Hey everyone!
So it seems that the word 'innovation' recently seems to be thrown about as if it is meaningless; today alone I heard it on a politcal programme on the news, on a car advert, on a face wash bottle and on a shampoo advert- every company recently seems to claim to be 'innovative'; their product is the most innovative or their company is the most innovative. 10 years ago they would not think to use this word, they would more than likely say their product is the most 'inventive'. But what are the differences between these two words?
The best way to go about this would to first look at the official definitions of these words; The Oxford English Dictionary [2007] defines 'Innovation' as : "a new method, idea or product", whilst Dictionary [online] defines it as : "an new idea, service or product that is newly introduced". Combining these two therefore it would be fair to say, summed up, that innovation is:
'The introduction of a new method, idea or product'
Whilst The Oxford English Dictionary [2007] defines 'Invention' as : "The action of creativing something, typically a product or device"; coming from the latin word 'invenire' meaning to 'discover'.
As we can see therefore, 'invention' is simply creating the product whilst 'innovation' is how this invention is introduced. Just because a company has a new product does not mean they are innovative; although how modern day companies throw about the word 'innovative' it would be fair to assume it did.
We have all heard of 'Sony'. "Sony manufactures audio, video, communications and information technology products for the global consumer and professional markets" Sony [Online] accessed 16/1/12, and with 1,035 consolidated subsidiaries worldwide and a yearly turnover of around £45.6Bn it would be fair to say they are good at what they do. Very good in fact! Churning out countless new products each year, it would also be fair to say they are very innovative; in a global climate where peoples spending habits have shifted from spending less on 'luxury' items- such as any of Sony's products-they have still managed to keep their shareholders very happy with such record-high profits.
However, Sony owe all their success to another company- AT&T. Last year they turned over $10Bn; still quite an achievement but less than 1/4 of what Sony have done.
So why the difference? "June 17, 1946 - A driver in St. Louis, Mo., pulled out a handset from under his car's dashboard, placed a phone call and made history. It was the first mobile telephone call."- ATT [online] accessed 16/1/12. In 1946 AT&T was the first company in the world to invent wireless telephone calls due to their invention of the wireless transmitter. The same device used in most of Sonys products to this day. But AT&T had an issue, "with only 5,000 customers making 30,000 weekly calls, the service was far from commonplace". Although they had invented something ground breaking, they were not innovative. They didn't create the whole advertising and marketing campaigns, promote their product well nor did they improve their product throughout the years. So in 1952, they sold this technology to Sony. Sony would simply not exist if it wasn't for AT&T.
Where Sony succeed where AT&T did not was that they were more than inventive, they were innovative. Sony understand their customers and therefore introduce their new inventions to the market place effectively; as we said early innovation is 'the introduction of a new idea, product or service'; and due Sony's effective introduction of AT&Ts idea, Sony is 4 times more profitable than AT&T in present day.
Inventors invent, innovators create.
Reference List
ATT [online], found at: http://www.corp.att.com/attlabs/reputation/timeline/46mobile.html, accessed 16/1/12
Dictionary [Online], found at: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/innovation, accessed 16/1/12
Sony [online], found at: http://www.sony-europe.com/article/id/1061464971856, accessed 16/1/12
Weiner, E & Simpson, J "The Oxford English Dictionary" [2007: 464,486], published by Oxford
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