What is innovation? How can it be used? Why is failure so common in the process of innovation? This Very Short Introduction looks at what innovation is, what it has done for us, and why it has been so important in the last 150 years.

• Preface


• 1: Josiah Wedgwood: the world's greatest innovator


• 2: Joseph Schumpeter's gales of creative destruction


• 3: London's wobbly bridge: learning from failure


• 4: Stephanie Kwolek's new polymer: from labs to riches


• 5: Thomas Edison's organizational genius


• 6: Innovating the future


• References


• Further reading


• Index

Mark Dodgson's research interests are in the areas of corporate strategies and govenment policies for technology and innovation. He has authored over 50 articles and book chapters, as well as written seven books. Mark is currently Professor of Innovation Studies at the University of Queensland.
David Gann, CBE, is Professor and Vice-President (Innovation) at Imperial College London, and is responsible for a large portfolio of research in collaboration with firms in design, manufacturing, engineering, and construction.
Together they edited The Oxford Handbook of Innovation Management, (OUP, 2014), with Nelson Phillips.