• ISSN: 2010-0248 (Print)
    • Abbreviated Title: Int. J. Innov.  Manag. Technol.
    • Frequency: Quarterly
    • DOI: 10.18178/IJIMT
    • Editor-in-Chief: Prof. Jin Wang
    • Managing Editor: Ms. Nancy Y. Liu
    • Abstracting/ Indexing: Google Scholar, CNKI, Ulrich's Periodicals Directory,  Crossref, Electronic Journals Library.
    • E-mail: ijimt@ejournal.net
IJIMT 2020 Vol.11(6): 159-164 ISSN: 2010-0248
doi: 10.18178/ijimt.2020.11.6.896

Towards Understanding the Impact of Innovation — An Application of the Need-Driven Ecosystem Theory

Henning Hinderer and Ludwig Martin

Abstract— Ecosystems are often used as an analogy taken from nature to explain matters of interdependence and co-existence of players of an industry or of products and services. However, the correlation of those artifacts and the players responsible for their provision with the purpose to fulfill a certain user need needs to emphasized. Through the application of the theory of Need-driven Ecosystems a better understanding of the impact of innovation on those ecosystems as a whole are showcased. Need-driven Ecosystems have two poles, businesses as well as products. Each of these poles is understood as concentric and enabling set of neighboring and intertwined spheres; all with the same aim: to provide an artifact or product catering for the needs of customers. Companies or organizations are set in ever changing environments with various drivers and inhibitors. Successful companies innovate for providing better artifacts to cater for their customers, however ultimately aiming at returns. Based on some examples the use of the Need-driven Ecosystem is showcased. Using this theory, the relationships between company contexts, product features, and the requirement to cater for users can be depicted. The application of this theory assists companies and organizations in two ways. Firstly, it can be used to take stock of current situations in the sense of strategic management and decisions for product development initiatives. Secondly, it can be used as a tool for understanding impacts outside a company’s realm on the wider context of the business or products and resulting implications for the company.

Index Terms— Ecosystems design, innovation, interdependence of players and artifacts, impact of innovation.

Henning Hinderer and Ludwig Martin are with Pforzheim University, Tiefenbronner Strasse 65, 75175 Pforzheim, Germany (e-mail: henning.hinderer@hs-pforzheim.de, Ludwig.martin@hs-pforzheim.de).

[PDF]

Cite: Henning Hinderer and Ludwig Martin, " Towards Understanding the Impact of Innovation — An Application of the Need-Driven Ecosystem Theory," International Journal of Innovation, Management and Technology vol. 11, no. 6, pp. 159-164, 2020.

Copyright © 2020 by the authors. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited (CC BY 4.0).
Copyright © 2010-2024. International Journal of Innovation, Management and Technology. All rights reserved.
E-mail: ijimt@ejournal.net
Published by International Association of Computer Science and Information Technology (IACSIT Press)