ABSTRACT
Radical innovations are innovations that are new both for the firm and the market. According to Stefik and Stefik (2006: 3), “they do something that most people did not realize was possible.” It has been claimed that their development is critical to the long-term survival of many firms, since they provide the foundation on which future generations of products or services are created (McDermott and O’Connor 2002: 424). Furthermore, previous studies (e.g. Chaney et al. 1991) indicate that radical innovations have a greater return on investment than less-original new products. Not only do they have an impact on firms, they also affect society and customers, since they are engines of economic growth and sources of better products (Chandy and Tellis 2000: 2).
