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Table 1 Subjects and topics from the UFRJ Production Engineering Course

From: Creativity, Production Engineering and entertainment industry

Discipline

Organizational creativity additions

Methods engineering

 Problem-solving methods. Movements studies. Recording techniques and work analysis timing techniques. Evolution of work in the factory organization. Healthy work environment. Analysis and project work situations: antropometry, information and control devices. Cognitive aspects. Cognitive aspects of work: prescribed and real

The study of which method is the most productive for creative tasks could be of great value. It fits in the Process category, as one should study the many techniques that are already presented by the literature (e.g., Osborn 1953; Gordon 1961; Cooperrider and Srivastva 1987; Debono 1999; Dorst 2011). The student could try all these tools (e.g., brainstorming, 6 thinking hats, Appreciative Inquiry, design thinking, Synetics, TRIZ) and could measure for each problem situation witch one would bring the best results

Work engineering

 Workplace safety. Motivational factors. Ergonomics. Safety standards in industrial environments. Analysis of jobs

Studying the task and ergonomics of the creative worker. It fits in the people and pressure categories, as individual characteristics should be studied as well as the physical and cognitive environment that surrounds the creative worker

Introduction to economics

 Evolution of economic science. Different schools of thought: pre-scientific stage; commercialism of the modern schools. Concept: economic problems and human need. Direct and indirect exchanges: circular flow of the economy. Government: its economic functions. Private companies: legal form and financing. Social accounting: aggregates of measures: the classic design and the Keynesian conception. Currency: different financial institutions, commercial banks. Monetary policy and fiscal policy: monetarists and Keynesians. External sector: balance of payments. Notions of microeconomics: market and prices. The consumer and demand utility. Production and cost. View alternative costs. Market structure

This discipline is not directly related to the organizational creativity topics discussed in this paper

We believe though that the economics foundation given by this discipline impacts further understanding of the creative industries market dynamics. This knowledge could be very useful for creativity jobs practitioners, and, as a topic, it may be further deepened if there was a discipline dedicated to Creativity Engineering

Product design

 Phases: product development. Value analysis. Market aspects. Methodology of product development. Technical presentation of the product design

This discipline is intimately connected with the organizational creativity discussion. The design of a product is per se a creative task well deserving of a methods study itself. For this discipline, the product and process categories are at hand. The design of a creative product should obey fluency, flexibility, originality and elaboration rules. Also, the creative process and the design thinking technique (e.g., Dorst 2011) are also powerful contributions

Information engineering

 Introduction: information engineering; models of development of information systems; strategic planning information; Data modeling; modeling activities; hierarchical organization and models balancing; construction, implementation and system maintenance

This discipline is not directly related to the organizational creativity topics discussed in this paper

We should note though that developing an IT system is a creative task that can be aided by creativity process

Industrial facilities

 Lumino-technical. Electrical installations. Sanitation. Hydraulic. Storm water facilities. Gas facilities. Collection and treatment of water. Treatment of industrial wastewater. Cooling. Air conditioning and heating. Special facilities (boilers, compressed air, liquid nitrogen etc.)

The study of facilities is paramount for the well development of creative problem solution. This discipline deals with the Pressure category, as Creativity in individuals, groups, organizations and processes depends on the arrangement and climate where they live (Kozbelt et al. 2010). The physical environment has a direct impact on creativity and should be well studied. Organizations recognized today that the classic physical environment, mechanist, is not suitable for creative processes or innovation (Puccio and Cabra 2010). Some companies such as IDEO, have already approached practices of freedom to employees to decide on the physical environment (Kelley and Littman 2001). Technological devices that support innovation and offices or innovation labs are also possible solutions that have been used by organizations (Magadley and Birdi 2009)

Organization and evaluation of labor

 Concepts and basics. Work, work organization and job evaluation. Evolution of the organization of work in capitalist society. Work studies in Brazil. Work organization of schools in the twentieth century. Notions and applications. Evaluation of the work. Forms of hand labor pay

This discipline is directly related to the study of the creative market and the Conceptual Models for creativity. On one hand it could study the dynamics of employee–employer relationship in creative industries and how are power balances of this economy. On the other hand it could study the many models of creativity and its motivations in order to understand, evaluate and organize the needs of creative labor

Engineering economics

 Initial concepts: interest, fees and forms of capitalization. Calculation of interest: simple, compound and continuous regimes. Capital equivalence: present value and rate of return (calculation method). Series of payments and compound interest factors. Repayment of loans: price systems, sac and indexation. Cash flow: Investments: “payback” present value, rate of return and annual cost

