Creativity-zero defects in the haute cuisine industry

Research has highlighted that creativity is essential for organizations’ survival and has to be fostered and managed in organizations. Creativity in some specific industries has additional requirements compared to others: for example, in luxury industries it needs to be combined with the imperative of zero defects. This article explores the trade-offs determined by the articulation of creativity with organizing processes. It investigates the paradoxes between creativity and control, creative freedom and organizational processes, continuous ideas generation and the need of identifying a successful business formula that could be accurately reproduced across time and space. Based on two case studies pertaining to Italian haute cuisine industry, the article investigates how creativity can be organized in luxury industries. It highlights that not only creativity, but also codification is an intrinsic success factor for Michelin starred chefs, as it allows chefs to set and maintain superior quality standards.