Implications of the ICE history to innovation field

Abstract:

Innovation is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon and, therefore, holds partial theories and views, which are more suitable to explain specific types and/or aspects of its dynamics, but not all of them. Recent study on ICE history showed that some innovations cannot be explained by “traditional” innovation theory. In fact, innovation theory is not a unified field, but the complexity of the phenomena admits several partial views. The objective of this paper is twofold: firstly, based on a literature review on the field the authors will delimit the explanatory range of innovation theories, which are more appropriate in explaining specific types and phases of innovation. Secondly, show that the ICE history represents a complementary approach not yet fully explored, namely competitiveness among technologies with no economic or performance superiority without initial advantage.