Exnovation means the process of terminating a practice, or the use of a technology or product, within an organization, community, or society. Put simply, it can be described as the opposite of

innovation Innovation is the practical implementation of ideas that result in the introduction of new goods or service (economics), services or improvement in offering goods or services. ISO TC 279 in the standard ISO 56000:2020 defines innovation as "a n ...

. Exnovation has also been described as the "flipside of innovation", or the "lesser-known sibling of innovation". In

commerce Commerce is the organized Complex system, system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions that directly or indirectly contribute to the smooth, unhindered large-scale exchange (distribution through Financial transaction, transactiona ...

and

management Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a Government agency, government bodies through business administration, Nonprofit studies, nonprofit management, or the political s ...

, exnovation can occur when products and processes that have been tested and confirmed to be best-in-class are

standardized Standardization (American English) or standardisation (British English) is the process of implementing and developing technical standards based on the consensus of different parties that include firms, users, interest groups, standards organiza ...

to ensure that they are not innovated further. Companies that have followed exnovation as a strategy to improve organizational performance include

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1892, incorporated in the New York (state), state of New York and headquartered in Boston. Over the year ...

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational corporation, multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. T ...

and

American Airlines American Airlines, Inc. is a major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, and is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the ...

. One of the earliest usages of the term came in 1981, when John Kimberly referred to "removal of innovation from an organisation". In 1996 A. Sandeep provided a modern definition of exnovation as the philosophy of not innovating – in other words, ensuring that best-in-class entities are not innovated further. Since then "exnovation" has become a notable parlance in various practices, from management to medicine. In recent years, the concept has been increasingly taken up in sustainability and transition research to designate and investigate the deliberate phase-out of unsustainable technologies, products, and practices, particularly in relation to energy transitions and a coal phase-out. Exnovation and innovation are interrelated: "On the one hand, exnovating products and practices creates spaces for new products and practices. On the other hand, the promise of a new product or practice helps eliminating old products and practices."

a theory that seeks to explain how, why, and at what rate new ideas and technology spread through cultures * Frugal innovationprocess of reducing the complexity and cost of a good and its production * Ideas bankshared resource, usually a website, where people post, exchange, discuss, and polish new ideas * Open innovationa paradigm that assumes that organizations can and should use external ideas as well as internal ideas * Pro-innovation biasthe belief that an innovation should be adopted by whole society without the need of its alteration *

Technology forecasting Technology forecasting attempts to predict the future characteristics of useful technological machines, procedures or wikt:technique, techniques. Researchers create technology forecasts based on past experience and current technological developmen ...

the prediction of future characteristics of useful technological machines, procedures or techniques * Technology scoutinga method of technology forecasting * Nuclear power phase-out * Coal phase-out * Phase-out of incandescent light bulbs * Phase-out of fossil fuel vehicles

References

Business terms Innovation {{business-term-stub

See also

References