7. Innovation: What and Why?
• In broadest sense the term comes from the Latin – innovare – meaning ‘to make
something new’.
• ‘Innovation is the successful exploitation of new ideas’ – Innovation Unit, UK
Department of Trade and Industry (2004).
• ‘Industrial innovation includes the technical, design, manufacturing, management and
commercial activities involved in the marketing of a new (or improved) product or the
first commercial use of a new (or improved) process or equipment’ – Chris Freeman
(1982) The Economics of Industrial Innovation, 2nd edn. Frances Pinter, London.
8.
9. Innovation as a Management Process
• America’s most successful innovators - Thomas Alva Edison –
Registered 1000 patents
• It created business empire worth, in 1920, around $21.6 bn
• He realized both technology push & demand pull
• innovation electric light bulb designing lamp stands, switches
and wiring
• Innovation comes up with the process of growing them into practical
use.
• Innovation is often confused with invention - latter is only the first
step in a long process of bringing a good idea to widespread and
effective use
10. Innovation as a Core Business Process
• Innovation is a generic activity associated with survival and growth
• At its heart the process involves:
• Searching – scanning the environment (internal and external) for, and
processing relevant signals about, threats and opportunities for change.
• Selecting – deciding (on the basis of a strategic view of how the enterprise
can best develop) which of these signals to respond to.
• Implementing – translating the potential in the trigger idea into something
new and launching it in an internal or external market.
• Learning – enterprises have (but may not always take) the opportunity to
learn from progressing through this cycle so that they can build their
knowledge
11.
12. Variations on a Theme
• picking up signals about potential needs and
• new technological possibilities,
• developing a strategic concept,
• coming up with options and
• then working those up into new products
which can be launched into the marketplace
13. Size Matters, National, Regional, Local Context
• smaller organizations range of advantages
• such as agility, rapid decision-making
• Regional and national systems of innovation vary widely.
• The range of actors – government, financial, educational, labour
market, science and technology infrastructure, etc.
• Represent the context within which organizations operate their
innovation process.
16. Three conditions for innovations
• Innovation means work, hard, concentrated and thorough work. If these
qualities are lacking then there is no use for the big talent, cleverness or
knowledge.
• Successful innovations must build on your strong points. The innovation
must be important to the innovator.
• Innovation must focus on a market, must be controlled by the market
(market-pull).
