SIEN6006 Chap.3 Innovation Directions and Novelty
Innovation Directions and Novelty
Innovation can change the product or service, the process that creates or delivers it, the position through which users understand it, or the paradigm that defines the business model. A separate spectrum describes novelty from incremental to radical. Keeping those dimensions apart prevents fashionable technology or a large claim from being mistaken for deep change.
Classification starts with the primary relationship altered by the venture, not its most visible tool. Novelty then requires an explicit organisational, market or industry baseline because what is radical in one setting may be routine elsewhere. The chapter also traces search, selection, implementation and value capture so that diagnosis changes action.
A venture with many ideas may still face weak implementation, while a working offering may fail to retain value. Strong answers connect the chosen label to evidence, capabilities and a decision rather than presenting categories as praise.
What this chapter covers
- 01
Innovation as a process rather than an event
- 02
Product, process, position and paradigm directions
- 03
Incremental, disruptive and radical novelty
- 04
Search, select, implement and capture phases
- 05
Contextual baselines for judging change
Worked example · free
Classify a modular furniture service
- 1Identify replaceable modules as product change.
- 1Identify local production and repair as process change.
- 1Identify renters as a position shift.
- 1Identify maintenance revenue as paradigm change.
- 1Judge novelty against an explicit industry baseline.
Key terms
- Product innovation
- Product innovation changes what is offered.
- Process innovation
- Process innovation changes how an offering is created or delivered.
- Position innovation
- Position innovation changes the market or framing of an offering.
- Paradigm innovation
- Paradigm innovation changes the underlying value model.
Innovation Directions and Novelty FAQ
Are the four directions degrees of novelty?
No. The four directions identify what changes, while incremental, disruptive and radical describe degree or effect relative to a baseline. Any direction can involve modest or substantial change. State the comparison class before judging how novel the configuration is.
Is digital technology always product innovation?
No. Existing technology may enable a new delivery process, market position or business model. Classify the primary relationship that changes instead of naming the most visible tool.
How should novelty be judged?
State the baseline, the affected actors and the capabilities that change. What is radical for one organisation or field may be familiar elsewhere, so novelty is relational rather than an absolute badge.
Assessment move
Start with a classification drill that separates the direction of innovation from its degree of novelty. Collect four short venture cases and identify whether the primary change concerns the offering, the production or delivery process, market position or the underlying business model. Write the relationship that changes, not the most visible technology.
A mobile interface may support process innovation, while an ordinary physical product may sit inside a novel access or revenue model. After selecting a primary direction, note secondary directions only when they reinforce or constrain the configuration. Next, establish a baseline before using incremental, disruptive or radical.
Compare the venture with a named organisation, market or field and specify which routines, capabilities or competitive relationships change. Repeat the classification with a different baseline to see whether the novelty judgement travels. This exercise prevents absolute labels and shows why the same arrangement can be familiar in one setting and demanding in another. Revise the innovation process as four managerial questions.
During search, ask where possibilities come from and what knowledge is being combined. During selection, identify the criteria and constraints that narrow the options. During implementation, locate the capability, workflow or adoption barrier. During value capture, examine revenue, control, complementors and imitation.
For every case, mark the phase containing the present bottleneck; the answer should change the recommendation. More ideas do not solve weak implementation, and promotion does not repair a value-capture design. Practise a systems analysis with a multi-direction venture. Draw arrows between the product, process, position and model choices and explain how one makes another feasible. Then remove one link and trace the failure.
A maintenance subscription may depend on repairable design; local production may support service speed; inconsistent quality may undermine both. This method produces a mechanism rather than a list. Prepare assessment paragraphs by moving from classification to evaluation. State the direction, justify the baseline, identify the process phase and explain the decision the diagnosis changes.
Include one competing classification and say why it is weaker. Finish with evidence needs: comparable offers, user switching, implementation capability or revenue behaviour. A useful innovation label narrows inquiry and guides action; if it merely praises newness, revise the answer.
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