As discussed in prior sections, ideation is the starting point for innovation.

Businesses often recognize a need or want by potential customers or clients that would generate value to address.

The ideation process then focuses upon finding solutions or means for solving the problem.

Innovation is the resultant step of coming up with new or unique ways of addressing the need or want.

Business practices (discussed in future sections) facilitate this process. For example,

• Marketing allows business to identify and understand the characteristics of potential customers and the severity of their need or want.
• Strategy allows businesses to develop ways of providing value (addressing the need or want) in ways that are distinct or different from existing competitors.
• Operations and project management allow us to develop a process for delivering value.
• Management and Leadership concerns the motivation and organization of people and resources in the value delivery process.
• Accounting allows us to track all of the transactions that happen as part of the business process.
• Finance allows us to determine the potential value of any business idea or project.
• Economics helps us understand whether the over conditions in the environment (the market) is conducive to this type of business activity.

Hopefully, this bring introduction sets the stage for our examination of various areas of business practice.