Innovation: A state-of-the-art review and typology

Abstract

Innovation is often an object of study in economics and management. However, the social and behavioral aspects of innovation acceptance are as important as the economics of product development. A significant portion of the literature considers innovation as a change in the way social actions are conducted, entailing a wide range of social, economic, behavioral, and institutional changes. Various approaches have given rise to the need for a typology. Sundbo (1998) divided innovation into three groups depending on the aspects of the phenomenon: theory of entrepreneurship, technological and social aspects, and strategic aspects. Adopting Sundbo's conceptual framework, this study supplemented and developed it based on recent literature that appeared after 1998. Moreover, this study added new directions at the second level of decomposition and the relationships between different aspects of innovation. In particular, this study analyzed phenomena such as open innovation, agile innovation, and “helix” models. Thus, this study developed a novel typology of innovation that expands the theoretical knowledge in this field. Based on these findings, this study proposed promising areas for future innovation studies.