Innovation is one of the avenues in which companies can move up the value chain, and has become a popular demand from stock markets and governments. Many of its proponents though lack insight as to what it takes to be an innovator, and instead hype and impel innovation based on a romanticized view that with enough willpower and support from a board, investors, or government every company can pursue innovation. This book offers a theoretical framework, the License Giver Business concept, that clarifies the core characteristics of a truly innovating company, and differentiates it from three other company archetypes with differing core business identities. It describes key aspects and pitfalls in the practical application of the License Giver Business concept and provides cases from the marine industry and computer industry.

Lex A. van Gunsteren is a business consultant, lecturer and innovator in marine propulsion. He was one of the pioneers of the Rotterdam School of Management (the Netherlands) where he taught R&D management and crisis management. He owns eight patents and has published eleven books. Arnold G. Vlas is an international business executive and entrepreneur with 30 years' experience in product management, marketing and business development across 8 different various assignments in Europe and Asia Pacific. Dr. Vlas is a certified executive leadership coach, and has lived and worked in the Netherlands, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Munich, and Shanghai.