities of new dimensions.

Most organisations have a wealth of creative potential. It will go unused unless top management recognise the need and deliberately practise the management of innovation .