Innovation Studies – Innovation and Commercialisation – Module I
The foundation for innovation
Introduction and reflection
The innovation study came at a time when many businesses were already experiencing a growing gap between technology, market and organization. Digitalization was shifting power, pace and expectations, but the understanding of what innovation actually meant was still unclear – often reduced to either technological innovation or creative brainstorming. The study represented a necessary corrective to this simplified picture.
From the very beginning, innovation was presented as something more demanding and more fundamental: a continuous, social and often unpredictable process involving people, expertise, structures and capital – over time. It also did something important with the perspective: innovation was not presented as a privilege for entrepreneurs and start-ups, but as a core challenge for established businesses, in both the private and public sectors.
Program overview
The Innovation and Commercialization program was structured as a process-oriented learning course over two semesters, with six sessions and an integrated study stay in San Francisco and Silicon Valley. The first three sessions served as an academic and methodological foundation, where theory, models and concepts were established.
The study stay in California was not a break, but a deliberate confrontation between theory and practice. The final phase was about follow-up, reflection and completion of the business development project. A key feature of the program was that the participants worked on their own problems throughout the course. This contributed to the theory not remaining abstract, but being continuously tested against real organizational challenges.
Main academic topics
A common theme was the understanding of innovation as non-linear. Innovation was explicitly described as the result of complex and interactive interactions, rather than a sequential process from idea to market. This perspective, rooted in Van de Ven's Innovation Journey, provided a more realistic picture of how innovation actually takes place in practice – with setbacks, detours and conflicting interests.
Furthermore, the distinction between innovation and commercialization was clarified. Many organizations are capable of developing new solutions, but far fewer succeed in making them economically sustainable. Innovation was therefore defined as complete only when new value is actually realized in the market or in society.
A third main theme was competence and learning as factors of scarcity. Knowledge, creativity and the ability to continuously improve were highlighted as more important than access to capital alone. This was particularly evident in the discussions on business clusters and dynamic industrial environments, where learning occurs collectively through interaction and knowledge leakage.
Case studies
The cases used in the teaching ranged from global players such as IKEA and BIC to more contextual examples from Norwegian business. What they had in common was that innovation was rarely about technological complexity, but about simplicity, timing and understanding customer needs.
The story of the BIC pen illustrated how radical simplicity, combined with efficient distribution, can create enormous value over time. The IKEA case, in turn, showed how systems thinking, networking and personal entrepreneurship can be united in a global business model.
These cases did not serve as definitive answers, but as inputs to a discussion about why some innovations succeed – and why others fail despite seemingly good assumptions.
Reflections and discussion:
A strength of the study was the clear emphasis on reflection and dialogue. Through group work, World Café discussions and joint reflections, participants were challenged to see their own role in innovation processes. Questions such as “To what extent do I see myself as a driver of innovation?” were not only asked, but also problematized.
The discussions also revealed the tension between technology-oriented and market-oriented thinking. Many came from environments where technological quality was the primary criterion for success. The study challenged this by showing that technological excellence without market understanding rarely creates lasting value.
International perspectives
The international perspective was gradually built up through theory, but gained its full significance in the encounter with the innovation communities in California. Here, the differences between Norwegian and American approaches to risk, pace and capital became clear. At the same time, it became clear that many of the same basic principles apply across geography: learning, networking and the ability to translate ideas into action.
The study also made it clear that international experience only adds value when placed in the context of one's own organization and framework conditions. This was an important corrective to uncritical copying of the “Silicon Valley model”.
What do we take away from learning?
The most important thing that was taken home was not concrete models or tools, but a changed mindset. A deeper understanding of innovation as a long-term, demanding and collective exercise – rather than a project with a clear start and end.
Many also took with them a stronger awareness of their own role as a leader or professional: not as an expert with all the answers, but as a facilitator of learning, interaction and implementation.
Relevance today
In light of developments over the past 15–20 years, the innovation study appears strikingly relevant. Digitalization, artificial intelligence, and the platform economy have reinforced – not weakened – the need for the perspectives on which the study was based. Innovation is still not linear.
Learning is still a scarce resource. And the ability to translate ideas into actual value remains the greatest challenge. Today we clearly see how both the public and private sectors struggle with implementation capacity, despite high competence and good access to capital. Many of the questions that were asked in 2005 – about culture, structure, prioritization and learning – are at least as relevant today. Perhaps even more so.
From studies and seminars to today's professional universe
The studies, seminars and field trips documented on this page are part of the knowledge base behind The Invisible Capital. Topics such as customers, technology, innovation, digitalization and value creation have followed developments over several decades – but the disciplines have also continued to develop.
At The Invisible Capital, we are therefore continuing to work on these questions in our own subject series. Here, we connect previous theory, research and experiences with newer knowledge, new technologies and today's challenges for people and businesses.
Innovation
Innovation is not just about new ideas. Value is created when knowledge, technology and ideas are developed into products, services, processes, organizational forms and business models that are actually used. The series on innovation goes from Schumpeter to modern innovation research and covers, among other things, incremental, radical, disruptive, open and user-driven innovation.
→ Explore the Innovation Series
The customer
The customer is not just the recipient of what the business produces. In a competitive market, the customer is a crucial determinant of whether the business actually succeeds in creating value. The series about the customer goes deeper into customer orientation, customer insight, customer experience, satisfaction, loyalty, trust and the encounter between people.
→ Read the customer series
Value creation
What does it really mean to create value – and who creates it? The series on value creation moves from economic theory and key researchers to a broader understanding of how people, expertise, institutions, businesses and the public sector contribute to value creation.
→ Read the series on value creation
Digitization
Digitalization has evolved from stand-alone technologies to a fundamental part of how businesses work and create value. The Digitalization from A–Z series follows developments through internet, web, e-commerce, search, UX, social, mobile, omnichannel, cloud, data, platforms and digital transformation – up to today’s AI First developments.
→ Read the series Digitization from A–Z
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence represents the next chapter in digital evolution. In our own AI universe, we investigate how artificial intelligence works, how AI finds and uses information, how it evaluates sources and websites, and what the development can mean for people, businesses, and value creation.
→ Go to the articles about artificial intelligence
Recommended literature
How Breakthroughs Happen
A pivotal book about innovation, creativity and how new ideas emerge through connections between existing knowledge, people and technology. Andrew Hargadon challenges the myth of the lone genius and shows how innovation is often created through collaboration, networking and the ability to combine ideas in new ways.
