There is no "one" way to innovate. And most importantly, innovation is not just defined as finding 'the' right idea that disrupts a market. At the opposite end of the spectrum isincremental innovation. Closer to continuous improvement, incremental innovation allows an organisation to be transformed gradually, and often with the help of employees on the ground. This is why it is particularly compatible with the notion ofcollaborative innovation.
What are the different types of innovation?
There is not one, but several ways of innovating. Here is a quick reminder of the four types of innovation that exist:
- Incremental innovation: improving existing products, services or processes, working within the same market.
- Adjacent: this is the use of the existing to adapt it to a new use or to conquer a new market.
- Disruptive: starting from what already exists, and simplifying it to facilitate massive use
- Radical: Radical innovation means bringing a new product or service to the market
What is incremental innovation?
Let's take a closer look atincremental innovation. Also known as continuous improvementIncremental innovation is a mode of innovation that consists ofimprovements to products, services or processes within the same market.
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This type of innovation is perhaps less fashionable than radical innovation - because it sounds less like innovation. And yet it is a vector forprofound improvements, and therefore for transformation for companies.
In addition, your employees can actively participate in incremental innovation. In other words, thecollaborative innovation is ideal for boosting your incremental innovation. Why is this? Because it is the doer who knows. In other words, your employees in the field are in the best position to propose solutions to irritants and ideas for continuous improvement.
3 examples of incremental innovations implemented in companies thanks to Beeshake
The purpose of this section is to inspire you on the types of incremental innovations that can emerge on a collaborative innovationplatform like Beeshake. For reasons of confidentiality, we will not always name the companies involved in these examples of incremental innovation. Also, for obvious reasons, we will not necessarily reveal the detailed content of these innovations.
Optimisation of the way customers collect their purchases
In a company in the retail sector, employees noticed that customers sometimes left the store with bulky purchases that were difficult to transport. They therefore took advantage of a device fromcollaborative innovation to propose a system that would make it easy to transport bulky products. This is a very good way of improving the experience and therefore the satisfaction of customers.
Optimisations of teleworking equipment
Incremental innovation can, for example, be about improving employee productivity. For example, the employees of a company suggested improvements to the teleworking equipment. The result: savings in time, money and therefore productivity.
CSR innovations to improve the environmental impact of the company
If we consider CSR to be a way of transforming and advancing an organisation, then incremental innovation can also involve societal and environmental aspects. It is therefore no longer rare to see a company working on CSR innovation. And it is also less and less rare for an organisation to ask its employees to come up with ideas and good practices to bring a CSR approach to life and thus become more sustainable.
In this vein, Carmila has put in place a call for ideas, in order to solicit its employees in Europe to come up with ideas on CSR. One of the projects set up following this call for ideas is the installation of composters in its shopping centres. They allow organic waste to be recycled and limit the pollution linked to the transport of waste. An innovation that affects the quality of processes within the company.
ALSO READ: Implementing a CSR approach in your company with your employees
