QUESTION ONE

$[50]$

Read the following article and answer the questions that follow

Case study: Make Believe Works inspires innovation at Mars

The corporate world continuously pursues innovation. It is a means of survival in the

constantly developing organisational landscapes as technology advances, generations

change and businesses grow. Much of this can come from fostering a cultural change toward

innovation. In this realm of ingenuity, collaboration stands as a cornerstone. Showcasing this

effort together, Mars Incorporated$$s user$-$centricity team and Makes Believe Works have

pushed toward increasing the UC team$$s capacity to spread a culture of innovation.

Mars Incorporated: For the people and the pets

People may not know the Mars name, but everyone has seen its brands in stores and

maybe have even purchased them. Mars creates items for people and pets through three

subsections: Mars Food and Nutrition, Mars Snacking and Mars Petcare.

Each has many brands and associates within it$.$ Mars Food and Nutrition has names like

Ben$$s Original, Kevin$$s Natural Foods and Kan Tong. Mars Snacking has classic snacks and

candies such as M&Ms$,$ Skittles, Milky Ways and, of course, the Mars bar. Mars Petcare

serves pets through several services and brands like Pedigree, Mars Veterinary Health,

Greenies and Whiskas.

Mars is a family$-$owned business that works toward having a lasting impact on the world.

According to the UC team$$s Global Senior Manager Reid Rousseau, its overall purpose is

$$the world we want tomorrow begins with how we do business today.$$

Internally, Mars is committed to creating a beneficial and productive environment for their

employees. Its business practices are guided by The Five Principles: quality, responsibility,

mutuality, efficiency and freedom. Rousseau says his favourite part of it is the Associate

Concept. $$Within the Five Principles is the Associate Concept, which is about respecting and

valuing our differences and ensuring that we all feel heard, appreciated and empowered,$$

Rousseau says.

Rousseau is in charge of the UC team that worked with Make Believe Works to foster their

culture of innovation. The UC team works globally $$to drive a culture of user centric

innovation and problem solving across all Mars segments,$$ Rousseau says.

$$Ours is about equipping Mars employees with the mindset and capabilities to be more user

centric in whatever they$$re doing, whether it$$s internal business, problem$-$solving, operational

efficiency work,$$ Rousseau says. $$Largely$,$ what we do is more on consumer$-$centric

innovation. But when we started, we took a pretty broad view, because it is so widely

applicable to what any team is working on to internal technology or process.$$

The UC team also focuses on being role models for innovative and successful teamwork for

the rest of the company. Because of this, they decided to work with Make Believe Works to

explore a new and better way of team building.

Makes Believe Works: Workshopping and building teams

Make Believe Works is a team$-$building company that works with other companies to foster a

healthy and collaborative work culture. Co$-$Founder Ben Swire says the company has a

multitude of in$-$person and remote unique workshops that are suited for groups of $10$ to

$1,000$ people and foster joy among coworkers.

$$We use creativity and play as a vehicle to help people shift into a mindset of curiosity and

connection, as a vehicle for creating psychological safety and for people to get to know each

other in a more authentic and sort of human way than they usually get to connect at work,$$

Swire says.

Make Believe Works has worked with companies such as Google, Meta and Netflix. The

workshops are customized to the needs of each company depending on goals and values.

Each activity session follows the same format: a facilitated introduction, a creative and

playful activity, a share back about the experience and a debrief about takeaways.

To keep up with the changing workforce, Make Believe Works updates its library of activities

regularly. It only provides activities that have received a $98$ percent rating or better. The

workshops have a range of activities such as drawing, dancing, sculpting, inkblot tests and

more.

$$I might have come up with an idea for them to make something that I just think is fun,$$ Swire

says. $$But the whole point of it is that when they think they$$re talking about what they$$ve

made, what they$$re really sharing are their priorities, their values, what$$s important to them,

what$$s worth spending time on$.$

Participating in these workshops can help teams bond at a higher emotional level than

common workplace interactions, Swire says. Testimonies from previous clients have said

that it helps with $$growing emotional intelligence,$$enriching collaboration,$$fueling individual

growth,$$bridging silos$$ and more.