Understanding Innovation: Process, Project and Product-Centric Views (original) (raw)

Innovation is the most important source of differentiation in a dynamic environment. It helps to create a new product that better satisfies customer needs, improves the quality of existing products, improves the technological process, and reduces the costs of making consumer products. While many believe so, innovation is something much more than a successful commercial use of research results. The paper is devoted to the actual questions of research of scientific approaches to the theoretical study of the basic and most important terminology in the innovation sphere. Studying related literature, systematized knowledge about the approaches to the definition of innovation and describing the course of thought of scientists about the innovation process and product allowed us to conclude that there is a real problem of inconsistency of basic concepts in the field of innovation. In contrast, the disagreements in the scientific literature on basic concepts suggest that it is necessary to carry out an in-depth analysis of glossology and highlight key concepts. The approaches to understanding the innovation definition have been determined and found that they have only a remote resemblance and modern researchers cannot compare different terms which diverse in their source of origin. For the first time, not only concepts but their key characteristics were considered in a complete, structurally and step-by-step manner in a historical retrospect. The theoretical basis of each definition is evaluated, and narrow definitions are highlighted. A detailed analysis of the main studies related to innovation evaluation is provided. Through the uncertain task implementation scope, a set of methodologies including practices, techniques, procedures as well as output characteristics, the difference between an innovative project as a key part of creating innovation and an ordinary project is clearly defined and highlighted. This paper is intended to offer an analysis of the concept of innovation and to shed light on understanding and defining innovation process, product, and project as the basic concepts in the field of innovation activity. Based on the analysis, this paper proposed alternative, more reasonable definitions of these terms both from a scientific and practical point of view.