Does complexity affect the speed of innovation?

This paper examines whether there is a relation between innovation complexity and the speed of innovation (the time taken from development to commercialisation). A complexity measure along three stages of innovation: a means to develop, a means to deliver and a means to market is developed to give insights into the difficulties of innovation. The study draws on detailed case studies of 6 technology based innovations in the financial and non-financial sector: ATM/Cash cards, Credit cards, EFTPOS/Debit cards, Videocassette Recorder (VCR), Windows operating system for PC, and Plain paper copier. The results indicate that there is no relation between innovation complexity and the speed of innovation. Also, the study gives implications for R&D managers on how to manage the complexity of innovation towards commercialisation.