The process of the jazz jam session was analyzed from a historical and social perspective based on literature reviews, oral histories, interviews, and survey results. The analysis produced seven factors that facilitate the successful outcome of a jazz jam session. The factors include individual competence and knowledge of the field, practicing improvisation as the ability to overcome self-consciousness, establishing a mentoring system and role models, democracy and collaboration, leaders and sidemen, community support, and a continuous evaluation system. Each factor was defined and exemplified towards a model for group creativity with suggestions for further research and applications.

This study documents the development of a classroom game simulating the effects of contractual arrangements on the economic relationships between artists, record labels, and consumers. The game was tested with multiple revisions in classroom settings over a period of three years by using surveys, interviews, session videos, and teacher observations. Using the approach of Grounded Theory, observations and insights were extracted from the collected data with the goal of identifying effective strategies for developing and using classroom simulations. Findings include evidence of deeper engagement with the subject through cognitive, psychomotor, and affective learning.

This paper builds on the analysis of factors observed at jazz jam sessions facilitating team creativity and improvisation as a model for managing organizational innovation. The model was established through detailed observations, surveys, historical research, and interviews. Even though the jazz metaphor has been used as a model for organizational improvisation the discussions rarely extend beyond the improvisational process of idea generation (Frishammar, Dahlskog, Krumlinde and Yazgan, 2016) towards a comprehensive model for team creativity and effective organizational management (Santos, Uitdewilligen and Passos, 2015). The seven factor Jam Session Model for Group Creativity and Innovative technology is built from a comprehensive analysis of the jam session process and exemplified with case studies of leading innovative companies such offering a theoretical and practical model for managing and facilitating group creativity and innovative technology.

The concept of improvisation and the "Jazz Model" for Entrepreneurship as a gathering of creative minds with the goal of creating a new outcome is frequently used in the entrepreneurship literature. Especially the unique setting of a jazz jam session exemplifies a successful model of group creativity (Herzig & Baker, 2014) with options for training towards organizational innovation. This case study traces the entrepreneurial efforts of Jamey Aebersold, David Baker, and Jerry Coker, the ABCs of jazz education, who developed the foundation for teaching materials and curricula worldwide. Furthermore, this case study documents the entrepreneurial mindset of these three innovators as a result of their improvisational training and regular participation in jazz jam session situations and thus implies strategies for teaching creative thinking techniques in entrepreneurship education.

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