1. What is Innovation Management?

- Innovation management involves the process of managing an organization's

innovation procedure, starting at the initial stage of ideation, to its final stage of
successful implementation. It encompasses the decisions, activities and practices of
devising and implementing an innovation strategy.
(https://www.techtarget.com/searchcio/definition/innovation-management)

2. What is innovation?
- Innovation often refers to something new, such as an invention, or the practice of
developing and introducing new things. In the tech world, an innovation is usually a
new product, but it can also be a new way of doing something or even a new way of
thinking.
(https://www.isocfoundation.org/2022/06/what-is-in-a-word-innovation/?gclid=CjwKCAiAzp6e
BhByEiwA_gGq5FuhTnIv-3VrhycvaYR29Rf51K_ob6dPq_MWw_8pOotVxKc_hdIucxoCXYg
QAvD_BwE)

Factors of innovation:
● The Outside Environment
A cultural environment can have a significant impact on whether a fledgling idea takes off.
What attitudes and support systems can allow a business to launch?

Certain cities and countries seem to be especially hospitable to innovation and

entrepreneurship. Deborah Op Den Kamp, a consultant with Spencer Stuart in Silicon Valley
says,

“There are some wonderful things about Silicon Valley that make it uniquely able to create
the level of innovation: there’s no badge of disgrace for your company failing, there is a
wealthy outflow of capital, you have access to lots of other creative people who can aspire
you."

● Vibrant Internal Culture

A vibrant internal business culture often distinguishes the successful from the unsuccessful
organization. Legacy companies invest heavily in recreating startup culture, such as agility
and experimentation, within their own businesses.

● The Right Leadership

Building an innovation-friendly culture is often the result of good leadership.

● Hiring is Key

Creating and maintaining company culture and values is also essential to success and
fostering innovation. Op den Kamp says, “We think of culture as the unwritten rules of how
an organization operates, that what creates the kind of fabric of a place.”

(https://www.aesc.org/insights/blog/4-factors-foster-great-innovation)
3. Sources of Innovation
● Unexpected Occurrences
● Incongruities
● Incongruities
● Industry and Market Changes
● Demographic Changes
● Changes in Perception
● New Knowledge
(https://hbr.org/2002/08/the-discipline-of-innovation)

4. Organizational Process for Innovation Management

● Setting the goals for the process
Innovation always begins with a goal in mind. It is many times based on finding the solution
to a problem. Once you have this goal, it should be discussed among everyone in the
problem solving team.

● Cooperation

The innovation team should work together so that instead of trying to come up with an idea
separately, they can bounce ideas off one another and create a collaborative solution. This
can include the use of online tools, attendance of events such as trade shows that can be
inspiring and informative, or simply consist of brainstorming sessions.

● Combination of ideas

Once the ideas are in, choose the best ones and then consider whether they can be
combined to create an even greater idea. Often, strong ideas will be complementary to one
another and will join well to create an even better result.

● Evaluation of innovation

This is an important and yet all too frequently overlooked aspect of the innovation
management process. When the best ideas have been combined, fine-tuned, and polished,
it is time to subject them to evaluation based on peer reviews.

● Testing the ideas

Once the ideas with the greatest potential have been identified, they can be tested so that
they can be better developed. One of the most common means of testing a product or
service idea is to create a prototype or test group.

● Execution of innovation implementation

The ideas that survive the testing process can be further developed and altered until they
are ready to be executed as a part of the business offerings. The execution of
implementation is a step that is unique to your business and, unless your new product
causes you to have to drastically alter the typical way that your go-to-market strategy
functions, then this part of the innovation management process should be relatively
commonplace in your organization.
 ● Assessment of innovation life-cycle

After the execution of an idea, its implementation needs to be carefully monitored and
assessed in terms of a number of milestones that should be set. Should a milestone not be
reached, then changes will need to be made or the idea will need to be shut down.

(https://www.bpmleader.com/2012/05/22/the-8-phases-of-an-innovation-management-proces
s/)

5. Characteristics of Innovation

Relative advantages
The potential audience needs to see how your innovation improves from previous
generation products according to their current situation.

Compatibility
Compatibility refers to the harmony of relationship that innovation has with potential
individuals as they absorb mentally it into their lives.

Complexity vs simplicityHow difficult for an adopter to learn and use your innovation?
Obviously, complexity slows down your progress; the complex innovation is more
difficult for potential users to incorporate into their lives. Adopters do not invest much time in
learning to use an innovation. The more instinctive your innovation would be, the more
surely it will be adopted.

