Abstract:

In an age of increasing dependence on new trends and ideas, innovation has become a critical conduit for the thrust of business growth. Also, technological advancement and its rapid accompanying challenges of similar products and services make it indispensably necessary to create new ideas to facilitate the development or augmentation of new/existing products, services, processes, and procedures to sustain business growth.

This article examines the varying views on types of business innovation; eliciting the key concepts underpinning these viewpoints, and argues that the areas for business innovation espoused by the different proponents are dispersal and lack precise focus. The article further establishes that innovative approach to promote business growth ought to be simplistic and clear in focus. It posits innovation in the construct of the core business functions – product delivery, service delivery, process delivery and people delivery for which; the author names as ‘The 4Ds of Innovation’ and stipulates that these are the fundamental elements underpinning the promotion of business growth. The author further argues that a business entity can maximize its business growth if innovative activities were specifically directed in these critical areas.

The paper provides a conceptual framework for innovative activities as well as innovation audit matrix to monitor innovative activities within the organizational setup; suggesting a more simplistic approach that ensures continuous focus on the core critical areas, and bringing in management logic interventions to stimulate innovation and promote business growth.

Keywords: core, critical areas, innovation, business growth, strategic outputs, and management implications.

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