Hidden secrets in the transition to non-technological innovation

Abstract

Recent studies indicate that the topics and issues of innovation have moved away from merely technical attitudes, and innovative concepts have gone beyond conventional approaches and widened and deepened. This is evident in theoretical discussions and at the enterprise level. Today, improving performance and quality, production volume, and even reducing prices is no longer a guarantee of a product's success. These are prevalent innovative strategies that do not necessarily lead to continuous competitiveness for enterprises. In this study’s attitude, innovative concepts do not have a purely economic nature but cover broad and multiple insights. They are essential factors that not only meet people's needs but also touch their inner desires, emotions, and perceptions. The current article deals with innovative species that have experienced other drivers of innovation in addition to technology. In this newer attitude toward innovation, the concept of “human” replaces the idea of “user,” and the innovation factor is related to emotions, meanings, position, and culture. We aim to analyze the components of the non-technological innovation black box from this point of view. This paper proposes a theoretical model and, based on it, introduces a new path for the transition to non-technological innovations. Although it does not neglect technological innovations, it pays more attention to non-technological innovations with the cores of meaning, emotion, and position. We call this new path a non-technological transition, which is a gap in the innovation system and the multilevel perspective (MLP) attitudes. This new paradigm considers the opportunities for non-technological innovations more accessible than technological innovations, especially when there are severe challenges in accessing emerging technologies and technological competition.