Creative Coursework
I will then use a couple of problem solving techniques to come to a conclusion on how I believe the problem should be solved. The second part of my assignment will be based on a Business which I believe is creative. It will give a brief history of the business, a definition of creativity and how believe the business can be seen as being creative. SMOKING: A SOCIAL PROBLEM Introduction to the Social Problem: The social problem that I have chosen is the continuing allowance of the UK government to sell cigarettes and other tobacco based products. Smoking should be banned and it should have been done a long time ago.
It damages health, is addictive and has no real benefits to the consumer: The facts are old and clear and ‘the main health risks from smoking are lung cancer, heart disease and stroke. Smoking causes almost 90% of deaths from lung cancer, around 80% of deaths from COOP, and around 17% of deaths from heart disease”. (Boots, 2014) It does however create a source of income for the government, through extortionate tax rates on such products, and therefore it will continue to be on sale unless we as a country stand up and take action and make it illegal to sell and consume tobacco within the U.
K. We have made progress in such regard in recent times, and shown in the graph low(figure 1) “as more of us (have) become aware of the dangers of smoking, the percentage of smokers in the UK has fallen from around 50 per cent of the population in the 1 sass to percent in 201 1” (The Guardian,2014) Figure 1 (ONES, 2010) Smoking is less socially accepted now than ever before, but it is still permitted! Am going to use two common problem solving techniques to provide an in-depth analysis of the issues surrounding smoking and how we can resolve the issue of smoking as a social problem.
The Problem Solving Technique: The problem solving techniques which I believe is most suitable for my social robber are firstly ; The Indented Hierarchy Fishbone, which is similar to the Fishbone Diagram first used by Dry. Koru Chickasaws of the University of Tokyo in 1 943, and the 5 Why (more on that after). The main reasons why I have chosen the indented fishbone hierarchy method are as follows: 1 . “It Organizes the points to stay focused on the current issues 2. Prioritize further analysis and corrective actions 3.
It is easy to layout and understand” (Marmosets, 2014) “The Fishbone diagram is an analysis tool that provides a systematic way of looking at effects and the causes that create or contribute to those effects. Because of the function of the Fishbone diagram, it may be referred to as a cause-and-effect diagram” (Watson, 2004). The indented hierarchy fishbone diagram will allow me to draw a conclusion on the causes the problem of smoking and the best suitable solution to improve the problem in the future.
Indented Hierarchy Fishbone: Problem: Smoking Cause: 1) Add action People simply cannot give cigarettes up. May be impossible to stop addiction. Hard to find a cure for Tobacco addiction. 2) cost Not dear enough to adhere people from smoking. People will always find a way if they are addicted. Cheap imports widely available 3) Family/Friend Influence Younger generation still believe it is “cool to smoke”. “If you are around people who smoke, you may be tempted to smoke too. It may seem like smoking makes social situations easier”. Health Education, 2014) 4) unaware of the facts/ Lack of Education Some people may be unaware of the facts regarding smoking. Lack of interest in facts may lead to ignorance regarding consequences. 5) Emotional needs People often smoke when they feel they are a time of need, perhaps due to stress. Smoking is often perceived to calm and relax the body and mind. From the inverter fishbone analysis I have come to the conclusion that smoking is caused by a vast amount of different problems, sometimes problems which are beyond human control, such as stress and addiction.
However I have come to a significant conclusion on how we can successfully get rid of the social problem which is smoking:l believe that the main area We should be addressing is the lack of knowledge by some of the nation about the risks smoking offers. “Experts agree that tobacco is the single biggest avoidable cause of cancer in the world” (IIRC, 2004) If we do more to educate people of al ages, particularly the young, we can significantly reduce the number of numbers.
California for example, in 1996, underwent significant improvement on their education of the true effects of smoking and launched a tobacco control program, aiming at younger people. The results, shown in figure 2 (below) are impressive and prove that “with time and investment we can continue to eradicate the smoking problem. ” (Glob Health Promotions, 2010) Figure 2 (National Institute of Health, 2005 The 5 Whys Technique: Chichi Toyota, one of the fathers of the Japanese industrial revolution, developed the 5 Whys technique in the 1 9305. Mind-tools, 2014) 5;Why analysis is more than just an iterative process or a simple question asking activity. The purpose behind a 5-why analysis is to get the right people in the room discussing all of the possible root causes of a given defect in a process. I have chosen the five whys technique as it is simple and usually gets to the root of the problem quickly. The 5 Why ;s Technique 1. Why do people smoke? People see family/friends smoke and try it for themselves, leading to addiction. 2. Why do they not know the risk involved in the first place?
People are not educated in the dangers and the effects that smoking can cause. . Why can we not launch an education campaign to eradicate the problem? Even with significant investment in education Of smoking risks, people who already smoke are already addicted, making it difficult to make them quit. 4. Why do they become addicted to smoking? A report by The Royal College of Physicians concluded that “nicotine (one of the main substances contained within cigarettes) is a highly addictive substance” (The Tobacco Advisory Group, 2014) 5. Why should we stop the addiction? And How?
The most staggering statistic and the main reason why we should get rid of smoking is that “Worldwide, tobacco caused an estimated 5. Million deaths in 2004 – that’s one every six seconds” (Cancer Research KICK, 2009) How? The government needs a total rethink of the current smoking agenda. It should be banned as it is a problem which causes a significant number of problems. We need a full media campaign to get behind the banning of smoking and to get adverts out showing the adverse effects to the public. The Chinese media recently called for a ban on smoking, why can’t we do the same?
