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Time: 55 hours
Level: Advanced
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 Introduction Resource- This unit aims to provide an understanding of invention, design, innovation and diffusion as ongoing processes with a range of factors affecting success at each stage. You will gain an understanding of...
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| | Part 1 Investigating the innovation process
- Part 1 Investigating the innovation process Resource
- In Part 1 I invite you to look around at the technological products in your home or at work and consider their development history and their impact on the lives of you and your family. I then define the...
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| | Part 1: 1 Living with innovation
- 1.1 Everyday life Resource
- Picture an everyday scene. You're in a high street coffee shop. All around you people are drinking coffee. Some people are chatting with friends, others are using their mobile phone. A few individuals...
- 1.2 The inventive drive Resource
- What events and ideas spurred people to come up with thousands of inventions in the last 100 years?
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| | Part 1: 2 Exploring innovation
- 2.1 Your experience of innovation Resource
- Before I look in more detail at what's involved in the processes of invention and innovation, I want you to consider your own experience of innovation as an end user.
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| | Part 1: 3 Inventing the telephone and living with the innovation
- 3.1 An explanation Resource
- I will now elaborate on my answer from Exercise 1. I'm doing this because my internet search revealed more than I've written in the above answer, and to show that the invention of the telephone and its...
- 3.2 When and where was the telephone invented? Resource
- I'd read in the past that the telephone was invented in 1876 by Alexander Graham Bell. However when I looked more closely at the history it turns out that the idea had been ‘in the air’ for almost half...
- 3.3 Who invented the telephone? Resource
- The popular image of Bell inventing the telephone, while it has some truth, is by no means the whole story. The two most significant players in the invention of a practical working telephone were Bell...
- 3.4 What was innovative about the telephone? Resource
- The most obvious innovative aspect was that speech was being transmitted, so in principle anyone could use a telephone for communication. The use of the telegraph required skilled operatives. A message...
- 3.5 Was the telephone invented in response to a need or because of developments in technology? Resource
- As with many truly innovative technologies it's difficult to claim that people were demanding its invention. Most people were satisfied with the existing means of communicating across distances. It took...
- 3.6 Was the telephone an immediate success? Resource
- By the end of 1876 Bell had managed to build an experimental device that could carry a conversation across 2 miles of wire. The following year the first operational telephone line was erected over the...
- 3.7 Has telephone design changed over time? Resource
- As you can see from Figure 5 the design of the telephone has changed considerably over its lifetime, reflecting the improvements in technology, materials, components and manufacturing processes. Figures...
- 3.8 Has the telephone led to any related or spin-off products? Resource
- There have been a number of branches of the telegraph and the telephone family tree where research and experiment into one technology have contributed to the development of another.
- 3.9 A consumer's experience of innovation Resource
- First phone in 1968
- 3.10 What has been learnt from the history of the telephone? Resource
- Here are some points about invention and innovation that seem to have emerged from considering the case of the telephone.
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- 4.1 Introduction to key concepts Resource
- Before I go any further I will establish the meaning of some of the key concepts that you will encounter throughout this unit.
- 4.2 Inventors and inventions Resource
- An inventor is an individual or group able to generate an idea for a new or improved device, product or process. The idea must then be transformed into concrete information in the form of a description,...
- 4.3 Designs Resource
- A design comprises drawings, instructions or models that contain all the information for the manufacture of a product or the introduction of a process or system.
- 4.4 Product champion Resource
- Throughout the development of this innovation Edison endeavoured, by means of persuasive argument and demonstrations of progress, to convince those people who were in a position to help further the success...
- 4.5 Entrepreneur Resource
- From this it is clear that money is a key requirement for transforming an invention into an innovation. Money pays for the people and equipment needed to refine the invention into a practical working prototype,...
- 4.6 Improver Resource
- At different stages of the process of invention, design and innovation there's a role that can be played by improvers. The improver is an individual or group whose concern is to do things better by making...
- 4.7 Innovation Resource
- The point at which the electric light first became available on the market was the moment the invention became an innovation. So an innovation is a new or improved product, process or system that has reached...
- 4.8 Dominant design Resource
- In most examples of evolving technological innovation there is a period when rival designs are competing to outperform each other, both in what they do and how well they appeal to the consumer. Certain...
- 4.9 Robust design and lean design Resource
- In the case of the incandescent lamp the first dominant design had emerged by 1884, only 4 years after the first lamps had gone on public display around Menlo Park. It consisted of a screw-in metal base,...
- 4.10 Radical innovation and incremental innovation Resource
- The electric light might be said to be an example of a radical innovation – a new product, process or system resulting from a technological breakthrough, or an application of a technology having a far-reaching...
- 4.11 Sustaining innovation and disruptive innovation Resource
- As it's sometimes difficult to say whether a particular innovation is radical or incremental, a useful distinction made recently is between sustaining innovations and those that are disruptive. You'll...
