A Survey on the Perception of Innovation in a Large Product-Focused Software Organization

TL;DR

This survey investigates how employees in a large software company perceive different types of innovation, revealing a narrow understanding focused on product innovation and complex interdependencies among innovation types.

Contribution

It provides empirical insights into industry perceptions of innovation and highlights the importance of understanding interdependencies among innovation types.

Findings

Most respondents associate innovation mainly with products.

Product innovation often triggers other types of innovation.

Interdependencies among innovation types are complex and significant.

Abstract

Context. Innovation is promoted in companies to help them stay competitive. Four types of innovation are defined: product, process, business, and organizational. Objective. We want to understand the perception of the innovation concept in industry, and particularly how the innovation types relate to each other. Method. We launched a survey at a branch of a multi-national corporation. Results. From a qualitative analysis of the 229 responses, we see that the understanding of the innovation concept is somewhat narrow, and mostly related to product innovation. A majority of respondents indicate that product innovation triggers process, business, and organizational innovation, rather than vice versa. However, there is a complex interdependency between the types. We also identify challenges related to each of the types. Conclusion. Increasing awareness and knowledge of different types of innovation, may improve the innovation. Further, they cannot be handled one by one, but in their interdependent relations.