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.