- 4.12 Process innovation Resource
- Once a product innovation is well established creative energies tend to turn towards incremental improvements and process innovation, which is an improvement in the organisation and/or method of manufacture...
- 4.13 Diffusion and suppression Resource
- As an innovation becomes accepted by an increasing number of individual and organisational users it goes through the process of diffusion, which is the process of adoption of an innovation over time from...
- 4.14 Compact fluorescents and new developments Resource
- In the case of the electric light there were a series of incremental product innovations (metal filaments, gas filled bulbs, frosted bulbs) as well as process innovations (some of which were mentioned...
- 4.15 Intellectual property and patents Resource
- At any stage of the innovation process, from invention to diffusion, a bright idea with market potential can be a target for unscrupulous copying. Or, as you've seen with simultaneous invention, people...
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| | Part 1: 5 Dead certs and dead ends
- 5.1 Evolutionary development Resource
- Most of us have some experience of the evolutionary development and the success of new technology. The Walkman personal stereo cassette player has evolved into the Discman CD player and more recently into...
- 5.2 Are cylinder ships a dead-end invention? Resource
- In 1924 Anton Flettner, a German physicist, tested a prototype of one of his inventions, a rotor ship. An expert in hydrodynamics and aerodynamics, Flettner had already experimented with metal sails, which...
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| | Part 1: 6 Self-assessment questions
- Part 1: 6 Self-assessment questions Resource
- Given the definitions you have learnt in Part 1, would you classify the following as an invention or an innovation?
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| | Part 1: 7 Key points of Part 1
- Part 1: 7 Key points of Part 1 Resource
- Invention and innovation are ongoing processes not one-off events. Products have a history of invention, design and improvement, which can be over a surprisingly long period.
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- Part 2: Invention Resource
- Having taken a broad look at the whole innovation process from invention to diffusion, I'll go back and look more closely at what motivates individuals and organisations to invent. Then I'll consider how...
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| | Part 2: 1 How invention starts
- 1.1 What motivates individuals to invent? Resource
- It seems clear from the number of new patents applied for each year, and the many inventions that are not patented, that the level of inventive activity around the world is high. It's possible to identify...
- 1.2 Scientific or technical curiosity Resource
- Some inventors understand a scientific phenomenon and set about inventing a technological device to exploit the phenomenon.
- 1.3 Constructive discontent Resource
- Inventive ideas often arise because existing technology or design proves to be unsatisfactory in some way – perhaps too costly, too inefficient or too dangerous. Using a product or process for a while...
- 1.4 Desire to make money Resource
- While most inventors might dream of growing rich from their inventions few invent for that reason alone. There are some exceptions though.
- 1.5 Desire to help others Resource
- This is a less common motivation but it shows not everyone is driven by money.
- 1.6 What drives invention in organisations? Resource
- Much invention and nearly all innovation nowadays take place inside organisations – from small start-up companies to well-established multinationals. This is mainly because increasingly invention and innovation...
- 1.7 Business strategy Resource
- Invention can be driven by a company's business strategy. In descending order of inventiveness the main strategies are first to market, follow the leader, and opportunist.
- 1.8 Need to improve product or process Resource
- Even though an invention will have been thoroughly tested before launch it's not possible for a company to test its performance in every situation in which it will be used. Real users are likely to discover...
- 1.9 Opportunity offered by a new material, technology or manufacturing process Resource
- More often when new materials or technologies appear they are used to improve the performance of existing products. But in an increasing number of cases their appearance can make it possible to create...
- 1.10 Government policy, legislation and regulations Resource
- To a certain extent it's possible for governments to stimulate invention by providing incentives for manufacturers to develop new products and for consumers to buy and use them. One example of this process...
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| | Part 2: 2 How the process of invention works
- 2.1 Five steps to invention Resource
- I've looked at what motivates people and organisations to invent. I'll look more closely now at what's actually involved in inventing something.
- 2.2 Step 1 – identification of the problem Resource
- The activity of identifying a problem to be solved or a need to be met is a key step for the start of the innovation process. As you saw earlier there's a range of possible starting points. You've already...
- 2.3 Step 2 – exploration Resource
- This is the period when, following the identification of the problem, attempts are made to understand it better and to make a stab at designing a solution. This might be a short process or it could take...
- 2.4 Step 3 – incubation Resource
- Incubation is a period when the inventor, having been working on the problem for some time during identification and exploration, is no longer giving it conscious attention. The problem and its solution...
- 2.5 Step 4 – act of insight Resource
- Suddenly an insight suggests a solution, or the means of achieving a solution, to the inventor. Legendary examples include Newton observing an apple falling from a tree and having his insight into the...
- 2.6 Step 5 – critical revision Resource
- Once a solution has been obtained it is then necessary to explore the extent to which it effectively solves the problem and where necessary revise it. Although more attention has been given to the moment...
