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Successful Business Innovation: A Survey of Current Professional Views
Sands, Saul , and Kenneth M. Warwick
20/2  (Winter 1977): 5-16

This article examines current opinion about successful business innovation or the development of new product ideas in the commercial world. This paper notes the imperative nature of innovation and its relation to business profits and attempts to define the elusive term, "new products." Certain kinds of environments foster successful new product development and certain personal qualities are posessed by a good innovator. Overall, the article outlines the innovative process and its pitfalls. The innovative climate in the company should encourage individuals to contribute creative ideas, to communicate freely without fear of retaliation, and to devote their thoughts and actions to discovering and developing successful new products. But a climate supportive of innovation is not enough; the innovators must be identified. A new product idea is a potential business opportunity and it takes an innovator, a specialist in the management of the new, to recognize and act on the opportunity. Crystal clear product policy and strategic concepts, an effective mechanism for generating worthy new product ideas, up-to-date planning and research procedures, and a well-oiled organization are contributors to successful product innovation. But, above all, new product success rests on two pillars: the company environment in which the innovative process occurs and the capabilities of the persons responsible for product planning and development.

 

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