Invention and Innovation for quality improvement

Creativity is the ability to think and act in ways that are new and novel. There are two kinds of creativity—innovation and invention. Innovation refers to thinking creatively about some­thing that already exists (for example, the tape recorder, walkman and CD player are all inno­vations on the phonograph). Invention is creating something that did not exist before (for example, the phonograph).

Invention is the first occurrence of an idea for a new product or process, while innovation is the first attempt to carry it out into practice. Invention, the creation of new forms, com­positions of matter or processes, is often confused with innovation. An improvement on an existing form, composition or processes might be an invention, an innovation, both or nei­ther if it is not substantial enough. It can be difficult to differentiate change from innovation. According to business literature, an idea, a change or an improvement is only an innovation when it is put to use and effectively causes social or commercial reorganization.

Innovation occurs when someone uses an invention or an idea to change how the world works, how people organize themselves or how they conduct their lives. According this view, innovation occurs whether or not the act of innovating succeeds in generating value for its champions. Innovation is distinct from improvement in that it permeates society and has the potential to cause reorganization. It is distinct from problem solving and may cause problems. Thus, in this view, innovation occurs whether it has positive or negative results.

All inventions are innovations. However, not all innovations are inventions. All innova­tions begin as creative solutions, but not all creative solutions become innovations. Inven­tion is an idea for a novel product or process. Innovation can be defined as the introduction of new products, processes or services in the marketplace.

Inventions become innovations when they are refined in a manner that brings them suc­cessfully to the market. Innovations create sustained competitive advantage when they are implemented in a manner that creates and sustains significant added value for customers above that created by competitors. Innovation is the initial commercialization of invention by producing and selling a new product, service or process.

Source: Poornima M. Charantimath (2017), Total Quality Management, Pearson; 3rd edition.

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