Different theories, models and narratives of innovation compete for both legitimacy and authority. However, despite the variations, they all offer a consistent pro-innovation bias, dismissing resistance as irrational, and overlooking the value of non-users and collateral impacts. This book looks at innovation from a different perspective and asks, what has been left out? It offers a reflexive view and invites researchers to consider new avenues of research, through a critique of current representations of innovation.

Economic application of nonlinear dynamics, microscopic agent-based modelling, and the use of artificial intelligence techniques as learning devices of boundedly rational actors are among the most exciting interdisciplinary ventures of economic theory over the past decade. This volume provides us with a most fascinating series of examples on "complexity in action" exemplifying the scope and explanatory power of these innovative approaches.

Diffusing Software Product and Process Innovations addresses the problems and issues surrounding successful diffusion of innovations in software. Everett Rogers' classic text, Diffusion of Innovations, provides a valuable framework for evaluating and applying technology transfer methods. In today's new economy, the most important innovations may well be new software products and processes. Topics covered in this valuable new book include: Implementation and coordination issues; New interpretations of diffusion theory; Diffusion of software processes; Contextual factors; Communication of information; Experience reports. This volume contains the edited proceedings of the Fourth Working Conference on Diffusing Software Product and Process Innovations, which was sponsored by the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP) Working Group 8.6, and held in Banff, Canada in April 2001. It reflects the latest experiences of practitioners and theories of academics in this fast-changing field.

Internet and social networks play a critical role in the evolution of processes and functional areas that allow businesses to reach a wider base of end-users and achieve competitive advantage in their respective markets. Quality Innovation: Knowledge, Theory, and Practices presents a compilation of recent theoretical frameworks, case studies, and empirical research findings in the area of quality innovation. It highlights the theories, strategies, and potential concerns for organizations engaged in change management designed to address stakeholders’ needs. This reference volume serves as a valuable resource for researchers, business professionals, and students in a variety of fields and disciplines.

This senior-level textbook on entropy provides a conceptual framework for the study of probabilistic systems with its elucidation of three key concepts - Shannon's information theory, Jaynes' maximum entropy principle and Kullback's minimum cross-entropy principle.

An archaeology of innovation is the first monograph-length investigation of innovation and the innovation process from an archaeological perspective. It interrogates the idea of innovation that permeates our popular media and our political and scientific discourse, setting this against the long-term perspective that only archaeology can offer. Case studies span the entire breadth of human history, from our earliest hominin ancestors to the contemporary world. The book argues that the present narrow focus on pushing the adoption of technical innovations ignores the complex interplay of social, technological and environmental systems that underlies truly innovative societies; the inherent connections between new technologies, technologists and social structure that give them meaning and make them valuable; and the significance and value of conservative social practices that lead to the frequent rejection of innovations.