Satell (2017) defines four types of innovation – breakthroughs, sustaining, basic research, and disruptive. Disruptive and it implies a completely new product, approach to operations, or service that changes the existing models within an industry. An example is Apple, which introduced a breakthrough innovation with its smartphone since mobile phone devices that exited before did not have the same capabilities, such as cameras, large touch screens, and others (Safian, 2018). Sustaining innovation involves the work that takes place in the research and development divisions of the firms (Satell, 2017).
An example is a strategically planned innovation that helps companies keep up with their competition. For instance, as was mentioned, hotel companies aim to explore the model used by Airbnb to address the new demands of their clients, which will help them sustain their market share (Mody & Gomez, 2018). Next, basic research or continuous innovation allows for a firm’s continuous development. A good example of this approach is technology companies that continue to improve the existing version of their software, such as Photoshop, that recently announced that it would create an application for iOS devices (Gurman & Grant, 2018). The product is already known to the consumers, and the iOS version is a part of the businesses’ strategy, which makes it basic innovation. Finally, breakthrough innovation often establishes new markets because it implies a completely new technology (Satell, 2017). A good example of this is Uber, which changed the way people view transportation and result in several bankruptcies of taxi companies (Wang, 2016).