INTRODUCTION
Breaks and new beginnings, something that is undoubtedly present not only in people's daily lives, but we can also see it reflected throughout the history of humanity.
Suffice it to recall the pre-Hispanic cultures in Mexico, the resurgence of Japan as a world power after World War II, the birth of laptops and the already famous “Smartphones”, there will always be cycles that must be closed, and there will always be the need for new Beginnings, and just as they arise in society and people, the same happens in products, services and even processes.
Breaking up with something or someone is not always a negative thing, but the opposite, sometimes even necessary. Breaks with what has been established for years, give way to creativity and imagination, as well as innovation, either out of necessity or for pleasure, this allows new stories to be written, new people to be known, new products to be created, that new processes be invented and even potentials that already existed but were unknown were discovered.
For this reason, the interest in studying the topic of innovation, in terms of products and processes, since it becomes the end result of this type of experience, which leads to unimaginable situations, facilitating people's lives. Therefore, we will take a deeper step and focus on radical innovations, which are what have changed and will continue to change the entire world.
Therefore, this article will deal with the issue of radical innovations, which are and should be the vision of every Master in Administrative Engineering.
INNOVATION
For (Urbáez, 2015) the development of humanity is associated with the innovative attitude of its protagonists, individual or collective. An example of this is the thinkers of ancient Greece. Despite the status quo of their time, they dared to try to explain rationally and not through the supernatural, the behavior of human beings and nature, events that marked the configuration of Western science and thought, along with the influence of other ancient cultures such as Arabic and Chinese.
In today's reality, impacted by crises of various kinds (energy, financial, social, political, values, climate, environmental, wars, among others), the need to innovate is unquestionable, both to create opportunities for progress and to conceive new ways to reach it.
(Urbáez, 2015) explains that the innovation process in an organization can influence, directly or indirectly, its activity sector and the country where it is located because it implies, in Schumpeter's terms, a process of “creative destruction”, that is, destruction of the old to continuously and systematically create new elements that allow the organization to create conditions that reinforce its ability to adapt to the dynamic environment and favor its ability to innovate.
Individuals and organizations, from the simplest to the most complex, have innovated, consciously or not, to keep up with time. For this reason, the meaning of the term innovation has also had to be broadened, although progressively and conceived from different perspectives depending on what is being innovated.
(Oslo Manual, 2010) argues that we must understand by innovation the conception and implementation of significant changes in the product, the process, the marketing or the organization of the company in order to improve results. Innovative changes are made through the application of new knowledge and technology that can be developed internally, in external collaboration, or acquired through advisory services or by purchasing technology.
Innovation activities include all the scientific, technological, organizational, financial and commercial actions that lead to innovation. Both the activities that have produced success are considered, as well as those that are in progress or those carried out within projects canceled due to lack of viability.
Innovation involves the use of new knowledge or a new combination of existing knowledge. Obtaining new knowledge is done through one or more of the activities indicated below
MAIN TYPES OF INNOVATIONS
(Oslo Manual, 2010) explains that there are different types of Innovation, the most important will be mentioned below:
- Product Innovation: It provides a new or significantly improved good or service, in terms of its technical characteristics or in terms of its use or other functionalities, the improvement is achieved with knowledge or technology, with improvements in materials, components, or with integrated computing. To consider it innovative, a product must present differentiated characteristics and performances of the existing products in the company, including improvements in terms or in service. Process Innovation: Concept applied to both the production and distribution sectors. It is achieved through significant changes in the techniques, materials and / or computer programs used, aimed at reducing unit production or distribution costs, improving quality,or the production or distribution of new or significantly improved products. Process innovations also include new or noticeably improved computer techniques, equipment, and programs used in ancillary support activities such as purchasing, accounting, or maintenance. The introduction of a new, or significantly improved, information and communication technology (ICT) is a process innovation if it is intended to improve the efficiency and / or quality of a basic support activity. Marketing Innovation: Consists of use a marketing method not previously used in the company that may consist of significant changes in design, packaging, positioning, promotion or pricing, always with the aim of increasing sales.The variation in the method has to suppose a fundamental break with what was done previously. The positioning changes may consist of the creation of new sales channels such as the development of franchises, direct sales, modifications in the way of displaying the product or the sale of use licenses. The changes in promotion involve the modification of communication using new supports, replacement of the logo, loyalty systems and personalization of the relationship with the client. Pricing refers to price variation systems based on demand or the options offered. Organizational innovation: Changes in company practices and procedures, changes in the workplace,in external relations as the application of strategic decisions in order to improve results by improving productivity or reducing internal transaction costs for customers and suppliers. Updating knowledge management is also part of this type of innovation, as well as the introduction of production, supply and quality management operations management systems. Variations in relations with customers and suppliers, including research centers and the integration of suppliers or the start of subcontracting activities, are also considered innovations in organization. The innovation activities can be of three kinds: Achieved, ongoing or discarded before its implementation.All companies that carry out innovation activities during the period studied are considered “companies with innovative activities”, whether or not the activity has led to the introduction of an innovation. Organizational changes introduced in response to a new management strategy are an innovation if they represent the first introduction of a new organizational method to business practices, workplace organization, or external relations. There is innovation when the strategy is applied using new software and information gathering methods to promote knowledge sharing across divisions. Mergers and acquisitions in themselves are not innovations,but they may involve organizational innovations if the company develops or adopts new methods of organization for these operations.
