Total-System Innovation Management: Concepts and Applications

Background

There exists a large body of literature on developing a conceptual framework of the innovation process and its management, and a well-organized summary of the evolution of various generations of major frameworks of innovation process has been provided by du Preez, Louw, and Essmann (2008). However, these frameworks are diverse, lack of unity, and often incomplete or with special emphases.

This lack of unity may partly stem from a lack of agreement among definitions. Since a popular authority of English language, the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary (2013), has defined “innovation” as “1. The introduction of something new; 2. A new idea, method, or device”, it is not unusual for many researchers to viewed “innovation” as synonymous to “new idea” or “invention”. Thus, as pointed out by Rothwell (1994), many early frameworks tend to focus on creativity, internal idea generation through technology push or demand pull, and external idea search and selection. Subsequent generations of frameworks [Trott (2005), Galanakis (2006), and Tidd and Bessant (2009)] have extended the innovation process to idea implementation, but still often neglected important key elements such as “seeking and providing initial support” for these new ideas. Moreover, practically no framework has included “societal and ethical considerations” in the innovation process and its management.