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Abstract

Analysing the process of innovation can no longer be accomplished by constructing the innovating entrepreneur à la Schumpeter or by singing the virtues of the great Chandlerian organization, now the market’s ideal substitute. A rich economic and historical literature has uncovered the complexity of the concept of innovation itself and of the processes characterizing its emergence and spread. Three statements about the role of innovation in entrepreneurship may be put forward:

  1. 1.

    An enterprise which ceases from innovating is condemned to death.

  2. 2.

    A society in which there are no or very few creations of new firms is condemned to decline.

  3. 3.

    Inside the firm, innovation is a global process, encompassing both management and engineering.

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© 2005 François Caron

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Caron, F. (2005). Innovation. In: Cassis, Y., Minoglou, I.P. (eds) Entrepreneurship in Theory and History. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230522633_5

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