Innovation, New Product Development and Internet Technologies: study in Brazilian companies

Abstract This paper focused on the use of internet technologies to support product innovation in Brazilian companies, following a qualitative approach. A scoping review of the literature revealed the main uses of the aforementioned technologies for every stage of innovation. Interviews with companies’ representatives showed that innovative companies use mainly social networks to support innovation activities, but there are reports of investments in co-creation platforms. In the scope of this work, internet technologies are used to some innovation stages. Basic technologies like e-mail, website and search mechanisms can provide basic support information for all innovation stages. The early stages (ideation, design and testing) require more targeted information which may be provided by technologies like ideas competition tools, co-creation platforms, and web mining. Finally, blogs, wikis, discussion forums and social networking sites support the final stages (launch and support) of the product innovation process.

摘要 本研究聚焦于利用互联网技术支持巴西企业开展产品创新，采用定性研究方法。通过对现有文献开展范围综述（scoping review），明确了上述互联网技术在创新全流程中的主要应用场景。对企业代表的访谈结果显示，创新型企业主要依托社交网络支撑创新活动，但亦有案例提及对共创平台的投入。在本研究范畴内，互联网技术可应用于部分创新阶段：电子邮件、网站与搜索机制等基础技术，可为所有创新阶段提供基础支撑信息；创新前期（创意构思、设计与测试环节）需要更具针对性的信息，此类信息可由创意竞赛工具、共创平台以及网络挖掘等技术提供；最后，博客、维基、讨论论坛以及社交网站，则可为产品创新流程的后期阶段（产品发布与售后支持）提供支撑。