The innovation funnel

The path to technological innovation is made up of a number of identifiable macro and micro level discriminators. The macro level includes: (1) the technological prerequisites; (2) the country's sociocultural tendencies; and (3) the country's material, human, and institutional infrastructures. At the micro level the filters include: (4) the structure of the particular industry; (5) the size and nature of the individual firm; (6) the attitudes of the management of the firm; and (7) the establishment of standards for the widespread diffusion of the innovation. The absence of one or more of these seven sequential steps diminishes the likelihood that innovation will occur. This article examines the macrocosm of innovation and the screening process while presenting two propositions that suggest how to enhance an invention's progression through the innovation funnel. (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Inc.