If we imagine an innovation zone, how does it look like? Often such a zone is associated with: experiments, tests, new developments, dynamics and chaos. These aspects mostly do not fill hundred percent of the zone, but they come first to mind because they are out of the familiar and ordinary business environment. In the innovation zone familiar aspects are used as well as unfamiliar. In what proportion familiar and unfamiliar aspects exist and are balanced, depends entirely on on the situation and the people involved. Perhaps what we can say for certain is that any business environment is an innovation zone only we need to be more aware of that.
Innovations are mostly defined as new ideas that lead to improved products, services or processes. That means that innovation has a a technological and a market dimension. In the January edition of Industrial Marketing Management the article “Market innovation processes: Balancing stability and change” shows that there is much more we need to be aware of concerning the market dimension. Especially how we balance the stability of networks of clients, suppliers and goods in changing markets caused by autonomous market developments and by new product development.
In the next February edition of Technological Forecasting and Social Change, the article “The relevance of innovation leadership for environmental benefits” describes that companies that have innovation leadership also have the capacity to be dynamically and persistently innovative. Research also shows that the implementation of environmental strategies goes hand in hand with the production of new knowledge and capabilities that raise new issues in economics and innovation management. In this respect it shows that “Sustainability is a great strategy“, because most innovative firms develop a sustainable integrated innovation strategy that creates a culture of innovation, allowing them to seize new innovation opportunities that could be incremental, radical or rather different in nature.
Literature
Chassagnon, V., & Haned, N. (2015). The relevance of innovation leadership for environmental benefits: A firm-level empirical analysis on French firms.Technological Forecasting and Social Change.
Kjellberg, H., Azimont, F., & Reid, E. (2015). Market innovation processes: Balancing stability and change. Industrial Marketing Management.
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Norbert Bol 