Radical Innovations
Is the mobile phone an incremental or radical innovation?
One way to approach this question is to use the definition of radical innovation provided by Paul Herbig in his book, The Innovation Matrix: Culture and Structure Prerequisites to Innovation:
"Radical innovation requires the establishment of new behavioral patterns resulting from the introduction of totally new products. Radical technologies tend to create whole new industries and diffuse throughout the industrial base while lower order innovations tend to be found in specific segments. Examples of radical innovations include computers, photocopiers, lasers, atomic energy and radar. It is a fundamental change in technology with clear departures from existing practices -- an unusually high risk proposition for both developing firm and the user."
Herbig identifies Higher Order Innovation Activities:
It's also useful to think about Scott Berkun's assertion that innovations are relative: 24-hour electricity is taken for granted in many countries but, when available, will be viewed as a radical innovation in those without electricity.
So, returning to the mobile phone question, I'd say that in countries that do not have an existing telephone infrastructure (as in parts of Africa), the mobile phone is indeed a radical innovation. But, in countries, or cities, that do have an established infrastructure, the mobile phone is more of an incremental innovation -- or, using Paul Herbig's typology above, a modified innovation (basically, a semi-radical innovation). What do you think?
One way to approach this question is to use the definition of radical innovation provided by Paul Herbig in his book, The Innovation Matrix: Culture and Structure Prerequisites to Innovation:
"Radical innovation requires the establishment of new behavioral patterns resulting from the introduction of totally new products. Radical technologies tend to create whole new industries and diffuse throughout the industrial base while lower order innovations tend to be found in specific segments. Examples of radical innovations include computers, photocopiers, lasers, atomic energy and radar. It is a fundamental change in technology with clear departures from existing practices -- an unusually high risk proposition for both developing firm and the user."
Herbig identifies Higher Order Innovation Activities:
- Invention
- Radical Innovation
and Lower Order Innovation Activities:
- Continuous Innovation (incremental/evolutionary)
- Modified Innovation (dynamically continuous/semi radical)
- Process Innovation
It's also useful to think about Scott Berkun's assertion that innovations are relative: 24-hour electricity is taken for granted in many countries but, when available, will be viewed as a radical innovation in those without electricity.
So, returning to the mobile phone question, I'd say that in countries that do not have an existing telephone infrastructure (as in parts of Africa), the mobile phone is indeed a radical innovation. But, in countries, or cities, that do have an established infrastructure, the mobile phone is more of an incremental innovation -- or, using Paul Herbig's typology above, a modified innovation (basically, a semi-radical innovation). What do you think?
posted by Gordon Graham at 8:50 AM
5 Comments:
I would say the cellular phone is a radical innovation because of the convenience factor. Make/receive a call anywhere versus a fixed location is powerful indeed.
Incremental innovations on landlines would be: cordless, redial, memory, answering machine, ring-tone settings, volume, # of rings, dial-tone versus rotary, displays.
Hi Mario! I agree with you with regards to incremental innovation, but I don't think we can say that the cell phone is a radical innovation in all contexts. In those countries with no existing telephone infrastructure, it is: there is significant impact and change of behavior across all industries. I still maintain that in contexts with an existing phone infrastructure, the mobile has far less impact, and shouldn't be considered a radical innovation -- truly radical innovations are rare. I guess the whole point of getting a clear vocabulary down for any discussion on innovation is that it increases alertness.
Gordon, I see your point well. It's difficult to make an absolute assertion on a technology's role without considering additional relative variables. I suppose we both mean 'radical' and 'disruptive' to be the same.
As factors for comparative impact analysis, you've pointed out the degree of pre-existing, yet lower-tech, infrastructure. I would add cost (acquisition, implementation, maintenance); application use (diversity); reach (number of viable users); and time.
Now an impact study becomes like an equation; not necessarily easier to make, but at least more reasonable if we were to change the independent variables: technology in-question, country market, and time.
Cellular tech adoption on a macro socio-economic level in developed nations certainly lends to an incremental innovation, when compared to the rapid adoption in lesser-developed nations.
However, when I change the market scope and time from a nation in the present day, to say securities traders and real-estate agents in 1988, cellular technology would appear quite disruptive (at least to me).
Multiple variables and scopes make this analysis more difficult, as absolute assertions are easier and fun to make, but it makes discourse more interesting :)
Thanks Mario! My father used to use a two-way radio so that when he was out on the road in his van, the office could call him and let him know if there were any new service calls (he used to repair Zanussi washing machines) in the area in which he was working that day. When mobile phones came on the scene, the two-way radios got thrown in the bin. We also don't see citizen band radio much these days (CB radio). Remember those?
Yeah, I remember those. I had a huge one that was half the size of a shoebox (lengthwise) and a massive antenna; used it to listen in on truckers, sometimes police, and once a helicopter. That truly was the best one could do within a specific geographic range; then came the infamous pager craze.
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