Six books to read to understand business innovation [reading list] | OUPblog
According to McKinsey & Company, 84% of executives agree on the importance of innovation in growth and strategy in their organizations but only 6% know the exact problem and how to improve in innovation. As the world is moving faster and getting more complex, it is important to find ways to constantly innovate for organizations and managers. Innovation day is observed every year on 16 February, to create further awareness on the importance of innovation we have created a list of books with free chapters that show the importance of innovation for business and society.
1. Open Innovation Results, by Henry Chesbrough
To get real business results from innovation, we must go beyond the generation of new innovations, and also pay attention to their broad dissemination and rapid absorption. Many of the best known aspects of open innovation, such as crowdsourcing or open source software or innovation intermediaries, are not well connected to the rest of the organization. We must connect more deeply to the rest of the organization, in order to see real business value from innovation. This book offers the latest theory and evidence from open innovation processes, and discusses how to get real business results from it. Read a free chapter online here.
2. Openness to Creative Destruction, by Arthur M. Diamond, Jr.
Life improves under the economic system often called entrepreneurial capitalism or creative destruction but, according to the author, should more accurately be called innovative dynamism. This book shows how innovation occurs through the efforts of inventors and innovative entrepreneurs, how workers on balance benefit, and how good policies can encourage innovation. Read a free chapter online here. 
3. Innovation Commons, by Jason Potts
This book presents a new theory of what happens at the very early stages of innovation. It describes how a new technology is transformed into an entrepreneurial opportunity and becomes the origin of economic growth. The surprising answer is cooperation. Read a free chapter online here that proposes four theories explaining how innovation commons work, in terms of how they pool information, and what specific problems they solve in order to discover entrepreneurial opportunities.
4. Holistic Innovation Policy, by Susana Borrás and Charles Edquist
This book presents a theoretical foundation for the design of innovation policy by identifying the core problems that afflict the activities of innovation systems, including the unintended consequences of policy itself. It shows how to identify viable and down-to-earth policy solutions. Read a free chapter online here. It identifies ten specific activities that define systems of innovation. 
5. The Disruptive Impact of FinTech on Retirement Systems, edited by Julie Agnew and Olivia S. Mitchell
Many people need help planning for retirement, saving, investing, and decumulating their assets, yet financial advice is often complex, potentially conflicted, and expensive . This volume examines how technology is transforming financial applications, and how FinTech promises a similar revolution in the retirement planning processes. Read a free chapter online here that describes the development of the robo-advisor industry and compares robo-advisors to traditional human financial advisors.
6. Society and the Internet, edited by Mark Graham and William H. Dutton
How is society being reshaped by the continued diffusion and increasing centrality of the Internet in everyday life and work? This book provides key readings for students, scholars, and those interested in understanding the interactions of the Internet and society. The Internet and digital media are increasingly seen as having enormous potential for solving problems facing healthcare systems. Read a free chapter online here that traces emerging digital health uses and applications, focusing on the political economy of data. 
Innovation is the core reason for modern existence. Innovation doesn’t only help organizations stay relevant but also plays an important role in economic growth. With more information on the topic, we can help to understand the importance of innovation and what it means for business and our society.
Featured image credit: Image by Michal Jarmoluk from Pixabay