Innovation: Difference between revisions

The word "innovation" once had a quite different meaning. The first full-length discussion about innovation iswas the account{{which?|date=February 2022}}published by the Greek philosopher and historian [[Xenophon]] (430–355 BCE). He viewed the concept as multifaceted and connected it to political action. The word for innovation that he uses, 'kainotomia', had previously occurred in two plays by [[Aristophanes]] ({{circa |446}} – {{circa | 386}} BCE). [[Plato]] (died {{circa | 348}} BCE) discussed innovation in his [[Laws (dialogue) | ''Laws'']] dialogue and was not very fond of the concept. He was skeptical to it both in culture (dancing and art) and in education (he did not believe in introducing new games and toys to the kids).<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Godin, Benoit |title=Innovation contested: the idea of innovation over the centuries |year= 2015 |isbn= 978-1-315-85560-8|location= New York, New9781315855608 York|oclc= 903958473}}</ref> [[Aristotle]] (384–322 BCE) did not like organizational innovations: he believed that all possible forms of organization had been discovered.<ref>Politics II as cited by [[Benoît Godin]] 2015).</ref>

From the 1400s{{citation needed|date=September 2020}} through the 1600s, the concept of innovation was pejorative – the term was an [[Early Modern English| early-modern]] synonym for "rebellion", "revolt" and "[[heresy]]".<ref name="Mazzaferro">{{cite journal| last1= Mazzaferro|first1= Alexander| year= 2018| title= Such a Murmur": Innovation, Rebellion, and Sovereignty in William Strachey's "True Reportory| journal=Early American Literature|volume= 53 |issue= 1| pages=3–323-32| doi=10.1353/eal.2018.0001| s2cid=166005186}}</ref><ref name="Diss">{{cite thesis| last1= Mazzaferro| first1=Alexander McLean| url=https://rucore.libraries.rutgers.edu/rutgers-lib/55583/| title="No newe enterprize" (Doctoral dissertation)| date=2017| publisher=Rutgers University|location=Camden, New Jersey|doi= 10.7282/T38W3HFQ| access-date=19 February 2019}}</ref><ref name="Lepore">{{cite magazine| last1= Lepore| first1= Jill | date= 23 June 2014 | title=The Disruption Machine: What the gospel of innovation gets wrong | magazine=The New Yorker |url= https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/06/23/the-disruption-machine | access-date=19 February 2019|quote= The word 'innovate'—to make new—used to have chiefly negative connotations: it signified excessive novelty, without purpose or end. [[Edmund Burke]] called the French Revolution a 'revolt of innovation'; [[Federalists]] declared themselves to be 'enemies to innovation.' [[George Washington]], on his deathbed, was said to have uttered these words: 'Beware of innovation in politics.' Noah Webster warned in his dictionary, in 1828, 'It is often dangerous to innovate on the customs of a nation.'}}</ref><ref name="Green">{{cite news| last1= Green |first1= Emma |date= 20 June 2013 | title=Innovation: The History of a Buzzword |work publisher=The Atlantic | url= https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/06/innovation-the-history-of-a-buzzword/277067/ | access-date=19 February 2019}}

In the 20th century the concept of innovation did not become popular until after the Second World War of 1939-1945. This is the point in time when people started to talk about ''technological'' product innovation and tie it to the idea of economic growth and competitive advantage.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Godin, author1=Benoit Godin| title= The invention of technological innovation: languages, discourses and ideology in historical perspective|others publisher=Edward Elgar Publishing| year=2019| isbn=978-1-78990-334-89781789903348|location= Cheltenham, UK|oclc=1125747489}}</ref> [[Joseph Schumpeter]] (1883–1950) is often{{quantify|date=February 2022}} credited as the one who made the term popular - he contributed greatly to the study of [[innovation economics]],

In [[commerce |business]] and in [[economics]], innovation can provide a catalyst for growth in an enterprise or even in an industry. With rapid advances in [[transportation]] and [[communications]] over the past few decades, the old concepts of [[factor endowment]]s and [[comparative advantage]] which focused on an area's unique inputs are outmoded in today's [[globalization|global economy]].{{cn|date=February 2022}} Schumpeter argued that industries must incessantly revolutionize the economic structure from within, that is: innovate with better or more effective processes and products, as well as with market distribution (such as the transition from the craft shop to factory). He famously asserted that "[[creative destruction]] is the essential fact about [[capitalism]]".<ref name="capsocdem">{{cite book | author = Schumpeter, J. A. | author-link = Joseph Schumpeter | year = 1943 | title = Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy | publisher = Routledge | edition = 6 | pages = 81–84 | isbn = 978-0-415-10762-49780415107624}}</ref> [[Entrepreneur]]s continuously search for better ways to satisfy their [[consumer demand| consumer base]] with improved quality, durability, service and price - searches which may come to fruition in innovation with advanced technologies and organizational strategies.<ref>Heyne, P., Boettke, P. J., and Prychitko, D. L. (2010). ''The Economic Way of Thinking''. Prentice Hall, 12th ed. pp. 163, 317–18.</ref>

A prime example of innovation involved the boom of [[Silicon Valley]] start-ups out of the [[Stanford Industrial Park]]. In 1957, dissatisfied employees of [[Shockley Semiconductor]], the company of [[Nobel laureate]] and co-inventor of the [[transistor]] [[William Shockley]], left to form an independent firm, [[Fairchild Semiconductor]]. After several years, Fairchild developed into a formidable presence in the sector.{{which?|date=February 2022}} Eventually, these founders left to start their own companies based on their own unique ideas, and then leading employees started their own firms. Over the next 20 years this process resulted in the momentous [[startup company| startup-company]] explosion of [[information technology|information-technology]] firms.{{cn|date=February 2022}} Silicon Valley began as 65 new enterprises born out of Shockley's eight former employees.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.netvalley.com/svhistory.html |title= Silicon Valley History & Future |websitepublisher= Netvalley.com |access-date= 14 March 2016 | quote = [...] over the course of just 20 years, a mere eight of Shockley's former employees gave forth 65 new enterprises, which then went on to do the same. The process is still going [...].}}</ref>

In the 21st century the [[Islamic State]] (IS) movement, while decrying [[Bidʻah | religious innovation]]s, has innovated in military tactics, recruitment, [[ideology]] and geopolitical activity.<ref>{{cite book |last1 = Hashim |first1 = Ahmed S. |title = The Caliphate at War: The Ideological, Organisational and Military Innovations of Islamic State |year = 2018 |publisher = Oxford University Press |page = 7 |isbn = 9781849046435}}</ref><ref>