Innovation

Innovation is the implementation of a new or significantly improved idea, good, service, process or practice which is intended to be useful. Scholars who have studied innovation generally differentiate among four main types of innovation: product innovation, process innovation, organizational innovation, and marketing innovation.

Sources of innovation

Innovation in business is achieved in many ways, with much attention now given to formal research and development for "breakthrough innovations." But innovations may be developed by less formal on-the-job modifications of practice, through exchange and combination of professional experience and by many other routes. The more radical and revolutionary innovations tend to stem from R&D, while more incremental innovations may emerge from practice - but there are many exceptions to each of these trends.

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Another key source of innovation is user innovation, innovations developed by individuals when existing products do not meet their current needs. User innovators may become entrepreneurs, selling their product, or they may choose to freely reveal their innovations, using methods like open source. In such networks of innovation the creativity of the users or communities of users can further develop technologies and their use.

Related Topics:
User innovation - Entrepreneur - Open source - Networks of innovation

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Whether innovation is mainly supply-pushed (based on new technological possibilities) or demand-led (based on social needs and market requirements) has been a hotly debated topic. Similarly, what exactly drives innovation in organizations and economies remains an open question.

Related Topics:
Supply-pushed - Demand-led

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