Trialability
How easily your potential adopters can explore your innovative idea describes
trialability. Before committing to your innovation, users want to give a brief look at what your
innovation can do and want to give it a test run.

Observability
Observability is the benefits or results of using an innovation visible to potential
adopters. Observability stretches beyond having earlier users use innovation in view of later
users; potential adopters must clearly figure out the benefits of adopting innovation and
using it.

(https://www.fullestop.com/blog/characteristics-innovation)

6. What is Technology?
Technology, the application of scientific knowledge to the practical aims of human life or, as
it is sometimes phrased, to the change and manipulation of the human environment.
(https://www.britannica.com/technology/technology)
7. Types of Innovation
● Radical innovation
As the name suggests, a radical innovation really changes the circumstances of a brand,
whether in terms of market or of business dynamics.

It can occur due to a complete change in a company's positioning, work method, processes,
services, and products offered, or how it relates to customers.

An example of radical innovation would be Apple's iPhone. When it was released,

smartphones already existed, but Apple included features that changed the market and
made it more popular.

● Incremental innovation
Another type of innovation is incremental innovation. It adds new features to a product,
brand, or production methods without promoting a very drastic change.

It's usually an evolution of an innovation already implemented by the brand that

complements and offers improvements, be it to employees, customers, or features of a
business.

An example of incremental innovation is Gmail, which was created with the purpose of
sending emails quickly – but over time, different features were added to improve the
customer experience and make it more useful and competitive.

● Disruptive innovation
Technological and behavioral changes have favored the emergence of disruptive innovation
in recent decades.

This type of innovation follows the market more than a specific brand, product, or service. It
can be leveraged by something a company has offered and, as a result, made their name,
but, in general, it's a scalable change that reaches many people at the same time.

Examples of disruptive innovation include Netflix, as the market used to rely on companies
like Blockbuster for movies and TV series. Netflix started offering DVD-by-mail rental
services but decided to innovate. It started offering video streaming services through a
monthly subscription and, in doing so, drove Blockbuster out of the market. In addition to
being innovative, this also gave Netflix a predictable monthly revenue.
(https://www.sydle.com/blog/types-of-innovation-619541bf351e93287c42a7de/#:~:text=Esse
ntially%2C%20there%20are%20three%20types,%2C%20services%2C%20and%20products
%20offered.)

8. Differences of innovation and invention

To invent something is to discover a new thing. Meanwhile, to innovate means ​“to use
a new​idea or​method”. To innovate is to introduce something new to the market, to
manipulate existing inventions and turn them into a product or process that is of use in the
real world.
(https://www.uk-cpi.com/blog/the-difference-between-invention-and-innovation#:~:text=To%2
0invent%20something%20is%20to,use%20in%20the%20real%20world.)
9. Levels of innovation

● Incremental Innovation

This consists of small, yet meaningful improvements in your products, services, and other
ways in which you do business. These tend to be the "new and improved" innovations we
are all bombarded with every day: new flavors, shifts to better or all-natural ingredients,
packaging improvements, faster/slower functioning, just-in-time supply chain enhancements,
bigger/smaller sizing, cost reductions, heavier/lighter weight. We see them every day and
they help extend product, service, and business life cycles and improve profitablity. They
can be easily visualized and quickly communicated and give you something new with which
to grab consumer attention in an increasingly noisy marketplace.

● Breakthrough Innovation

This is a meaningful change in the way you do business that gives consumers something
demonstrably new (beyond "new and improved"). Breakthrough innovation produces a
substantial competitive edge for a while, although the length of time anyone can maintain
such an advantage is growing increasingly shorter.

● Transformational Innovation

This is usually (but not always) the introduction of a technology that creates a new industry
and transforms the way we live and work. This kind of innovation often eliminates existing
industries or, at a minimum, totally transforms them. For this reason, transformational
innovations tend to be championed by those who aren't wedded to an existing infrastructure.
Transformational innovation is exceedingly rare. Think about it: how many truly
new-to-the-world ideas happen in a year? In a lifetime? Not many!

Yet, in some ways, transformational innovation is easier to pursue because the change
required to achieve it usually doesn't rely on an existing entity that is committed to the old
way of doing things. That's why we often find transformational innovation coming from
start-up companies. But no company can survive by pursuing only transformational
innovation.