- 2.7 Characteristics of inventors Resource
- In their classic book The Sources of Invention (1969) John Jewkes, David Sawers and Richard Stillerman observe the following about inventors, whether working outside or inside an organisation.
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| | Part 2: 3 Technology push and market pull
- 3.1 Two models Resource
- So far you've seen that there are two general drivers of invention. One is the scientific and technological knowledge and skills that can be applied to invent a new product or process. The other is the...
- 3.2 Technology push Resource
- The technology push model is a simple linear model that suggests that the innovation process starts with an idea or a discovery – it is sometimes called ‘idea push’ (Figure 51). Sometimes this is by a...
- 3.3 Market pull Resource
- The alternative market pull model suggests that the stimulus for innovation comes from the needs of society or a particular section of the market (Figure 55). These might be needs perceived by an entrepreneur...
- 3.4 Coupling model Resource
- There are examples where either technology or the market appears to be more significant in stimulating invention but the majority of innovations involve a creative coupling of technological and market...
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| | Part 2: 4 Preparing for innovation
- Part 2: 4 Preparing for innovation Resource
- Many inventors have said that having the idea for an invention is the easy part. This is often demonstrated by the frequency of examples of simultaneous invention. At one exhibition of inventions I attended...
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| | Part 2: 5 Self-assessment questions
- Part 2: 5 Self-assessment questions Resource
- What are the four main factors that motivate individuals to invent?
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| | Part 2: 6 Key points of Part 2
- Part 2: 6 Key points of Part 2 Resource
- Individuals are motivated to invent by one or more factors: curiosity; constructive discontent about a product; a desire to help others; a desire to make money.
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- Part 3: Innovation Resource
- As you've seen above, many inventors have discovered that innovation – getting their ideas made and sold – is harder than invention. To bring an invention to the market there are a number of obstacles...
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| | Part 3: 1 Overcoming obstacles to innovation
- 1.1 Getting the technology to work Resource
- A fundamental requirement for successful innovation is that the invention must work. It mustn't violate any scientific laws and it must be capable of being transformed into a working prototype. In addition...
- 1.2 Getting finance and organisational backing Resource
- Like talk, ideas are cheap. Even generating a prototype of an invention can be cheap compared with the resources needed to produce and market an innovation. The independent inventor or designer is likely...
- 1.3 Choosing appropriate materials and manufacturing process Resource
- The choice of materials and manufacturing process for a particular new product is an important aspect of the innovation process. It is not necessarily the case that the materials chosen for the early prototypes...
- 1.4 Standards and their role in innovation Resource
- Standards were originally related to units of measurement. The first ‘standard’ was the Egyptian royal cubit, which was made of black granite and was said to be equivalent to the length of the Pharoah's...
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| | Part 3: 2 Diffusion of innovations
- 2.1 Introduction to diffusion Resource
- Having managed to get an innovation manufactured and ready for the market, there are a number of factors that influence how well it will sell and how rapidly it is likely to diffuse:
- 2.2 Characteristics of the innovation Resource
- In one of the standard works in this field, Everett Rogers (2003) identifies five characteristics of an innovation that affect how quickly and to what extent it will sell:
- 2.3 Characteristics of consumers and the market Resource
- As well as the characteristics of an innovation affecting the extent of its take-up, the nature of the market and the purchasing behaviour of consumers can influence success. Some people will always try...
- 2.4 MP3's diffusion depended on innovations in related areas Resource
- As well as being small and portable, MP3 devices have a number of additional competitive advantages. Digital compression allows the size of recordings to be significantly smaller without noticeable loss...
- 2.5 Government regulations and legislation Resource
- You saw earlier in Part 2 how governments can stimulate invention by providing incentives for manufacturers to develop new products. The example given was in the field of alternative fuel vehicles in the...
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| | Part 3: 3 Sustaining and disruptive innovation
- Part 3: 3 Sustaining and disruptive innovation Resource
- Once an innovation starts diffusing into the marketplace it can have differing degrees of impact. As mentioned in Part 1, although innovations generally offer progress, there are some that complement existing...
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| | Part 3: 4 Phases and waves of innovation
- Part 3: 4 Phases and waves of innovation Resource
- To wrap up this section I'll take a broad look at the innovation process. It's possible to think of innovation at different levels of generalisation. There are individual stages that innovations go through...
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| | Part 3: 5 Self-assessment questions
- Part 3: 5 Self-assessment questions Resource
- A dramatic example of the importance of process innovation for a product's success is mentioned in Section 1: 1.1 of this unit. What is it?
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| | Part 3: 6 Key points of Part 3
- Part 3: 6 Key points of Part 3 Resource
- To succeed in bringing an invention to the market there are technical, financial and organisational obstacles to overcome.
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| | References and Acknowledgements | |
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