Innovation’s Domain: The Need for a Sharper Yet Broader Focus
S. P. Raj and Gerard A. Athaide
kHUB post date: September 29, 2022
Originally published: June 7, 2022 (PDMA JPIM • Vol 39, Issue 4 • July 2022)
Read time: 7 minutes
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Kahn's (2022) essay notes the growth in centers for innovation and entrepreneurship on college campuses and prompted his call for a clearer understanding and appreciation of the roles of the two phenomena. Kahn argues that while entrepreneurship focuses on new “venture” creation, innovation focuses on “offering” creation, i.e., creating new products, services, marketing methods, etc. His essay stimulated us to reflect on how the study and practice of innovation management have evolved and developed, especially in the marketing discipline. In large part, recent interest in entrepreneurship and innovation has been fueled by digital technologies (DT). These technologies have enabled entrepreneurial start-ups as well as elevated the prominence of innovative marketing practices as a source of competitive advantage. Despite their relevance for innovations in marketing strategy formulation and execution, research on DT-enabled marketing innovation is limited and fragmented. Against this background, this article describes the Snyder Innovation Management Center at Syracuse University's emphasis on the academic study of innovation management in a marketing context. The Center's areas of focus offer a useful starting point for a sharpened yet broader focus concerning to the study of innovation.