A Cross-Disciplinary Primer on the Meaning and Principles of Innovation: Volume 23

This opening chapter sets the context for the following chapters by first providing a working definition of innovation. This definition distinguishes innovation from invention based on the fundamental principles of novelty and value creation. Importantly, value is introduced in the context of diverse impact rather than in the limited context of monetary worth. Furthermore, innovation is initially framed according to various forms, which include product and processes, and various degrees of impact, which range from radical disruption to incremental change. By distinguishing innovation from invention and outlining the diversity of innovative principles, this chapter provides a platform from which to explore innovation beyond the conventional focus on market-based practices within the scientific and technological domains.

This second chapter provides a useful backdrop for understanding innovation beyond the conventional focus on mainstream technology and science by detailing the conceptual underpinnings of cultural innovation. First, the challenges of objectively assessing the worth of novel work in the various fields of art and architecture are explored through the philosophical views of beauty. Second, the strategies and models deployed over time by artists, patrons, and experts to characterize the merits of novelty in the creative fields are reviewed. Third, the economic principles that have been used to frame the value propositions associated with cultural innovations as articulated by cultural economists are explored.

This chapter outlines innovation as a diverse phenomenon. This diversity is considered according to the two general forms of innovation: product and process. Product innovations are tangible objects that take physical form, while process innovations consist of intangible stages that together enhance the human capacities to achieve certain tasks. A variety of examples drawn from a number of fields and settings are provided.

Instances of innovation are not always limited to a single point in time. In some cases, innovations can be repurposed over time to address multiple issues and/or solve multiple problems. The functionality of particularly influential innovations can extend over time, settings, and conditions, in which case a legacy is established. In the current chapter, the concepts of repurposing and legacy are discussed using as a primary example the Greco-Roman arch.

A descriptive model for assessing the impact of specific innovations on the human condition is outlined. This framework provides an alternative to conventional approaches for demonstrating the value of innovation according to monetary figures that are often subjective and arbitrary.

In Chapter 5, contemporary innovative conditions and environments are outlined. Particular attention is given to the description of the role of innovation in the new knowledge-based economy, as well as to the intersection of entrepreneurship and innovation.

This chapter provides more in-depth focus on the intersection of innovation and entrepreneurship and the associated capacities for creating diverse forms of change. More specifically, the theoretical underpinning of entrepreneurship is carefully introduced in order to illuminate and extenuate its role as the mechanism that makes novel products and processes available to society where impact of various types can be realized.

This chapter begins with a brief introduction to the growing field of entrepreneurship education. Entrepreneurship education is considered as a framework for training students to be primarily agents of change rather than generators of economic wealth. Next, trends in experiential learning are explored with particular attention being given to service learning. Finally, the merits of a comprehensive, cross-disciplinary change curriculum that is grounded in the principles and practices of innovation and entrepreneurship and its experiential in design are argued.

In this chapter, guest author Dr. Randy Burd discusses the conditions that both promote and hinder innovation in the life sciences. Burd presents his personal observations of how the traditional academic model fails to fully encourage academic innovation, and in doing so illuminates the cultural gap between the academy and industry. He follows this constructive critique of the current system with the suggestion that social entrepreneurship represents a productive middle ground where both traditional bench science flourishes and academic innovation is celebrated.