Acceptance and Management of Innovation in SMEs: Immersive 3D visualisation

The role of innovation within businesses has grown tremendously over the decades, especially the use of information technologies that spans across a range of applications. The cost of technology is descending exponentially with time, leading to a fall in implementation costs, which consequently pushing more technologies within the reach of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). One such case is the new state of art technology which is becoming the innovative tool in new product development (NPD) in various sectors; immersive 3D visualisation.This technology has the potential to provide a distinctive advantage for business to continue as or become a leading player in their industry. As the pioneering technology can be integrated in NPD processes, or facilitate comprehension of complex information, as well as used in simulation, planning and training. Despite its huge potential in streamlining the innovation processes of companies, the adoption of the technology is not without risks in traditional areas such human resources and getting the expected returns. On the other hand, such risks can be mediated through careful planning and management, where the successful adoption of the technology can catapult the companies ahead of competitors. However, with the resource constraints and the current economic slumps, SMEs risk too much emphasis on short term savings and lose out on the long term to larger companies, which could have a detrimental effect on their own market place and survival. Furthermore, the ever-changing technology expectations of subsequent generations provides further pressure for companies to implement new technologies that can facilitate the innovation processes.