5.4 Stakeholders in invention and innovation

Conceptual Understanding: Collaborative generation of knowledge and high efficiency information flow allow for diversity, increased resilience, reliability and stability within an organization.

Through participatory research, stakeholders can make full use of the resulting innovation and invention, by transferring findings relevant to the sector in which they are positioned.

A designer’s increased awareness through shared industry knowledge enhances

There are noteworthy comparisons between Lone Inventor and Product champion. The lone inventor may lack the business acumen to push the invention through to innovation. The product champion is often a forceful personality with much influence in a company. He or she is more astute at being able to push the idea forward through the various business channels and is often able to consider the merits of the invention more objectively. Inventors often take the role of product champion and/or entrepreneur because:

• Their product or idea is novel

• Too novel or ‘out there’ for a company to take a risk on

• Can't find a backer or company to produce it

• The inventor will have to ‘champion’ their product to different companies

The roles of the product champion and entrepreneur in the innovation of products and systems can change. Sometimes an inventor may have developed skills or profiles of a product champion and/or entrepreneur. James Dyson and Thomas Edison are two examples. Edison (later it was discovered that Swan invented the light bulb) used profits from his earlier inventions to bring the light bulb to market.

James Dyson is an example of an inventor, product champion and/or entrepreneur. He (didn't) invent the cyclone technology for suction on household domestic vacuum cleaners. At first no-one was interested in this radical design so he ‘championed’ his product until he found a Japanese company would would take it on. Later he would use the profits to further improvements and novel products. He build an understanding of business.

Conceptual Understanding: A multidisciplinary approach to innovation is sometimes required. This is when the inventor is also the product champion and/or entrepreneur. This requires specific skill sets and actions to fulfil these roles and the reason inventors often take on multiple roles. Effective design draws from multiple areas of expertise, and this can be utilised at different stages of product development. There are advantages and disadvantages of using a multidisciplinary approach to innovation as most products are now extremely complex and rely on expertise from various disciplines.

Nowadays almost all products are developed by multidisciplinary teams as it would be unlikely that a lone inventor would have the expertise in all the disciplines.