Innovation and New Product Development: Reflections and Insights from the Research Published in the First 20 Years of M&SOM

Abstract

In this short essay we reflect on the innovation-related studies that have appeared in Manufacturing and Service Operations Management (M&SOM) in its first twenty years of publication, and consider the future work that M&SOM could publish in this domain. Innovation management can be defined broadly enough to encompass the efforts of organizations to effectively design and develop novel solutions to existing or new needs. Several different approaches and thematic lenses have emerged in the academic community to address diverse questions in innovation management; however the work published in M&SOM has a narrow focus. This gap reveals an opportunity for the M&SOM community, which may be addressed in part by improvements in the review process of the journal. We also suggest some specific innovation topics that the researchers in the community might tackle.

Keywords: Innovation, New Product Development, Product Design, Service Design, Business Model Innovation