- Radical and Minor or Incremental Innovations: There is another type of innovation associated with its level of complexity, which can occur in both processes and products. These are the major or radical innovations and the minor or incremental innovations. The greatest or radical innovations occur when there are qualitative changes or leaps that deserve to be patented. Minor innovations occur when there are improvements or reduced increases. For Shumpeter (1934), cited by Carrasco and Castaño (2008), radical innovations originate the great changes in the world, while minor, incremental or progressive innovations continuously feed the process of change. Social Innovation: Rodríguez and Alvarado (2008) point, and so we see it too,that social innovations often arise where neither the market nor governments have offered alternatives to the population. Therefore, it is important that the actors involved in the design and management of public policies make additional efforts to link to these innovations, facilitate them and extract useful lessons from them to design or renew public policy. Based on their research on social innovations, Rodríguez and Alvarado (2008) consider that most of these are creative re-adaptations in processes and contexts other than the original ones. Most of them originate from solutions reached by another group in another context, and their destiny is very likely to continue to be applied on a higher scale, for the benefit of a greater number of people. And it is in its replication and multiplication,that innovation reaches its full meaning because it gives it a social meaning.
Activities that are not considered innovation:
- Stop doing something obsolete Replace and expand equipment Transfer cost variations to prices Seasonal changes Sell something new with the usual method
RADICAL INNOVATIONS
(Vega & Zarza, 2011) cite Porter (1990) to explain that innovation is the key element that explains competitiveness, both go hand in hand, however, they are not necessarily dependent, since you can be competitive without innovating and then only continuous improvement is made in the processes, but when these are no longer sufficient, for example, when the market is saturated, when there is high demand and needs arise that existing products and services fail to solve, it is then when innovation becomes a fundamental process to achieve competitiveness.
Companies today incorporate innovation in various ways to obtain a higher quality in their products or services, decrease costs, offer a greater range of products or a quick introduction of the product to the market.
Within the classification of the types of innovation offered by (Vega & Zarza, 2011) we find that Radical Innovation according to Daneels, 2004): implies a break with what has already been established. They are innovations that create new products and processes that cannot be understood as a natural evolution of existing ones. These are situations in which the use of a new scientific principle causes a real break with previous technologies.
The CEO of Repensadores, Juan Pastor Bustamante, defines in his book “C x I. Creativity and Innovation: Key factors for management and internationalization”, radical innovation as: “a break with what has already been established. They are innovations that create new products or processes that cannot be understood as a natural evolution of existing ones. These are situations in which the use of a new scientific principle causes a real break with previous technologies. An example may be the steam engine or the microprocessor. The appearance in the mobile phone market was decidedly a radical innovation, while the incorporation of photo cameras into the mobile is an incremental innovation ”.
