Managing Impact Innovation

What is innovation?

Innovation is a process of turning opportunity into new ideas and putting these into widely used practice.

What is incremental innovation?

Gradual, continuous improvements to existing products, services, or processes within an established market and technology.

What is radical innovation?

A technological breakthrough that significantly transforms industries and may create new markets.

What is architectural innovation?

Innovation that reconfigures existing technologies or components by changing how they are linked together, often applied in a new context.

What is disruptive innovation?

Innovation that enters through new or underserved markets with simpler or more affordable solutions and eventually displaces incumbents.

What does “crossing the chasm” mean?

Moving from early adopters to mainstream users by offering a complete, reliable, and easy-to-use solution.

What is impact innovation?

Innovation that solves important problems for people and planet, is measurable, and can be scaled sustainably.

What dimensions are used to measure impact?

Social impact, environmental impact, inclusion, and structural or systemic change.

What is IRIS+?

A standardized system of impact metrics used to measure, compare, and report social and environmental impact.

What is SROI?

Social Return on Investment measures the amount of social value created per unit of investment.

What is social innovation?

New ideas, models, or practices that meet social needs more effectively than existing solutions and may lead to systemic change.

Why do ethics matter in innovation?

Innovation affects society faster than regulation, raising questions about benefits, harm, exclusion, and responsibility.

What are the key ethical principles in innovation?

Beneficence, non-maleficence, justice, autonomy, accountability.

What is Responsible Research & Innovation?

A framework based on anticipation, reflexivity, inclusion, and responsiveness.

What is the Stage-Gate model?

A structured innovation process that divides development into stages, separated by decision gates, from idea to launch and post-launch review.

What is the typical Stage-Gate structure?

A 5 stages – 5 gates process guiding innovation from ideation to launch.

What happens in the Ideation stage?

Generation of ideas from technical, marketing, and other sources, supported by voice of customer/user feedback.

What happens in the Concept stage?

Concept development and assessment across technical, marketing, and production dimensions.

What happens in the Business Case stage?

Building the business case by assessing technical feasibility, marketing potential, and production requirements.

What happens in the Development stage?

Creation of the product through R&D, production, and marketing, with iterative customer/user feedback.

What happens in the Testing stage?

Field trials, customer tests, and validation of technical, production, and marketing readiness.

What happens in the Launch stage?

Start of production and commercialization, including technical, production, and marketing/sales execution.

What is the purpose of the post-launch review?

To assess product performance, adoption, and opportunities for improvement and scaling.

What are gates in the Stage-Gate process?

Decision points where projects are evaluated to go, kill, hold, or recycle before moving forward.

What does “Stage-Gate is context-based” mean?

Stage-Gate is scalable and adaptable; one size does not fit all innovation projects.

What types of Stage-Gate exist?

• Stage-Gate Full (major projects)

• Stage-Gate Lite (moderate projects)

• Stage-Gate XPress (simple, low-risk projects)

What factors determine the Stage-Gate approach?

Strategic importance, technical risk, schedule, and cost.

What is the main strength of Stage-Gate?

It provides structure, discipline, and risk control across the innovation process.

What is the key limitation of Stage-Gate?

It is less suited for high uncertainty or breakthrough innovation, which requires learning and flexibility.