In the modern business world, the word “innovation” has become quite popular. Innovation can mean a particular direction of development, a strategy, or a challenge. For example, if a new device is invented, it is an innovation. But producing the device, as well as its marketing and service, may require changes in manufacturing technology and corporate structure, which become part of the innovation process as well. At the same time, a competing company faces the need to invent and bring to market a new device to compete with the first company’s product. For the second company, innovation becomes a primary goal. To understand the concept of innovation, it is necessary to define it, explain its importance, and analyze the challenges it presents.
In general, innovation is simply a new way of doing something. The concept is associated with finding new, original solutions for existing or arising issues. In today’s constantly and rapidly changing world, innovation is often seen as a prerequisite for success. In many different areas of life, old goals quickly become unattainable through the same old operation, and new goals appear. New approaches, strategies, ideas, and inventions are all examples of innovation. Innovation can apply to all stages of problem-solving, from planning and preparation to evaluation. One of the most distinctive features of innovation in the modern world is the necessity for speed: everything is sought to be done faster. For example, Taco Bell continuously comes up with solutions to make its services, from ordering to delivery, faster and more efficient (Safian, 2016). Another example is corporate innovation, which typically deals with workforce and workload optimization. The general trend is to reduce the time that employees spend in the office and to provide opportunities for more flexible, self-arranged schedules, guaranteeing full-time privileges and a high salary (Lindzon, 2016). It is seen as “a symptom of the disappearance of stable, full-time employment” (Lindzon, 2016, para. 11) and demonstrates the necessity of innovative solutions to redefine the very concept of labor.
The importance of innovation is evident given the constant changes in demand, conditions, and competition. Although the word “innovation” has rather a positive connotation, researchers within recent years have often raised an important question: “Is innovation always good?” (Fagerberg, Martin, & Andersen, 2013, p. 9). Analysis suggests that sometimes innovative practices benefit a small group at the expense of larger groups. To prevent these negative effects, researchers emphasize the importance of planning and predicting consequences, which is a matter of effort in “policy and scholarly work, namely how to design mechanisms—or selection environments—that prevent such socially destructive innovations from spreading” (Fagerberg et al., 2013, p. 10). However, innovation is primarily seen as the right direction for development. Based on a survey, Urbancová (2013) concludes that “organisations find it important to innovate and support an innovative culture” (p. 82). The main incentive for innovation here is striving to stay competitive in their sphere. Besides advantages in competition, there are two other major aspects of innovation that are widely recognized as positive (Fagerberg et al., 2013). First, innovation is linked to learning, which means that it involves accepting new challenges by constantly improving methods and preparation. Second, although there is a widespread assumption that only advanced systems can or should innovate, research has shown that less developed systems (e.g. developing countries) can benefit from innovative solutions as well.
However, innovations are often challenging in terms of implementation. The more complicated and less flexible a system is, the harder it is to introduce new features or mechanisms. In a survey of over 500 executives in the United States, more than half of them reported having experienced a poor innovation experience previously (Kuratko, Covin, & Hornsby, 2014). Corporate innovations, even if well planned, may fail due to inadequate implementation. In fact, the implementation stage is the one most likely to cause complications because systems normally resist being reformed. Kuratko et al. (2014) point out four major steps for any successful innovative process: realizing what kind of innovation is necessary, coordinating efforts of managers, supervising the process, and training employees. Another issue that an innovating organization faces is the extent to which innovation can be applied. Studies in the area of so-called radical innovation barriers have provided rather limited data and conclusions so far (Sandberg & Aarikka-Stenroos, 2014). However, one key finding is that these barriers do not depend on the degree of novelty of the innovation itself, but rather they “vary according to the characteristics of firms, markets, and along the innovation process” (Sandberg & Aarikka-Stenroos, 2014, p. 1293). Nonetheless, many organizations adopt innovations in spite of the challenges.
In virtually any area of activity, there are two different approaches to challenges: relying on proven methods or introducing new ones. The latter is clearly associated with difficulties. Giving up old policies and practices that are known to work for new ones that often lack clear data in terms of results is risky and, in fact, often leads to failure. However, many organizations and leaders prefer to innovate and support innovations. This preference can be explained by the fact that most advanced sectors of the modern economy revolve around new ideas, and constantly producing new ideas is often viewed as the wisest business strategy.
References
Fagerberg, J., Martin, B. R., & Andersen, E. S. (2013). Innovation studies: evolution and future challenges. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Kuratko, D. F., Covin, J. G., & Hornsby, J. S. (2014). Why implementing corporate innovation is so difficult. Business Horizons, 57(5), 647-655.
Lindzon, J. (2016). You Don’t Need To Be In Tech To Find High-Paying Part-Time Jobs. Web.
Safian, R. (2016).15 Lessons Of Innovation For 2016. Web.
Sandberg, B., & Aarikka-Stenroos, L. (2014). What makes it so difficult? A systematic review on barriers to radical innovation. Industrial Marketing Management, 43(8), 1293-1305.
Urbancová, H. (2013). Competitive advantage achievement through innovation and knowledge. Journal of Competitiveness, 5(1), 82-96.