continuous innovation – n : modest, gradational, ongoing
upgrades or enhancements of existing technologies or products; continuous
innovation generally does not fundamentally change the dynamics of an industry,
nor does it typically require end users to change behavior. The opposite of
continuous innovation is discontinuous innovation, also known as disruptive
innovation.
Examples:
In the television industry, continuous innovation occurred for years with the
steady, gradational
enhancements in, and improvements in pricing and programming for, standard
color televisions. By contrast, in recent years, this industry has begun to
experience two types of discontinuous innovation, with the introduction of
flat-panel, digital TVs, on the one hand, and the related phenomenon of
high-definition (HD) programming – phenomena that together are dramatically
and rapidly changing the size and growth rate of the industry, competitive
dynamics, pricing, etc. and are suddenly compelling many consumers to
expensively upgrade their TV sets and services for the first time in decades. In
the restaurant industry, menu changes or the emergence of new restaurants and chains
represent continuous innovation, whereas the emergence of McDonald’s and the
fast-food phenomenon in the 1950’s constituted a discontinuous innovation,
completely changing industry growth rates, pricing assumptions, consumer
perceptions of service and value, etc. The telephone industry experienced only
very modest continuous innovation for decades (e.g., changes in call plans, the
advent of the touch-tone phone to replace the rotary-dial phone, etc.). Then the industry experienced a dramatic in
the 1990’s with the emergence of cellular phones with their associated dramatic
changes in mobility and convenience. Currently, the industry is experiencing
yet another discontinuous innovation with the emergence of VOIP (voice over Internet
protocol), or Internet telephony, which is suddenly and dramatically changing
cost and pricing
paradigms and competitive dynamics in the industry.
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Adapted from "The CompanyCrafters Entrepreneur's Dictionary"
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