(Sprockel & Sprockel, 2016) mentions that radical innovations produce fundamental changes in activities, in the structure of an organization and in established consumption or behavior canons. This causes a break with existing practices and a redefinition of the organizational context. This innovation is also called architectural and generally occurs in products.
|
Features of Radical Innovations (New Products) |
| The potential demand is great but not very predictable. High risk of failure. |
| A rapid imitative reaction from the competition is not foreseeable. |
| They may require exclusive marketing and sales policies to educate users. |
| Demand may not coincide with established market segments, distorting control of various views of the company. |
Source: (Sprockel & Sprockel, 2016)
The radical innovations for Ruiz and Mandado (1989) are the consequence of a scientific discovery that allows the products that perform certain functions to be substantially modified. These produce technological discontinuities, which occur today with great frequency, are based on the leaps in scientific knowledge and the changes of one group of products or processes by others.
Christensen et al. (2011) describe radical or disruptive innovation as a process by which a product or service is brought to its initial origin and broken down into simple applications, which in turn are placed in a very small part of the market and then expands its growth, in accordance with the needs of the clients. Over time, this strategy manages to displace established competitors. Since companies tend to innovate faster than their customers' evolving needs, most organizations end up producing products or services that are too sophisticated, too expensive, and too complicated for many customers.
Historically, according to the aforementioned author, companies seek this type of innovations to maintain high levels of leadership in their markets, since, being their unique and exclusive products, higher prices can be charged to their most demanding and sophisticated clients, achieving thus obtain a greater profitability.
In another order of ideas, Stefik and Stefik (2004) consider that the greatest obstacles that radical innovations face are those that lead to generalized change and therefore tend to meet general resistance. The biggest changes cause major obstacles, the ones that stand out the most are the time it takes to do radical innovation, which is very long, usually decades, and those of an economic and social nature; In the latter, changes are difficult to achieve, defy conventional thinking, and require widespread changes before they become practical applications.
In summary, radical or disruptive innovations refer to completely new applications of a technology or to major changes that imply a break with what has already been established. We can safely say that radical innovations are generally new technological solutions for products, processes or services that severely impact the market.
Therefore, it is vitally important that every Master in Administrative Engineering encourages radical innovation not only in his person, but wherever he is, whether at the head of an organization or within his own company, since this will be a true agent of change, which will radically increase the profitability of the organization.
CONSULTED REFERENCES
- Bono, JRG, & others. (2000). Groupings of innovations in the diffusion of radical technological innovations and economic policy: Conceptualization and evidence in Valencian citrus industry. Spanish Magazine of Agrosocial and Fisheries Studies, (188). Retrieved from http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/bitstream/165039/2/pdf_reeapr188_08.pdfCarrasco, FRC, & Pérez, MTA (2008). Innovation as Source of Entrepreneurial Opportunities. World Economics Review, 19, 135–156. Clayton, M. (1997). The Innovator's Dilemma when New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail. The Innovator's Dilemma when New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail. Retrieved from http://grupobcc.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/CLAYTON-M.- CHRISTENSEN-2.pdfManual de Oslo. (2010, September). Summary of the Oslo Manual on Innovation.Retrieved on May 1, 2017, from http://portal.uned.es/portal/page?_pageid=93,23280929&_dad=portal&_sch ema = PORTAL # concepSprockel, LP, & Sprockel, GC (2016). Technological innovation. Case: Audiovisual Center of the Colombian University of Guajira. Telos: Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies in Social Sciences, 18 (3), 362–380.Urbáez, MF (2015). Innovation as an organizational culture based on human processes. Venezuelan Management Magazine, 20 (70). Retrieved from http://www.produccioncientifica.luz.edu.ve/index.php/rvg/article/view/20001Vega, JGN, & Zarza, RG (2011). Disruptive innovation in the auto parts sector in San Juan del Río. Lebret, 3 (3). Retrieved from http://revistas.usta.edu.co/index.php/lebret/article/view/338from http://portal.uned.es/portal/page?