This discipline is not directly related to the organizational creativity topics discussed in this paper

We believe though that the financial foundation given by this discipline could be very useful for creativity jobs practitioners. Understanding contracts and fund raising are some topics much needed in creative industries

Operational research

 Introduction to OR: initial history and development. Modeling OR Linear Programming: Modeling, the simplex method, duality, use of computer packages. Models allocation and transportation. Introduction to game theory. Modeling graphs. Problems with graphs in operations research. Models and dynamic programming algorithms. Queuing models. Inventory models

This discipline is not directly related to the organizational creativity topics discussed in this paper

We believe though that the ability to solve complex problems given by this discipline could be very useful for creativity jobs practitioners, that are often faced with such complexities

Industrial psychology and sociology

 History of the discipline and the new approaches required by the new industrial paradigm. Principles of management motivation and learning. Group dynamics, synergy in teams, structuring the relationship between teams. The roles of Production engineers in the emergence of a new organizational culture

This discipline is directly related with the organizational creativity discussion. It fits in the Pressure and Conceptual Models category, as it should study the organizational internal environment for creativity. The climate, culture, leadership and motivations are all topics for this discipline

Quality control

 Total quality management. Audit and quality. Quality tools. Quality costs

This discipline is not directly related to the organizational creativity topics discussed in this paper, as a statistical control of a creative process is too complex or impossible. New ways to control quality could be studied specifically for creativity processes

Facilities planning

 Notions of physical arrangement. Design methodology. Infrastructure for physical arrangement project. Hygiene aspects and safety applied to the planning of facilities

This discipline is directly related to the environmental Pressures and the Process of creativity. The influence of the physical environment in the creative process is a branch of study still in development, since during a long time it has been neglected by the academic literature (Amabile 1996; Kristensen 2004; Haner 2005). Furthermore, it suffers from methodological problems in many of its experiments and published articles (Boutellier et al. 2008) due to its difficult nature of admeasurement. Still, it is known that the environment has a strong impact on creative processes (Stokols et al. 2002) and has severe negative impact when it is not addressed in the planning of the organization (Alencar and Bruno-Faria 1997)

Computer integrated manufacturing

 Integration. CIM models. Case studies

This discipline is indirectly related to the creative Process, given one must manage or develop IT tools to support it—e.g., electronic brainstorming; group conference tools

Quality management

 Total Quality Control in the Company. Statistical Process Control (SPC). ISO 9000 standards

This discipline is related to the Process category of this paper. Developing methods to manage the processes in order to reduce wasted time and resources is a much needed field of research for creative organizations

Production planning and control

 History. Definitions and concepts in different structures and industrial segments: organizations and major functions. Project management. General capacity planning. Balancing lines. Demand forecasting. Master planning. Inventory control. Manufacturing resources planning (MRP II). Distribution Requirements Planning (DRP). Sequencing operations. Control of factory floor by simulation. Computer integrated manufacturing (CIM). Japanese industrial techniques (JIT). Optimized production technology (OPT). Examples and experiences from the frontiers of knowledge

This discipline is related to the Process category of this paper. Knowing how to plan the innovation pipeline and controlling the creative processes is paramount for healthy creative organizations

Human resource management

 History, basic principles and constraints of the management of human resources in Brazil. The planning and implementation of the management of human resources in Brazilian industries.

This discipline has a direct link with the management of creative people and can carry out research on the best way to create an enabling environment for creativity, in addition to studying better ways for remuneration, training and selection of people for creative tasks

Strategic planning

 Unfortunately we could not find the detailed topics of this subject

This course could explore the development of strategies in organizations with a focus on creativity processes. It is known that the entire organization should be aligned with the strategy, so it makes sense that students learn how to develop it the right way for fostering creativity in organizations

Business process engineering

 Production Engineering processes paradigm. Management and Business Process Engineering. Business Concepts; Process modeling. Analysis and improvement of business processes. Implementation of business processes. Engineering developments and management of business processes. Case studies in process engineering. Presentation and discussion of specific processes modeling software

This course could explore better ways to map the creative processes, presenting students with models that already exist and encouraging test the relevance of these models for real life scenarios

Projects and concurrent engineering management

 Unfortunately we could not find the detailed topics of this subject

This course could approach project management practices in organizations with a focus on creativity. What is the best way to manage a project whose aim is a creative product?