tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24338064.post5645712464410816137..comments2024-02-11T19:28:27.997+11:00Comments on Personal Reflections: Four fallacies of innovationJim Belshawhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10075614280789984767noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24338064.post-31177472548771768452012-06-28T20:50:38.948+10:002012-06-28T20:50:38.948+10:00Hi kvd. I wish that the other anon had left a name...Hi kvd. I wish that the other anon had left a name. I wanted to thank him!<br /><br />I interpreted his comment a little differently. The end point is his conclusion about the importance of innovation to continuous growth. I agree with that and hence his emphasis on the importance of innovation.<br /><br />Oslo and Frascarti are part of a suite of OECD manuals attempting to show ways of defining and measuring things. Now here I interpreted anon as saying that Oslo shows that innovation was difficult to measure. I would agree with that. <br /><br />So innovation is important to growth despite being hard to measure.<br /><br />As I have argued before, because we focus on measurement we lose sight of what we are measuring. Then we promote something as important but twist the debate to focus on those things that can be measured.<br /><br />Mind you, a fair bit of the policy & management jargon in this area is more akin to religious writing!Jim Belshawhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10075614280789984767noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24338064.post-84021876690677042092012-06-28T19:50:19.976+10:002012-06-28T19:50:19.976+10:00Hi Jim
Just so's you know - that anon isn'...Hi Jim<br /><br />Just so's you know - that anon isn't this anon. We other anons are very careful of our reputation!<br /><br />I'm left wondering how one reconciles the "definitive work on defining and measuring innovation ... has been done by the OECD" with "the OECD definition of innovation is so vague and general as to be worthless"?<br /><br />I accept I am usually three parts short of meaningful, but this time I think I have been very much out-gunned.<br /><br />kvdAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24338064.post-57157792462125979592012-06-28T13:19:50.027+10:002012-06-28T13:19:50.027+10:00Two comments. Firstly, probably the definitive wo...Two comments. Firstly, probably the definitive work on defining and measuring innovation, and making international comparisons, has been done by the OECD. See for example the OECD Oslo manual easily found through google). Secondly, the OECD definition of innovation is so vague and general as to be worthless, I suspect. I doubt that any company surveyed would be willing, or even have the necessary accounting information, to identify expenditure on innovation.<br /><br />The OECD work on innovation extended its work on research and development (Frascati manual) which requires original discovery - it was recognised, that companies can gain competitive advantage by adopting, rather than inventing, technology, by new business processes, etc.<br /><br />As I recall, models of economic growth tell us that continuous growth, as opposed to one-off effects, can only be achieved through some sort of innovation. Thus the importance of the subject in spite of the difficulties in defining and measuring 'innovation'.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24338064.post-80568015725156795702012-06-27T20:05:14.110+10:002012-06-27T20:05:14.110+10:00I agree on both points, Evan.I agree on both points, Evan.Jim Belshawhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10075614280789984767noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24338064.post-73961110638788991232012-06-27T11:42:35.261+10:002012-06-27T11:42:35.261+10:00New in one field can be an import from a different...New in one field can be an import from a different field. Eg Ford adopting the production line from abbatoirs.<br /><br />When business people say they want more innovation I think they usually mean more profit.Evanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13355215688351759230noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24338064.post-34839272350891078272012-06-26T22:38:33.139+10:002012-06-26T22:38:33.139+10:00Interesting, Denis, in terms of derivation. I stil...Interesting, Denis, in terms of derivation. I still stick by different! I agree with your other points.Jim Belshawhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10075614280789984767noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24338064.post-51234478592226639952012-06-26T22:25:49.380+10:002012-06-26T22:25:49.380+10:00I feel that innovation by its Latin origin ["...I feel that innovation by its Latin origin ["nova"] implies something about it has to be new, whether design or application, but not necessarily good or bad, or an 'advance'. As you say, the idea of progress is personal.Denis Wrighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786035137418348609noreply@blogger.com