_pageid=93,23280929&_dad=portal&_sch ema = PORTAL # concepSprockel, LP, & Sprockel, GC (2016). Technological innovation. Case: Audiovisual Center of the Colombian University of Guajira. Telos: Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies in Social Sciences, 18 (3), 362–380.Urbáez, MF (2015). Innovation as an organizational culture based on human processes. Venezuelan Management Magazine, 20 (70). Retrieved from http://www.produccioncientifica.luz.edu.ve/index.php/rvg/article/view/20001Vega, JGN, & Zarza, RG (2011). Disruptive innovation in the auto parts sector in San Juan del Río. Lebret, 3 (3). Retrieved from http://revistas.usta.edu.co/index.php/lebret/article/view/338from http://portal.uned.es/portal/page?_pageid=93,23280929&_dad=portal&_sch ema = PORTAL # concepSprockel, LP, & Sprockel, GC (2016). Technological innovation. Case: Audiovisual Center of the Colombian University of Guajira. Telos: Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies in Social Sciences, 18 (3), 362–380.Urbáez, MF (2015). Innovation as an organizational culture based on human processes. Venezuelan Management Magazine, 20 (70). Retrieved from http://www.produccioncientifica.luz.edu.ve/index.php/rvg/article/view/20001Vega, JGN, & Zarza, RG (2011). Disruptive innovation in the auto parts sector in San Juan del Río. Lebret, 3 (3). Retrieved from http://revistas.usta.edu.co/index.php/lebret/article/view/338_dad = portal & _sch ema = PORTAL # conceptSprockel, LP, & Sprockel, GC (2016). Technological innovation. Case: Audiovisual Center of the Colombian University of Guajira. Telos: Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies in Social Sciences, 18 (3), 362–380.Urbáez, MF (2015). Innovation as an organizational culture based on human processes. Venezuelan Management Magazine, 20 (70). Retrieved from http://www.produccioncientifica.luz.edu.ve/index.php/rvg/article/view/20001Vega, JGN, & Zarza, RG (2011). Disruptive innovation in the auto parts sector in San Juan del Río. Lebret, 3 (3). Retrieved from http://revistas.usta.edu.co/index.php/lebret/article/view/338_dad = portal & _sch ema = PORTAL # conceptSprockel, LP, & Sprockel, GC (2016). Technological innovation. Case: Audiovisual Center of the Colombian University of Guajira. Telos: Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies in Social Sciences, 18 (3), 362–380.Urbáez, MF (2015). Innovation as an organizational culture based on human processes. Venezuelan Management Magazine, 20 (70). Retrieved from http://www.produccioncientifica.luz.edu.ve/index.php/rvg/article/view/20001Vega, JGN, & Zarza, RG (2011). Disruptive innovation in the auto parts sector in San Juan del Río. Lebret, 3 (3). Retrieved from http://revistas.usta.edu.co/index.php/lebret/article/view/338Audiovisual Center of the Colombian University of La Guajira. Telos: Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies in Social Sciences, 18 (3), 362–380.Urbáez, MF (2015). Innovation as an organizational culture based on human processes. Venezuelan Management Magazine, 20 (70). Retrieved from http://www.produccioncientifica.luz.edu.ve/index.php/rvg/article/view/20001Vega, JGN, & Zarza, RG (2011). Disruptive innovation in the auto parts sector in San Juan del Río. Lebret, 3 (3). Retrieved from http://revistas.usta.edu.co/index.php/lebret/article/view/338Audiovisual Center of the Colombian University of La Guajira. Telos: Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies in Social Sciences, 18 (3), 362–380.Urbáez, MF (2015). Innovation as an organizational culture based on human processes. Venezuelan Management Magazine, 20 (70). Retrieved from http://www.produccioncientifica.luz.edu.ve/index.php/rvg/article/view/20001Vega, JGN, & Zarza, RG (2011). Disruptive innovation in the auto parts sector in San Juan del Río. Lebret, 3 (3). Retrieved from http://revistas.usta.edu.co/index.php/lebret/article/view/338Venezuelan Management Magazine, 20 (70). Retrieved from http://www.produccioncientifica.luz.edu.ve/index.php/rvg/article/view/20001Vega, JGN, & Zarza, RG (2011). Disruptive innovation in the auto parts sector in San Juan del Río. Lebret, 3 (3). Retrieved from http://revistas.usta.edu.co/index.php/lebret/article/view/338Venezuelan Management Magazine, 20 (70). Retrieved from http://www.produccioncientifica.luz.edu.ve/index.php/rvg/article/view/20001Vega, JGN, & Zarza, RG (2011). Disruptive innovation in the auto parts sector in San Juan del Río. Lebret, 3 (3). Retrieved from
