Technological innovations

Technological innovations
See also
Technological factors affecting business Value chain model Types of innovation Types of communication technology Business process reengineering Development by restructurization Efficient Consumer Response Added value (logistics) Customer needs

Technological innovation is a new or improved product or process whose technological characteristics are significantly different from before. Implemented technological product innovations are new products (product innovations) or processes in application (process innovations) that have been brought to market. The product or process is considered to be an innovation if it achieves specified advantages for the enterprise concerned; these need not be new from the point of view of other companies or the market.

Types of technological innovations

According to Pérez (2004) the main types of technological innovation based on novelty are:

• Radical innovation (New product never before seen in the market or new production processes in an industry. Something completely original and novel.)
• Incremental innovation (Gradual changes that companies implement progressively aimed at increasing the functionality and benefits of the products or services offered.)
• Innovation in technological systems (Radical innovation & Incremental innovation).
• Paradigm shift (The most important paradigm shifts can be said to have been the industrial revolution and now the digital age.).

According to Azar, G. And Ciabuschi,F. (2017) the main types of technological innovation based on its nature are:

• Business innovation (change on a variable of the marketing of a product that supposes a change in the way in which it is traded.)
• Technological innovation (Similar to innovation in technological systems)
• Organizational innovation (changes in the organization or direction under which a productive activity in a company takes place.)

In industry, the following definitions are distinguished:

• Product innovation involves the development and implementation of technologically new or improved products. The introduction of a new product is defined as a radical product innovation if it concerns a product, the intended field of application of which, functional characteristics, properties, construction or used materials and components significantly distinguish it from previously released products. Such innovations can be based on fundamentally new technologies or on a combination of existing technologies in their new application. Technological improvement of a product (incremental product innovation) affects an existing product, the quality or cost characteristics of which have been significantly improved through the use of more efficient components and materials, partial changes to one or a number of technical subsystems (for complex products).
• Process innovation is the development of technologically new or significantly improved production methods, including methods of transferring products. Innovations of this kind can be based on the use of new production equipment, new methods of organizing the production process or their combination, as well as on the use of research and development results. Such innovations are usually aimed at increasing the efficiency of production or transfer of products already existing in the enterprise, but can also be aimed at the production and supply of technologically new or improved products that cannot be produced or supplied using conventional production methods.

In the service sector, the following definitions apply to this group of innovations:

• Product innovations include the development and implementation of fundamentally new services, improvement of existing services by adding new functions or characteristics, significant improvements in the provision of services (for example, in terms of their efficiency or speed).
• Process innovation encompasses the development and implementation of technologically new or significantly improved methods of production and service delivery.

References

• Perez, C. (2004). Technological revolutions, paradigm shifts and socio-institutional change. Globalization, economic development and inequality: An alternative perspective, 217-242
• Azar, G. And Ciabuschi, F. (2017). Organizational innovation, technological innovation, and export performance: The effects of innovation radicalness and extensiveness. International Business Review 26 (2): 324–336.
• Mihaela Diaconu (2011) Technological Innovation: Concept, Process, Typology and Implications in the Economy.
• Moradeke Olaniyan (University of Greenwich, UK) and Deryn Graham (University of Greenwich, UK) (2014) Media Streaming for Technological Innovation in Higher Education

Author: Gonzalo Martinez-Cañavate Gomez-Millan, Andrii Proskurniak