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Yukio Ohsawa and Yoko Nishihara Understanding Innovation Innovators' Marketplace 2012 Using Games to Activate and Train Innovators 10.1007/978-3-642-25480-2_1

Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2012

1. Introduction: Innovation as a Serious Entertainment

Yukio Ohsawa 1

(1)

School of Engineering Department of Systems Innovation, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

Yukio Ohsawa (Corresponding author)

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Yoko Nishihara

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Abstract

One century has passed since Joseph Schumpeter defined the concept of innovation as the introduction of new goods, new methods of production, the opening of new markets, the conquest of new sources of supply, and the carrying out of a new organization of any industry (Schumpeter 1912/1934). This definition can sometimes be confusing because goods and methods seem to be very different things, and a market is a mixture of these properties plus other factors such as money and individuals (suppliers, consumers, and stakeholders). However, after much thought, we have concluded that this definition is suitable for expressing what we need in this century of changes to hardware, software, networks, natural/social resources, the environment, information, and even human modes of thought. We need a new way of looking at this flood: a way of creating something that has a value beyond that of the most attractive existing commodities, thereby developing a new direction for the growth of the market.

1.1 What is an Innovation?

One century has passed since Joseph Schumpeter defined the concept of innovation as the introduction of new goods, new methods of production, the opening of new markets, the conquest of new sources of supply, and the carrying out of a new organization of any industry (Schumpeter ). This definition can sometimes be confusing because goods and methods seem to be very different things, and a market is a mixture of these properties plus other factors such as money and individuals (suppliers, consumers, and stakeholders). However, after much thought, we have concluded that this definition is suitable for expressing what we need in this century of changes to hardware, software, networks, natural/social resources, the environment, information, and even human modes of thought. We need a new way of looking at this flood: a way of creating something that has a value beyond that of the most attractive existing commodities, thereby developing a new direction for the growth of the market.

Since the work of Schumpeter, there have been other definitions of innovation proposed from various domains, including sociology, engineering, and business:

• A change that creates a new dimension of performance. (Peter Drucker, management consultant and social ecologist)
• A new element introduced in the network which changes, even if momentarily, the costs of transactions between at least two actors, elements or nodes, in the network. (Regis Cabral, technology management scientist)
• The three stages in the process of innovation: invention, translation, and commercialization. (Merrifield )
• An invention is an idea, a sketch or model for a new or improved device, product, process, or system . An innovation in the economic sense is accompanied with the first commercial transaction involving the new product, process, system or device, although the word is used to describe the whole process. (Freeman )
• The ability to deliver new value to a customer. (Campos )
• The way of transforming the resources of an enterprise through the creativity of people into new resources and wealth. (Schumann )

The idea common to all these definitions is that innovation is a form of potentially desired creativity , not just an isolated creative activity. That is, an innovation must promise an appealing new value. We know that the product obtained from an innovation should be accepted by a large number of people, but very few people can actually think of such a product in advance: for example, the World Wide Web would not be called an innovation today if everybody was already talking about it back in the 1980s. This dilemma can make people feel that innovation is something miraculous done by a special type of individual, not an ordinary person such as we would daily meet in real life. However, if we look around at the commodities we use on a daily basis, it is obvious that there is a large number of people who have created these commodities, and an even larger number who have launched them in the market. In the next section, we take a look at some of the creators of everyday commodities.

1.2 Who Innovates?

Here, we discuss a couple of historical cases of innovation that demonstrate the complexity of the social interaction between stakeholders and technologies.

Edison Versus Swan: Who Invented the Light Bulb?

In a classroom setting, if students are asked Who created the light bulb? the first answer tends to be Thomas Edison. However, this is not correct. Although Edison is extremely famous as an inventor, the credit for the light bulb should rather go to Joseph Swan, who led to the emergence of this very popular item that today is prevalent all over the world.

Joseph Swan was born in 1828 in Sunderland, England. He worked for a pharmacy and it was there he learned the basic technologies for producing medicine. He later became the vice president of a pharmacy in Newcastle, Mawson, Swan, & Morgan Co. Ltd, which stayed in business until 1973. As early as 1848, he was experimenting with the concept of the light bulb. His basic method was to implement a carbonized filament made of paper in a vacuumed glass ball. By 1860, he had successfully lit a prototype light bulb, which was patented in the UK. However, this invention was not successfully commercialized because of the incompleteness of the vacuum and the insufficient amount of power supplied. The most critical issue was not being able to sustain the light.

Fifteen years later, Swan had improved the vacuuming technology and invented a long-expectancy carbon filament. He then turned his attention to solving the remaining problem. In 1878, he discovered that if a small amount of oxygen was in the glass ball, the filament continued to glow for 40h. Swan obtained a patent, but the power supply was not stable due to the low resistance of the filament. His house in Gateshead became the first in the world to use a light bulb. In 1881, Swan established the Swan Electric Light Company.

In 1879 some years after Swans success Edison created a light bulb using his own original filament. Edisons new light bulb had a straight filament, and its light could be sustained for nearly as long as Swans (Fig.). Then in 1880, he improved the filament by using Japanese bamboo as the material and achieved an impressive sustainability of light: as long as 2,450h. Edison and Swan integrated their respective companies into the Edison and Swan United Electric Company. Thereafter, Swan invented a filament using a new method for processing cellulose that finally came into commercial use due to the availability of the material and the durability achieved by the invention. Swan and Edison were engaged in a close race with their filament inventions, as well as in legal disputes regarding light bulb patents, so it is difficult to judge who really invented the commercialized light bulb used today.

Fig. 1.1

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