The article suggests ‘that policy-makers, government agencies and officials have to “take the lead” in enforcing the ban. ” (BBC News, 2014)1 believe the U. K should have a similar approach. There is evidence that the government is implementing ideas to help improve the problem: “2006: Public smoking ban 2007: Age of sale raised from 16 to 18 2008: Printed warnings on packaging 201 2: Tobacco displays banned (Wales’ (Daily Mail, 2014) My Plan over the next few years would be as follows: 2014: Increase price of tobacco products. 201 5: Educational Campaign to warn young people fully of risks involved with smoking. 016: Full Media campaign for the banning of cigarettes. 2017: Full Ban on all tobacco products in U. K and tobacco imports. 2018: Increased help for the remaining public who still have tobacco cravings. Conclusion: Basically the conclusion have come to is that we should aim to totally eradicate smoking altogether within the U. K within the next 4 to 5 years. After carrying out the research and using the two problem solving techniques feel that smoking is something which is completely unnecessary, particularly in modern times. It is harmful not only those who are smoking, but to those around them.
It contributes to the release of harmful gases into the atmosphere, is scientifically proven to contribute to causing cancerous diseases and to date not one positive piece of evidence is there to suggest that there are any benefits to smoking. Rod count: 1426 The creative business which I have chosen is Nettling. Nettling is a relatively new business, set up in 1997. In 1999 they set up unlimited rentals for a small subscription fee. By 2005 they had gained almost 4. 2 million members” (Nettling, 2014). In 2007 it begins to offer an online screening of movies and shows for their customers.
In 2009 they begin to partner with electronic companies to enable them to offer their subscription on platforms such as Oxbow and Pollination. As of June 2014, Nettling is now available in over 40 different countries worldwide and has over 50 million paid subscribers to its service. It is one of the fastest growing global company’s worldwide and “In 201 3, Nineteen’s annual revenue reached 4. 37 billion U. S. Dollars marking a huge rise from 150. 8 thousand dollars in 2014) Nettling: A brief history at a quick glance: “Industry: Internet & Catalogue Retail -Country: United States -CEO: Reed Hastings -Website: www. Nettling. Mom -Employees: 2,327 -Sales: $4. 38 B -Headquarters: Los Gatos, California” (Forbes, 2014) Nettling is also currently ranked number 30 in the innovative companies list of Forbes. It is currently the 507 ;the ranked company in terms of market value and ranked number 1 897 worldwide in sales. Forbes, 2014) As of March 2011 , in North America Nettling was the Number 1 internet service used per downstream bandwidth with 30%, as shown in the chart below, (Figure 3) Figure 3 (Applications by Downstream Byte Share, 2011) (Business Insider, 201 1) What is creativity? Creativity can be defined and interpreted in many different ways.
It is unique to each individual ;s idea and how they view creativity. In basic terms it can be defined as the “tendency to generate or recognize ideas, alternatives, or possibilities that may be useful in solving problems, communicating with others, and entertaining ourselves and others. (Franken, R, 1994). In business terms creativity is thinking outside the box to create new ideas and new business plans. The brilliant thing about creativity is that anyone and everyone can be creative. No matter who you are or what you do, being creative runs through us, we just have to unlock the potential within ourselves. Creativity is about unleashing the potential of the mind to conceive new ideas. “(Business Mind, 2014). Albert Einstein, who many assume to be the most creative person ever, sums creatively up perfectly; “Creativity is seeing what everyone else has seen, and thinking what no one else has Hough. ” (Einstein) He also said that “Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere. ” This suggests that creativity is using your imagination in a different ways to create new paths which can lead to new ideas being formed. Creativity cannot be measured, but it has a synonymous effect on how the world evolves.
Creative thinking done properly can lead to new technology being introduced, and more importantly it can lead to new, improved businesses being formed, as is the case with Nettling. Why is Nettling Creative? Nettling is creative in a number of ways, and for a number of reasons. Firstly, Nettling is run by Harrison Reed, one of the most creative people known in the business world today He views life in a creative way and believes the more outside the box the idea is, the better chance it has of succeeding as a business; “Most entrepreneurial ideas will sound crazy, stupid and uneconomic, and then they’ll turn out to be right. (Nettling CEO Reed, H, 2014). Nettling was set up in 1 997 and its objective was simple; to create an organization similar to Blockbuster but with a better structure and management team. He said he came up with his idea while going to the gym. He was recently charged $40 for returning a DVD or video late to Blockbuster and felt that his gym had a better management system, with their monthly subscription pricing strategy, than Blockbuster. He used this idea to create the concept off monthly subscription DVD delivery service.
He used the quote of Einstein and “seen what everyone has seen (In terms of Blockbuster) and thought of something no one else had thought”. Nettling took the idea of using technology to make a business work to the next creative level. From 2004 onwards Nettling began to flourish at the expense of the Blockbuster, very business it was set up to rival. As shown in the graph below (figure 4) Nettling profits soared to 2. 2 billion in 2010, whilst Blockbuster had become bankrupt, which points to Nettling using creativity effectively to out compete their main competitor.
In effect Nettling offered the same service as its competitors, but in a more creative and convenient way, which allowed them to thrive and continually expand at others expense. Figure 4 (Nettling vs… Blockbuster) Source (Go-Digital) Less than two years ago, Nettling chief content officer Ted Sarandon said that his company’s strategy was “to become HOBO (Home Box Office) faster than HOBO can become us. ” It is already coming up with creative ideas to continue to grow as a business. They are, for example, planning to invest $3 Billion on new content within the next year alone for their customers.
But now, the streaming network has even loftier ambitions: it wants to be all things to all people. It wants to creatively expand by offering new services to reach out to a wider consumer base. Nettling continues to build new customers and their Chief Product Officer Neil Hunt, who believes there is a “very exciting growth opportunity in front of us and we don’t need to invent new businesses, we gust need to deliver the business that we are working on as widely as possible. ” (The Guardian, 2014) They plan to continue their dominance for many years to come: “People love n. ” shows & movies.
