The history of innovation in the world has been intertwined with the existence of humans on Earth. Over thousands of years, Homo sapiens have created various innovations through their interactions with the environment, based on their beliefs, ideas, and needs. This process has continued throughout different millennia up to the contemporary era. The history of humanity is filled with stories of successful innovations that have shaped human civilization, such as agriculture, writing, seafaring, metalworking, printing, the steam engine, the internal combustion engine, electricity, computers, genetic engineering, the internet, and many other innovations.
What is Innovation?
Innovation is a concept that many scholars have discussed, resulting in various interpretations and definitions. Some of these definitions are highlighted below:
- In Dehkhoda’s Dictionary, innovation is defined as the act of creating something new, initiative, invention, and establishing something novel.
- Innovation is the creation of something new that follows and implements a specific goal. Therefore, in a broad sense, innovation can be defined as any new idea within an organization, an industry, a nation, or the world.
- According to Kanter, “Innovation is the process of gathering any kind of new and useful idea to solve a problem, and it includes the formation of ideas, acceptance, and implementation of new ideas in the process of products and services.” In this definition, it is clear that Kanter views innovation from the perspective of problem-solving, recognizing problems, and offering new ideas to solve them.
- Medick views innovation as a five-stage process that begins with identifying a problem or issue, followed by creativity and initiative, completing creativity towards implementation, executing the innovation, and finally, extending and spreading the innovation among all colleagues.
- In management science, innovation means the process of acquiring a creative idea and turning it into a product, service, or a useful operational method.
- Innovation is the process of introducing an invention, idea, or new application and converting it for public use. Therefore, bringing an invention or innovation to market or commercializing them is called innovation. Commercialization refers to the widespread application of that invention or innovation in practice.
