ABSTRACT
Throughout this book we have seen how innovation practice has evolved over the most active period of industrial change yet to have occurred. From the earliest formulation of distinctive product strategies by Sony, the development of quality principles by Toyota and the use of product champions by Honda to the increasingly mass customization being achieved by Dell and Nike, cross-company exploitation in 3M and the collaboration between Nokia and Ericsson on the development of WAP, we have traced the gradual development of the ways in which leading firms have innovated during the past twenty years. As the first three waves of innovation capability have emerged and become integrated in standard practice across sectors, it is clear that, like innovation itself, the range of abilities needed to undertake it successfully is also a continuously moving and developing arena.
