BUS 5112

Portfolio Activity

Invention involves creating something new, but innovation involves creating something that

sells. Invention is the formation of a merchandise or introduction of a development for the first

time while innovation involves “improving on or making a significant contribution to an already

existing product, process or service” (Grasty, 2017).

As people advance, new difficulties or problems arise each generation and the need to create new

answers to products and services that would overcome these problems is essential. Inventing a

new product in today’s business marketplaces is significant to ensure new changes and stop the

world from being inactive. Creating new products and services should be at the priority list of

every Project managers to do list in order to take full advantage of company growth and

profitability.

Innovation on the other hand also connects the spots between inventions. Spotting potential for

improvement, Innovation smartly fills a gap in the market and combines inventions into products

that will charm or be of interest to customers and manifest commercial success (Herbert, 2016).

Given that chance, most project managers would rather innovate than invent. Just like the case of

Alexander Bell who invented the telephone while Steve job revolutionized it, transforming it into

a moneymaking and world-dominating device.

The two words - innovation and invention are regularly wrongly used interchangeably by people

as it is often times very difficult to differentiate the two especially that they both uses the same

word ‘new’ in their description of products. While ‘invention’ generates a new idea, service,

product or solution, ‘innovations’ presents a new perspective to the consumer market and turn

these inventions into products or goods that are of actual benefits and marketable.
“A product or process is inventive if it has never been done before – whether it is innovative

depends on whether users will get a real value out of it” (Herbert, 2016). An invention need

work, a manager cannot create a new product or idea and be expectant of the management to

receive it and hope things will work out well. This is where innovators is needed, this is the area

where innovators jump right in, they collect the existing idea and transform it into a successful

commercial product or service. An inventor is require to be skilled in a specific field, innovators

is require to have business strategic and marketing skills and abilities. Inventor can create a

solution from a problem while innovators sell them.

Inventions comes about when an expert ponders on a new solution to a problem while innovation

comes about when business executives realize a need in the markets for a unique product or

service or improvement on existing product or service.

Conclusion

What caught my attention in this topic is that fact that invention and innovation seem similar as a

word to each other but when explained they are both different to each other but one way or the

other connects with each other. Invention is concerned with the creation of new product while

Innovation means adding value to product or service that is already existing. The notion of

Invention is a working idea and theory whereas innovation is implementation of that new ideas.

The survival of any organization depends on its profits or returns and the capability to remain

competitive in the markets. That is why Project Managers of new products/services must be able

to think outside the box as either inventors or innovator. In order for innovator to turn around

existing ideas into productivity and profitability, there must be these ideas discussed in the first

place. At the end of the day we would realize that innovators require inventors.

References
Grasty, T. (2017, December 7). The Difference Between "Invention" and "Innovation".
Retrieved from: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/technological-
inventionsandinnovation_b_1397085

Invention vs innovation - definitions, explanations, differences. (2019, September 12). Retrieved

from: https://www.termscompared.com/invention-vs-innovation/

Morgan, J. (2015, September 10). What's The Difference Between Invention and Innovation?
Retrieved from: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jacobmorgan/2015/09/10/whats-thedifference-
between-invention-and-innovation/#60d6007470f4

The Difference Between Invention and Innovation. (n.d.). Retrieved from: https://www.uk-
cpi.com/blog/the-difference-between-invention-and-innovation