The Innovation Process: The Importance Of Innovation

Brophey et al (2013) opine that, Schumpeter’s (1939) seminal work serves as the backbone of innovation literature. Drucker (1985) and more recently, EU European Commission (2004) assert that, innovation is generally seen by both researchers and entrepreneurs as an essential competitive enabler for any enterprise that wants to lead the market and continue to exist. However, Andrew et al (2007) noted that, an understanding of managing innovation is a preamble to how the innovation process can be positively influenced. In addition to this, Bessant et al (2005) suggested that, making a best practice model to actively manage the process positively and efficiently impacts the innovation process and reduces the chance of failure. Meanwhile, Olilla,

Subsequently, Bessant et al (2007) proposed that, the innovation process starts with the recognition of needs for innovation; innovation generation; innovation adoption; and finally the use of innovation. In contrast, Gallivan (2001) argues that, management objectives for change is the first step in the innovation process, succeeded by the search for invention availability for technological inventions and the primary innovation adoption process as entrenched in an organisation’s mandate to adopt other influences on innovation adoption which ultimately leads to a secondary innovation adoption

For instance, Adams (2006, p.36) et al asserted that, “the innovation process is complex, comprising a myriad of events and activities some of which can be identified as a sequence and some of which occur concurrently, and it is clearly possible that innovation processes will differ to some degree, across organizations and even within organizations on a project-by-project basis”. It may be deduced from the above that, the ability of organisations to innovate is partly determined by overlapping amalgamation of both internal and external