Innovation Types - Part 4 - Radical Innovation

The following is Part Four of a discussion on some of the more popular innovation types including:

• Architectural Innovation - Part One
  
• Discontinuous Innovation - Part Two
  
• Disruptive Innovation - Part Three
  
• Radical Innovation - Part Four
  
• Sustaining Innovation
• Incremental Innovation

With each innovation type, I attempt to capture what the authors had written about their innovation type and break down the innovation type into the dimensions which are described in an earlier blog - 27 Questions to Ask When Analyzing Innovations. In addition, I ordinal scale each dimension from 0 to 5. With 0 indicating that the innovation type either is not dependent on a certain dimension or the answers to the questions are negative.

The innovation type that is covered in Part Four is . . .

Radical Innovation

• Author: Richard Leifer, Christopher M. McDermott, Dr. Gina O'Connor, Dr. Lois S. Peters, Mark Rice, and Robert W. Veryzer
• Book/Article: Radical Innovation: How Mature Companies Can Outsmart Upstarts

From The Author
“…radical innovation concerns the development of new businesses or product lines – based on new ideas or technologies or substantial cost reductions – that transform the economies of a business. . . Thus a radical innovation is a product, process or service with either unprecedented performance features or familiar features that offer potential for significant improvements in performance or cost” (O’Connor et al.,).

The Invention

• Element Change – 0 or 5
  A radical innovation can take place on either the invention side or the commercialization side. This means that it can be either a radical invention or have a radical impact on the commercialization end. In that case the elements of the invention will be either be a dramatic leap forward or like a disruptive innovation, be technologically straightforward.

• Systems Change - 5
  This can be either be a totally new system, a real breakthrough over the current systems or be a novel way to integrate existing technologies.
  

• Performance - 5
  It may offer unprecedented performance.
  

• Benefit - 5
  It may have familiar features that offer significant benefits.
  

Commercialization

• Target Customers - 0 or 5
  A radical innovation can target underserved and well served customers with a radical invention. For example a new light bulb that could produce the same lumens at a tenth of the energy consumption, would be a radical invention that targets the same customers who currently use light bulbs. However, a radical innovation may target non-consumers or over-served customers. For example a light bulb that produced one fourth the lumens at the a 10th of the current energy consumption, and produced no heat would not be of interest to the current light bulb consumer but might be of interest to non-consumers or over served consumers.
  

• Need Creation - 0 or 5
  If targeting underserved or well served customers, then the needs are being fully addressed. If targeting non-consumers or over-served customers, then the needs of the current customer are not being addressed.
  

• Value Network/Industry Shakeup - 5
  “…radical innovations create such a dramatic change in products, processes, or services that they transform existing markets or industries, or create new ones” (O’Connor et al.,).
  

• Market Size & Growth - 5
  Radical innovations are high growth opportunities. Initially the market size tends to be small and then explodes as innovation reaches mainstream customers.
  

In the next blog I will cover Sustaining Innovation. I welcome your comments and thoughts.