Product and Process Innovation
Process innovation often is viewed as less important than product innovation.
Whereas new product development has been the focus of much attention,
process innovation has come under the headings of operations
management and quality management in the literature. As highlighted by
Utterback (1996), process innovation becomes of increasing importance relative
to product innovation for organizations once the dominant design of
the product has been established. Therefore, over the life of an industry,
process innovation is of equal importance to product innovation when
organizations seek competitive advantage. Process innovation can even
affect product innovation when it results in improvements to the process
that can inspire further product innovation. All organizations are constantly
trying to develop their processes to reduce cost, improve output quality,
reduce lead time, or increase value for the customer. Only certain organizations
engage in product innovation, and this occurs only periodically as they
develop a new product or engage in product enhancement. The greater
attention paid to product innovation may result from the following: