Exploring Innovation, Second EditionDavid Smith

Detailed Table of Contents

Brief Table of ContentsDetailed Table of ContentsPrefaceGuided TourTechnology to enhance teaching and learningAcknowledgements

Part I What Is Innovation?

1. INTRODUCTIONWhat is innovation?Innovation: Invention – Commercialisation – DiffusionWhat next?Case Study: Nintendo Wii

2. TYPES OF INNOVATIONMaking sense of innovationForms of innovationTypes of innovationThe value of an innovation typologyCase Study: The Guts of the New Machine

3. TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGEThe nature of technologyLong wave cycle and technological changeThe Internet: Our very own long waveThe implications of the long wave cycleTechnological paradigmsCase Study: However the Internet develops, it is the consumer who will benefit

Part II What Does Innovation Involve?

4. THEORIES OF INNOVATIONWho needs theory?Theories of innovationTechnology S-curvePunctuated equilibriumDominant designAbsorptive capacityHow does theory help the innovator?Case Study: High Fidelity

5. SOURCES OF INNOVATIONInsight – a flash of geniusSources of innovationIndividualsCorporationsUsersEmployeesOutsidersSpill-oversProcess needsCase Study: The Mountain Bike

6. THE PROCESS OF INNOVATIONThe steps in the innovation processInsight/researchDevelopmentDesignMarket evaluationProduction engineeringMarket/Pilot testingFull-scale manufacture and launchModels of the innovation processOpen innovationCase Study: The Chilled Meals Revolution

7. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTYIntellectual property and intellectual property rightsIntellectual property rights through registrationIntellectual property rights that are inherentLicensingCase Study: Trampled underfoot – how big business hijacked the Ugg boot

Part III How Do You Manage Innovation?

8. INNOVATION STRATEGYThe nature of strategyInnovation strategyExternal routes to innovationInternal routes to innovation: innovation strategiesCase Study: Videogames

9. TECHNICAL ENTREPRENEURS EntrepreneurshipThe nature of technical entrepreneurshipOccupational backgroundTypes of technical entrepreneurNew venture creationThe drivers of technical entrepreneurshipCase Study: OneClick Technologies Ltd

10.FUNDING INNOVATIONInnovation cashflowFounder, family and friendsFinancial bootstrappingGovernment fundingBanksVenture capitalInitial Public Offering (IPO): the Alternative Investment Market (AIM)Case Study: Oxford Instruments

11.MANAGING INNOVATIONThe functions of managementPlanningOrganisingLeadingControlling ConclusionCase Study: The Advanced Passenger Train (APT)

Part IV How Do You Foster Innovation?

12. INNOVATION POLICYRationale for government interventionPolicy initiativesAgencies promoting innovationCase Study: Malaysia’s Multimedia Super Corridor

13. INNOVATION CLUSTERSThe nature of clustersThe cluster conceptTypes of clusterThe innovative milieuxCase Study: The British Hi-fi Industry Cluster

14.NATIONAL INNOVATION SYSTEMSThe public nature of innovationNational innovation systemsGovernanceInstitutionsCase Study: Backing Australia’s Ability

ResourcesBibliographyIndex

Preface

The response to the first edition of Exploring Innovation was very pleasing and

surprising. Written primarily with UK students studying Business Administration in

mind, the text has not only been well received and used in the UK, but found a

market in other parts of Europe and even as far a field as South Africa and Malaysia.

Consequently this revised edition retains the original format of fourteen chapters

divided into four parts, though updated to include recent developments in innovation

and major additions to the literature. As well, the opportunity has been taken to

replace some of the more anglo-centric and dated case studies with more up-to-date

material that hopefully has a wider appeal.

The chapter topics remain broadly unchanged, but some of the individual chapters

have been extensively revised. Thus Chapter 1 now includes a more detailed

treatment of the commercial aspects of innovation stressing the importance of

selecting an appropriate business model, while Chapter 5 includes more emphasis

on user innovation and chapter six introduces and explains the concept of open

innovation. Chapter 8 has seen the biggest changes, with a shift in emphasis (and

title) away from technology strategy to focus instead on innovation strategy. Another

chapter to be re-titled is Chapter 11 which now specifically concentrates on the

management of innovation, linking a number of managerial techniques to a specific

model of the management process.

However, probably the biggest change is the replacement of several of the major

case studies at the end of each chapter and many of the mini-cases, with new cases

that are more topical and more up-to-date reflecting recent innovations not just in

products but services as well. Overall there are more than 20 new mini-cases and six

new full length case studies. Among the new cases are ones on the BBC iPlayer,

Nintendo Wii, Linux, Blu-Ray, Mountain Bike, Predator boot, Videogames, Mark

Shuttleworth, Dragon’s Den and Ideo, all topics that I hope will appeal to a generation

of undergraduate students born in the 1990s.

At the same time the opportunity has been taken to re-organise the text. A new

Further Reading section has been introduced at the end of each chapter to both

introduce students to some important and valuable texts and provide them with

guidance on where they can obtain additional information. Similarly the references

that were located at the end of each chapter have now been concentrated into a

single Bibliography at the end of the book, which provides a central reference for the

literature on innovation. Finally there is a new Resources section near the end of the

book. This is designed to help students access a wide range of additional materials,

ranging from books and articles to websites, videos and even films!

Those who liked the case studies from the first edition that are not included in this

revised edition, can be reassured that they are not lost for ever. They will be made

available in the Online Learning Centre (OLC) that accompanies the book, together

with additional materials in terms of lecture notes, questions for discussion etc.

Finally since one of the aspects of innovation that is stressed throughout the book is

the value of networking in facilitating knowledge transfer, let me say that I very much

welcome feedback, suggestions and contributions which can reach me at:

david.smith02@ntu.ac.uk.

David Smith, Nottingham, UK