On the Origins of Models of Innovation

doi:10.1017/9781316691489.003

Chapter 3 - On the Origins of Models of Innovation

Process and System Approaches

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 04 November 2019

Benoît Godin

Edited by

Todd L. Pittinsky

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Todd L. Pittinsky: Affiliation:
Stony Brook University, State University of New York

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Summary

The concept of innovation goes back to ancient Greece (Godin, 2015). The concept of technological innovation is more recent. The term emerged after World War II (see Figure 3.1), with a few exceptions before then (e.g., Hansen, 1932; Kuznets, 1929, p. 540; Schumpeter, 1939, p. 289; Stern, 1927, 1937; Veblen, 1915/2006, 118, 128–129). Societies were seen as changing at a faster rate than before, hence the study – and concepts – of economic change, social change, organizational change (and planned change), and technological change. The question was, How can people contribute to this change? That is, how do people accelerate it (or reduce the lag or gap between invention and its application)? How do people direct and orient change toward desired goals? Technological innovation is the answer. Theorists began to study technological innovation as a phenomenon to be understood and provided strategies to firms and policies to governments.

Type: Chapter
Information: Science, Technology, and Society
New Perspectives and Directions
, pp. 60 - 78

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316691489.003 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2019

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