Chapter 1 – Introduction
Innovation – what’s the big deal?
“An innovation is an idea, practice or object that is perceived as new by an individual or other unit
of adoption.”
Forms of ‘newness’
- Completely new product
- New technology
- New customers
- New use
- New producer
There is more to innovation than newness and novelty. An invention is something new but it is
not the same thing as innovation. Innovation, as well as being novel and new, has to be ‘a viable
business concept’. Innovation is about the development of something new and its implementation
into a viable product that one can purchase.
Innovation is – “The implementation of a new or significantly improved product (good or service)
or process, new marketing method, or a new organisational method in business practices,
workplace organisation or external relations”
Invention – primarily a creative process involving the creating of something new
Innovation – also involves turning the idea into a viable product and getting it onto the market so
that consumers can acquire it.
The phase of innovation
Phases of innovation process
- Exploration
- Exploitation
- Diffusion
Exploration is an exploratory phase. It is where innovation begins and it is the most creative of all
three phases, where a mix of qualities are required ranging from originality, openness, creativity
and vision to inquisitiveness, ingenuity, intuition and the ability to improvise. Exploration
demands a capacity for thinking outside the box in the sense that it is vital to break away from the
controversial wisdom of what the customer wants or one thinks the customer wants.
Exploration
- Most creative
- Where innovation begins
- Mix of qualities are required ranging from originality, openness, creativity, and vision to
inquisitiveness, ingenuity, intuition and the ability to improvise
- Demands a capacity for ‘thinking outside the box’
- R&D