Knowing innovation practitioners and stakeholders

Innovation has become essential to the development of all industries and service structures, both private and public. Yet the term often remains vague. It is used to describe very different things: products, management methods or strategies.

Here you'll find clear definitions of innovation that take into account its technical, commercial and cognitive dimensions.

As innovation is often collective, it's important to share a common vocabulary between people involved in innovation processes. What's more, you won't be able to change companies' innovation management practices unless you clearly define the field in which you are working.

Through several complementary visions of innovation (from the viewpoints of technologists and engineers, economists and cognitive scientists), you will address what concerns :

• the products ;

• services ;

• production processes ;

• ways of selling ;

• business models.

Each definition will be accompanied by examples and elements that will enable you to assess the engineering situations you are faced with: so you can come back to them and use them as real reference points for action and analysis.