A Conceptual Approach About Innovation From the Oslo Manual

Abstract

This article aims at analyzing the evolution of the concepts of innovation throughout the four editions of the Oslo Manual, which, toa great extent, summarizes debates regarding this theme. A narrative review was used to describe and discuss the development of the topic from a theoretical and contextual point of view. With a descriptive and qualitative approach, the study arose from the analysis of the literature published in books, manuals, journal articles and scientific articles. The results showed that, over the four editions, the definitions were extended and new conceptions were assigned. The term “innovation” came to be used in different contexts, such as “innovation activities”, when referring to the process, and “innovation”, referring to results. The definitions lead to guidelines on how companies can be characterized and recognize the possibility for innovations to occur in other types of organizations; they may not be restricted to technological and organizational innovations, but they may also be institutional and social.