Effects of Approaches to Innovation in China and Australia

Effects of Approaches to Innovation in China and Australia

Creativity is essential in ensuring harmony, sustainable development, and technology innovation in every society. It is the product of human culture and the instrument that drives its growth (Potkány et al. 2018, p. 2984). In this regard, various studies help in recognizing and reinforcing creativity (Botha et al. 2017). This essay integrates cross-cultural research to investigate distinct approaches that China and Australia use to creativity and innovation. This study is essential in understanding different approaches to creativity and their effects on innovation levels in China and Australia and also in reaching practical, sustained, and scalable solutions to the complex issues not only in these states but also in the whole world. Comparing the levels of innovation in China and Australia while focusing on the themes of education, measuring individual creativity, and differing attitudes to creativity will help researchers understand the various approaches used in measuring the levels of creativity.

Educational Approaches to Creativity

China and Australia have been prosperous in ensuring modernization for over three decades. The main contributor to their innovation culture is education. China’s main contributor is the experimentation with best-in-class models that comprise alternatives and changing levels of localization. These models were implemented through state law or market demand. What is more, current reforms in higher education in China support creativity and innovation (Turner & Acker, 2017)? In particular, these policies encourage creativity in the education sector when compared to the traditional system, where students were tested using assessment tests.

On the other hand, reports by Innovation and Science Australia(ISA) highlights the importance of innovation in Australia. Teachers in Australia equip learners with skills that are relevant to meeting their 2030 goals. The provision of world-class education in Australia is essential to increasing the levels of innovation (Johnson, 2017). Those students with skills in Information technology in Australia have an advantage when it comes to getting opportunities in industries. Therefore, using world-class education in Australia shapes the lives of its citizens and gives them more opportunities.

Measuring Individual Creativity

Creativity in China is essential for survival and sustainability in different areas. Chinese citizens view creativity as something that individuals can obtain all through their lives. They believe that for people to be creative, it is not necessary for them to be geniuses or have special skills(Liu et al., 2020). Creativity can be revealed in any field and occasionally in less prestigious fields like culinary art. Universities in China have kept the authorization of the government to create new learning departments committed to creativity and innovation (Zeng 2019, pp. 18-21). Numerous institutions host innovation and entrepreneurship meetings multiple times each week. This allows students to take part in enterprise and innovation events (Hayhoe & Bastid 2017). Through these meetings, students present their ideas. Their levels of innovation are then measured using various models like the Silicon Valley model of entrepreneurship, MIT models, and Israel Technion’s approaches

In Australia, individual creativity is measured using the number of ideas of an individual. However, people cannot rely on this approach because the ideas generated for some problems may be neutral. Individual creativity is also measured by the ability of an individual to think creatively in the school context. Those who measure the level of creativity and innovation measure the skills that are likely to lead to better results (Etzkowitz & Zhou, 2017). These skills may be the ability to think divergently or the quality to respond to a given scenario. The assessment authority that assesses the curriculum in Australia investigated up to date assessment techniques and came up with an online evaluation tool to help learning institutions to execute the crucial and creative thinking abilities.

Differing Attitudes to Creative Individuals

Between the Chinese, because people can quickly become creative and innovative, there is a greater emphasis on working hard and practicing how to achieve high levels of innovation. The phrase practice makes perfect inspires generations of individuals in China to be excellent in their selected fields. For instance, an ordinary peddler showed his unique ability to pour the thread of oil through a hole of a coin into a bottle, thus challenging Duke Chen (Abbott et al., 2019). It is a famous story, which has been included in various textbooks to inspire students. This story encourages parents to push their children to practice different kinds of arts, including music and painting, to accomplish artistic creativity. Chinese also believe that individuals cannot achieve high levels of innovation unless they have certain levels of skills. The idea of creativity in china comprises of being excellent and perfect. Therefore, excellence and perfection result in achievement that significantly contributes to the selected field of study, thus inspiring and appreciating innovative individuals. Rong and Wu (2020) have found out that there is a link between higher learning institutions and innovation. However, there is a lack of sufficient empirical proof of whether it is a one-way thing as there are also other contributors, such as political and economic factors.

Conversely, Australia is one nation that has been a test-bed for numerous innovations transforming the world. Foremost, in Australia, communication of broader vision and rationale for change is essential in establishing a basis for cultural transformations. The Innovation change in Australia executed an extensive communication approach to boosting the awareness of employees (Howlett 2011). Notably, the strategy contributed to delivering less expensive, faster, and valuable solutions. The commitment of ministers like Julie Bishop in supporting the development of innovation provided essential pathways for a sustainable change of this culture. This person dared people to have different thoughts when it comes to creativity and innovation (Varghese, 2016, pp 590-596). Australia also establishes an innovative culture, and competence is through the demonstration of innovation. The Innovation Xchange demonstrated change using different strategies to make a portfolio of significant inventive proposals (Haycock & Sukkarieh 2017). Most of these initiatives concentrated on discovering different solutions for issues experienced in the broader sections of programming, some of which were internal. For instance, the program opened calls to involve employees and develop creative ideas that the division could execute (Parry et al. 2019). These methods enhanced conversations and innovative ideas, thus leading to the execution of excellent strategies for innovation. Collaboration with foreign actors is also essential as it helps an individual to plan and execute innovative initiatives. Despite these benefits, the rate of collaboration between firms and researchers is low in Australia, as indicated in Figure 2.

Similarities and Differences

Both China and Australia collaborate with other developed nations like Japan and America and borrow their educational concepts and practices. The ideas of working and benchmarking contribute to the steady improvement in education outcomes when it comes to creativity and innovation (Johnson 2017). Despite the similarities in these nations’ innovation approaches, Australia and China have different methods when it comes to borrowing. China borrows English language teaching, while Australia collaborates with philanthropists to develop innovative initiatives. As a result, the level of innovation in China is lower than in Australia (Turner & Acker, 2017). Figure 3 illustrates the percentage of collaboration in universities. Australia also uses communication and demonstration of innovation, while China focuses on policies, innovation, and entrepreneurship in universities (Schulte, 2019). It is, therefore, essential to encourage these nations to benchmark with international groups to find more innovative solutions for enhanced progress.

Conclusion

Innovation all over the world gives successful solutions to various issues faced by a nation. For China and Australia, innovation is essential in reaching practical, sustained, and scalable solutions to complex problems. Cross-cultural research has shown different results for the investigated states and revealed several valuable solutions. Consistent with the cultural strategies in China, such as increasing the number of laboratories, maker and co-working spaces and incubators, and communication, demonstration, and collaboration in Australia, such solutions can unlock potential innovators in these nations and transform development sectors. It is, therefore, essential to encourage these nations to collaborate with international groups to find innovative solutions to create more thriving countries.