Systematic Review - Network for Business Sustainability

THE ELEMENTS OF INNOVATION
A traditional model of innovation distinguishes between
core elements or steps and broader enabling processes
in the organization (Tidd and Bessant, 2009). The core
elements are:
• Search: What are the drivers and how can we find
opportunities for SOI?
• Select: What are we going to do and why?
• Implement: How are we going to make it happen?
• Capture: How are we going to receive the benefits
from it?
Which are nested within a set of enabling processes:
• Strategy: Is the strategy clear, is it supported and
communicated?
• Culture: is the culture conducive to SOI?
Studies of SOI predominantly focus on the core
elements together rather than a single element (Figure
16). We can interpret this lack of more nuanced
investigations of particular elements as an indication of
the immaturity of the field.
Figure 16
STUDIES ADDRESSING THE ELEMENTS OF
INNOVATION
Core elements
Mix
Enabling processes
Not the focus of the study
12
19
29
40
INNOVATION NOVELTY
To capture the novelty of the innovations included
in selected studies, we utilize Machiba’s (2010)
classification developed expressly for the context of
sustainable innovation. Machiba describes four degrees
of novelty, reflected by the innovation moving from
small, progressive product and process adjustments
(modification) through more significant changes (redesign
and alternatives) to the design and introduction
of something entirely new (creation).
Because of the numbers of mixed studies, innovation
novelty has not proven to be a useful analytic
dimension in this review (Figure 17). Most studies
report on innovations that exhibit mixed degrees of
novelty, principally modifications and alternatives. Of
the seven creation innovations, six are reported in
papers published since 2010, the seventh having been
published in 2000. Nine of the 12 redesign innovation
studies have been published since 2004.
Figure 17
NOVELTY OF INNOVATION IN SELECTED
STUDIES
Innovating for Sustainability 85