Innovations at Harley Davidson

In the business context, innovation can be defined as the 'process of introducing a new idea, or inventing/creating something which has not yet been discovered or developed in the market or development arena.'⁵

Companies can innovate on one or more of these fronts - product, process and service. Within each category, innovation can be of three types: Radical innovation (a breakthrough product, process or service), distinctive innovation (considerable improvements in the existing product, process or service) and incremental innovation (small improvements in the existing product, process or service).

The above theories of innovation can be summed up thus: Innovation of any type is said to occur when a change in the product, process or service results in a better or improved solution for an existing need.

Traditionally, companies believed innovation to be an expensive activity, with a long payback period. Hence, companies failed to retain their interest in it for the required period of time and often abandoned innovation projects midway. In organizations that did retain interest, most innovations were restricted to new products. These were mainly contributed by the company's research and development (R&D) department or by academic researchers and individuals.