Teaching for paradigm shifts : Supporting the drivers of radical creativity in management education

Abstract

In a rapidly evolving technological and societal environment, businesses and business education face paradigm shifts, characterized by significant transformations in shared mindsets, assumptions, and practices. This study emphasizes the necessity for leaders to know what capabilities and traits are needed for paradigm-breaking creative thinking—and for management educators how to teach those skills. We report the results of our integrative literature review, which investigated how management education addresses creativity, especially paradigm-breaking radical creativity. The results show that radical creativity is scarcely identified as a distinct type of creativity among business educators—instead, paradigm-preserving incremental creativity is discussed more. Our findings shed light on both the accomplishments and potential areas of improvement in teaching practices, curriculum design, and management education research regarding radical creativity. The goal is to guide educational leaders toward fostering a deeper integration of radical creativity within management education as well as to identify the boundaries of radicality, ensuring that the future management domain is equipped to creatively instigate and inhibit paradigm shifts when appropriate.