Innovation is a term that is currently on everyone's lips. In most cases, it is used in a rather inflationary or unreflected manner. There are also many different definitions and approaches in the literature. In order to achieve clarity about the broad concept of innovation and a uniform meaning, we provide a brief overview and summary of the question "What is innovation?". A quote from Fariborz Damanpour, professor at Rutgers University, describes innovation in a very broad sense and reflects the most important aspects:

"Innovation is conceived as a process that includes the generation, development, and implementation of new ideas or behaviors. Further, innovation is conceived as a means of changing an organization, either as a response to changes in the external environment or as a preemptive action to influence the environment. Hence innovation is here broadly defined to encompass a range of types, including new products or services, new process technologies, new organizational structures or administrative systems, or new plans or programs pertaining to organizational members." (Damanpour, p 694) [Hervorhebungen durch Autor]