Description and contextualization of the subject

Creativity is the ability to generate new ideas or concepts that produce original solutions. It is the process of giving birth to something new and useful at the same time. Creativity is an indispensable element of the human being, it is the engine of personal development and has been the basis of progress in all cultures. Creativity is often conceived as an innate capacity of people. However, creativity can be developed. There are simple techniques that can be used to improve creativity in order to find a solution to a given problem. In summary, we can say that Decision Making is the process by which a person must choose between two or more alternatives. For business managers, the decision-making process is undoubtedly one of the greatest responsibilities. Decision-making in an organisation has a broad scope, encompassing four areas of great importance; strategic, organisational, managerial and control. Decision-making has a rational component, based on methods and tools, which must be known in order for the results derived from such decision-making to be efficient.

Learning outcomes of the subject

Stimulate innovation as a mechanism for improvement within projects.

Apply different decision-making methods and tools.

Explore the benefits of group decision-making.

Apply different methods and tools for creative problem solving.

Ordinary call: orientations and renunciation

The assessment of the subject is carried out continuously throughout the course.

The following factors are taken into account in the grading of the course:

Attendance (25%): Although attendance is not compulsory, it is highly recommended due to the contents developed in the classroom. For this reason, attendance forms part of the calculation of the final grade.

Team work (40%): At the beginning of the course, students will be assigned to work teams of between 3 and 6 people. Teamwork in this class is considered very relevant and therefore has a significant importance in the evaluation of students. Each team will have to hand in a designated piece of work at the beginning of the course. The work will be handed in by uploading it to egela on the defined deadlines. If the timetable allows it, the work will also be defended orally. In order to pass the course, the work must have obtained a grade higher than 5 out of 10.

Exam (35%): As in the certification exams of the professional associations of project management, the exam will be in the form of a multiple-choice test. In order to pass the course, the work must have obtained a grade of more than 4 out of 10.

The grade for the course will be obtained by applying the corresponding weight to each of the factors (attendance, individual work, team work, exam).

If any of the work (individual or team work) has not passed the established cut-off mark, the final mark for the course will be No Show.

If the exam mark is lower than 4.0, the final mark for the course will be that corresponding to the exam mark.

If the student decides to waive the Continuous Assessment of this subject, he/she must communicate it in writing before the deadline for the submission of the individual work. This date can be found in the Student Guide available on the eGela platform.

In this case, in order to pass the course, the student will be assessed by means of a written exam that may contain additional questions to those posed in the exam to which students who are assessed on a continuous basis are submitted and which will include all the contents studied throughout the four-month period corresponding to the exam. This assessment will be completed with an oral exam which will take place on the same day as the written exam, by prior appointment for students registered for this exam. In the oral exam, students will be asked about the contents studied in the classroom, as well as about the activities carried out during the corresponding four-month period. In order to pass the course, students must pass both tests.

In the event that health conditions prevent the completion of a teaching activity and/or face-to-face assessment, a non-face-to-face modality will be activated, of which students will be promptly informed (applicable to all exams: ordinary, extraordinary and advance).

Extraordinary call: orientations and renunciation

Those who have to sit the extraordinary call will do so in the same way as they did in the ordinary call. In other words, those who took the continuous assessment will complete the tests (individual work, team work, exam) that they did not pass in the ordinary call.

The grade for the course will be obtained by applying the corresponding weight to each of the factors (attendance, individual work, team work, exam).

If any of the work (individual or team work) has not passed the established cut-off mark, the final mark for the course will be No Show.

If the exam mark is lower than 4.0, the final mark for the course will be that corresponding to the exam mark.

Those who waive the continuous assessment, will be submitted to a written and oral exam as described in the previous section (Ordinary call: orientations and waiver).

Temary

Concepts of creativity. Theories of creativity. Individual and team development techniques. Basic methodologies and tools: association, brainstorming, 635, mind maps. Advanced methodologies: TRIZ, reframing.

Creative problem solving. Stimulation of creativity - innovation start-up. Creativity and innovation in projects. Creativity strategies. Case studies.

Decision-making based on rationality. Barriers to effective decision-making.

Personal qualities for decision making. Ingredients for decision-making: information and knowledge. Consequences of decision-making.

The importance of group decision-making.

Bibliography

Compulsory materials

The course is managed through the egela platform. Here you will find the slides used in class and other support materials. You will also find there the statements of individual and team work, and the places where to upload them.

Basic bibliography

Kerzner, H.; Project Management: A systems approach to planning, scheduling and controlling. Ed. John Wiley, 2006.

Project Management Institute A Guide to the Project Management Book of Knowledge, Project Management Institute. 2013.

Journals

International Journal of Project Management



Project Management Journal

Links

www.pmi.org (2021)



www.ipma.ch (2021)