`Creativity and innovation' - training programme held in Tuticorin

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Madurai Zone, organised a training programme on `Creativity and innovation' for the executives/managers of industrial firms in Tuticorin on 1st March. Delivering the keynote address, Muthian Ramanathan, Director (training), Mind Dynamics Centre, Chennai, said that creative people are the need of the hour at a time when liberalisation, globalisation and privatisation had become synonymous with industrial transformation.

"Business managers should understand that it is not enough to be efficient and possess the ability to solve problems. They should also be creative to build durable and profitable advantages over their opponents," he said. To remain creative, one had to be constantly imaginative and should have a quest for novelty. "It is a myth to consider that creativity would come by itself during emergency. A creative person would always challenge status quo and confront assumptions," he said.

According to him, entrepreneurs and product managers should try to improve their products even if it is good, like the Japanese style of management. "This would help them thwart competition from surprise quarters."