The actions required to create new ideas, processes or products which when implemented lead to positive effective change. While invention requires the creation of new ideas, processes or products, innovation moves one step further and requires implementation of the inventive act. Innovation also implies a value system which seeks to derive a positive outcome from the inventive act. For example, actions which lead to a negative performance metric would not be considered innovative, even if they met the requirements of novelty and enabling actions.
– Marc Chason, Motorola Labs
Innovation is creating new value and/or capturing value in a new way. Value is the key word, stressing the difference between innovation and invention. The definition is simple, easy to memorize and also good enough to encompass innovation in all the value chain.
– Victor Fernandes, Natura
Innovation is something new to your business that fills an untapped customer need. Ideally, the innovation builds a new market.
– Jonathan Rowe, Gene Express Inc.
An innovation is an idea that has been transformed into practical reality. For a business, this is a product, process, or business concept, or combinations that have been activated in the marketplace and produce new profits and growth for the organization. I differentiate radical and disruptive innovation from the incremental kind, since the latter can happen if the company is simply great at what it already does. True innovation is far more than an extension of what is done normally, and while being different, uses capabilities that exist in a company or are augmented by strategic alliances. Therefore, something is an innovation not simply because it is new to that company, but because it is simply new.
– Dr. Makarand “Chips” Chipalkatti, Osram Slyvania
Innovation is a process to bring new ideas, new methods or new products to an organization. Unfortunately, in the past, in America, innovation has been limited to looking for a “big” idea to advance an organization’s competitive position. Management seems to be always looking for the “silver bullet,” a new “I Phone, etc.,” while true innovation is involving every single employee to look around their work area to identify small problems around them and to be empowered and responsible to solve them. The average Japanese company receives 24 ideas per worker per year and saves $4,000 per employee. From this process of involving all employees in continuous improvement will come daily improvements in quality and productivity and miraculously great commercial ideas will also “pop” out.
– Norman Bodek, PCS Inc.
Innovation is relative. I often hear the question asked, “Is that innovative? Because I think this other company has done it before.” However, I define innovation as anything new – or different – that changes the game for YOUR company. Leveraging what someone else has done is a perfectly legitimate innovation strategy. We need to always keep the end-game in mind and that’s competitive advantage. Don’t rule it out because you think it does or doesn’t qualify as innovative. Just ask yourself, “Will it make a positive difference?” If the answer is, “yes,” then go with it.
– David Silverstein. Breakthrough Management Group
Having a view of the future landscape of consumer wants and needs – whether known or unarticulated – and developing solutions that grow your business while fulfilling or altering the lifestyle and behavior of your target consumers.
– Troy Geesaman, Laga
I have found it most helpful to define “business innovation” (as distinct from general innovation) as the “creation and capture of new value in new ways.” This definition has made innovation more actionable and measurable in business terms and makes it inclusive of “new” offerings and value propositions (new services or products), “new” methods (new technology applications or business processes), and “new” business models (new channels, partners and financial models for capturing value from innovation investments.
– Ron Jonash, Monitor Group
Marketing Creativity and Innovations 