Defining innovation

There are many definitions of innovation. The basic nature of innovation is the introduction of something new whether a product (in a manufacturing context) or new ways of producing or delivering a service. Well-known examples of innovation include:

• the Sony walkman transforming the way people listen to music;
• the mobile phone meaning that people can stay in touch while they are on the move;
• internet shopping enabling people to buy food without visiting a supermarket; or
• in a sporting context, the American athlete Dick Fosbury finding a new technique that enabled him to jump higher and win an Olympic gold medal for the high jump.

We like the definition of innovation set out by Mulgan and Albury (2003):

Innovation is often seen as a commercial driver in a manufacturing or research and development context. However, innovation also matters in the service sector, including public services. Public sector organisations are likely to face significant reductions in their resources in the coming years. Consequently, further developing innovation will be a critical corporate capacity for public sector bodies seeking to reconcile rising demand, falling resources and a drive to maintain or improve service quality. These web pages provide further information about the effective management of innovation.

It is also important to recognise that innovation does not necessarily require the generation of brand new ideas: many highly successful innovations involve combining two existing ideas to create value or provide service in a completely new and innovative way.

Types of Innovation

There are various types of innovation, of which the main types are:

1. Products, for example changes in features and the design of products, or the generation of entirely new products.
2. Service delivery, for example new or altered ways of delivering services or otherwise interacting with clients.
3. Process, for example developing new business processes either in a service or manufacturing context.

Degrees of innovation

There are various degrees of innovation:

Incremental – Incremental innovations are often relatively minor changes to existing services, systems or processes. Incremental innovations are critical to the pursuit of continuous improvement in service delivery, value for money, systems and process.

Radical – These innovations either involve the development of new services or introduce fundamentally new processes or service delivery. Radical innovation changes the nature of a service offering or market.

Transformative/systemic – Most rare are transformative innovations that give rise to completely new workforce structures and new types of organisation. Such innovations transform entire sectors, and dramatically change relationships between organisations. Typically such innovations take decades to have their full effect, requiring fundamental changes in organisational, social and cultural arrangements.

A model of innovation

Developing innovation capacity requires much more than developing a process. Innovation is a social activity in itself and so depends on corporate capacity, culture, leadership and people. The model of innovation has two elements:

Managing the process of innovation.

Click on each heading in the diagram below for more information on managing the process of innovation.

Developing an innovation capacity and culture.

Click on each heading in the diagram below for more information on developing an innovation capacity and culture.

Sources:
These and supporting pages on innovation have been developed using the following source documents:
Improvement and Development Agency, Innovation in Public Services: Literature Review (2005)
Mulgan, G. and Albury, D. (2003): Innovation in the Public Sector, Strategy Unit, Cabinet Office, (October 2003).
Mulgan and Albury (2003): Managing the process of innovation diagram and Developing an innovation capacity and culture diagram.