ABSTRACT
In order to understand the concept of radical innovation, it is first necessary to define the concepts “idea,” “invention” and “innovation.” New ideas are the starting point for an innovation. According to Trott (2002: 12), an idea can be a concept, a thought or a collection of thoughts. As long as customers regard the idea as new, it is an innovative idea, even though it may not be “objectively” new. Hence, the key issue in determining the novelty of an idea is customer perception (Robertson 1971: 6; Rogers 1983: 11). Sometimes the new idea stems from a discovery, i.e. the recognition of previously unknown natural laws (Kuhn 1970: 52-53). An idea becomes an invention when it is converted into a tangible artifact (Trott 2002: 12) (see Figure 4.1).
