Clearly, for the vast majority of companies, innovation is not just limited to disruptive technology changes. It includes improvements of all products, services and support mechanisms, infrastructure, manufacturing and production, marketing & sales channels, and delivery logistics.

Innovation is not just the occasional "eureka" flash - it includes the PROCESS of making improvements: generating new ideas, methods, devices procedures that yield major cost or value shifts. In the organizational context, innovation is linked to performance and growth through improvements in efficiency, productivity, quality, competitive positioning, market share, etc.

Innovation may also have a negative or destructive effect as new developments change old organizational structures and practices. The innovation process often stems from completely new thinking which many people cannot embrace.

Organizations that do not innovate effectively will be destroyed by those that do. Consider what happened to yesteryear's giants like Westinghouse, RCA and Western Union; they fizzled and withered away with antiquated products and services.

More than ever, an organization's success depends on its ability to remain a global innovation leader. The global race to develop cheaper-faster-better products and services demands sustained innovation. Serious decline will result for those who base their plans on yesterday's paradigms.

Study your own company's innovation processes and you'll get clues about your own future growth and success.

• Automation.com - The keys to successful innovation
• The pursuit of Innovation
• Automation World Innovation Series