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Encyclopedia of Creativity, Invention, Innovation and Entrepreneurship pp 524–529Cite as

Developing Radical Inventions

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Introduction

Inventions lie at the heart of technological progress of companies and of economic development in general. The word “invention” is however a very broad concept covering an extensive spectrum ranging from simple, incremental inventions to pathbreaking radical inventions. Incremental inventions are mere adjustments to existing products or technology. They typically have limited impact on the technological paradigm. Radical inventions on the other hand are in general seen as being a clear deviation away from the current technological paradigm (Hage 1980; Nelson and Winter 1982), making their impact on technological progress and economic development more prominent. This results in radical inventions often being responsible for the creation of new technological systems and sometimes even new industries. Radical inventions can thus be considered a vital basis for a sequence of subsequent developments around this original invention (Mokyr 1990).

In the past, many theoretical...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Management Studies Group, Wageningen University and Research Centre, Hollandseweg 1, 8130, 6700, Wageningen, The Netherlands

    Dr. Wilfred Schoenmakers

  2. Brabant Center of Entrepreneurship, Eindhoven University of Technology and Tilburg University, 513, 5600, Eindhoven, The Netherlands

    Prof. Geert Duysters

Authors
  1. Dr. Wilfred Schoenmakers
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  2. Prof. Geert Duysters
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Wilfred Schoenmakers .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Information Systems & Technology, Management, School of Business, George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA

    Elias G. Carayannis

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Schoenmakers, W., Duysters, G. (2013). Developing Radical Inventions. In: Carayannis, E.G. (eds) Encyclopedia of Creativity, Invention, Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-3858-8_398

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-3858-8_398

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-3857-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-3858-8

  • eBook Packages: Business and Economics

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