Connecting technological capabilities with market needs with a cyclic model of innovation

One of the key limitations of current models of innovation is that they still represent variations on the familiar pipeline architecture. In addition, they are not embedded in the strategic issues of company boards and therefore remain isolated entities. Equally, the activity of entrepreneurship, while long recognized as a key factor in firm innovation management, is not captured and is inadvertently understated or only implied at best. We find that there is incongruence between current theoretical models and innovation practice. We offer a socio-technical framework that replaces the family of linear concepts by a cyclic alternative. It combines hard and soft sciences, bridges research and development and marketing communities and helps firms and policy makers to better understand the iterative nature of the innovation process.