The spectacular evolution of science and technology has led to the emergence of new notions and concepts imposed by the increasing complexity of socio-economic relations. The last decades of the twentieth century are characterized by the vertical development of information technologies and the transition from the traditional economy, based on private property over material goods, to a new reality, in which private property predominates over intangible goods: the new economies are information and knowledge, as resources of development [1].

In economic terms, innovation is the development and implementation of ideas and technologies that optimize goods and services or increase the efficiency of their production process [2,3]. Innovation is a vital factor in society to ensure employment and in the economy - to ensure its development [4]. The ability of enterprises to cope with rapid changes specific to the external environment is based on one word: innovation [5]. Seen as the main engine of economic growth in today's global economy, innovation has been defined in many ways by different specialists, without a unanimously accepted definition today.

Thus, innovation can be defined as [6]:

• A novelty, a change, a transformation

• Solving a problem of technique or work organization in order to improve (productivity) work, technical improvement or rationalization of applied solutions

• The global process of technological and commercial creativity, the transfer of a new idea or a new concept to the final stage of a new product, process or service activity accepted by the market

• The transformation of an idea into a salable product, new or improved or into an operational process in industry or commerce or into a new social method, etc.

The Oslo Handbook identifies four types of innovation: Product innovation (material goods and services), process innovation, marketing innovation and organizational innovation. In terms of product innovation,

the definition of innovation includes the concepts of novelty, commercialization and/or implementation, in other words, whether or not an idea has been developed and transformed into a product, process or service. has been marketed this cannot be considered an innovation. The following definitions-aphorisms confirm this [7]:

• Innovation is the ability to turn ideas into invoices

• Innovation = Idea (Invention)+Implementation (Marketing)

• Creativity consists in thinking of new things. Innovation is about doing new things

• Innovation is the specific tool of entrepreneurship. The act that gives resources a new ability to create wealth

• The heart and soul of the company are creativity and innovation

Gary Hamel, one of the 50 most influential thinkers in management, praises innovation, highlighting its role in the progress of society. He said that our happiness is due to innovation. People are happiest when they create, whether they do it to solve problems, to make money or to progress. Throughout history, millions of people have been deprived of the chance to create because they lived in a time when the tools of creativity were prohibitively priced or creative freedoms were limited. By contrast, today's generations are privileged because of access to extremely cheap tools and because of the Internet, which facilitates connections with other creators and offers the opportunity to share innovations with everyone [7].

Invention is seen as a new idea, a new scientific discovery or technological novelty (which has not been implemented and disseminated), while innovation aims at a marketable application of an invention, as a result of its integration in practice economic and social. Innovation is thus seen as the result of a process that begins with the genesis of an idea and continues with its materialization [8,9].

Importance of The Innovation Process

The current highly dynamic and competitive business environment compels organizations to find new ways of ensuring the competitiveness and success. A solution to these problems is adopting innovation as the main part of the organizational culture. Many specialists say that innovation is mandatory not only for success in business but also for the survival of businesses [10-13] and in these circumstances any research aimed at introducing innovation into everyday practice is welcome.

The growing importance of innovation in the current economic context can be observed in the increasing number of scientific paper [14]. In one of the previous works we search in the most important scientific database in the world, ISI Web of Knowledge, by the word “innovation”, this search reveals that there are over 340 000 articles that deals with innovation. An interesting aspect in analyzing the total number of article published, about innovation, is that if we compare the total number of 167 888 articles published before 2010 (without articles published in 2010) with the number of articles published after 2010 (including articles published in 2010) which is 169 195 articles, we can observe that in the last five years the articles involving innovation have already surpassed the total amount of articles published before 2010 [9].

The major importance of innovation leads to various ways to develop solutions for its easier deployment in organizations [15]. Finding solutions is a difficult process because of the novelty and hardly predictable nature of innovation. Innovation is by definition creating something new, bringing added value or profit for the enterprise (Schumpeter), in the same time innovation requires the allocation of resources, both material and human and the result of the innovative process is difficult to control or predict. This hardly predictable nature of innovation makes it necessary to have a good, complex but in the same time, a simple model of innovation management that offer all the information and tools for managers to control the innovation process in their organizations.

Many have a different view of innovation, confusing the innovative product with the innovation process, resulting in an innovative, competitive, profitable product designed to be transferred to industry by known means. The recent economic downturn, greater levels of competition, increasing product complexity, regulatory requirements and tougher environmental targets are all examples of current challenges that continue to add weight to this requirement and accelerate the pace in which the sector must respond. It is widely agreed that it is through innovation, which can be defined as the successful exploitation of an idea, that construction firms will be able to create and exploit solutions in response to many of these challenges [16].

In essence, innovation seems to be a simple concept and in the current economic context is one of the most used terms, even if is not well understood, it is more like an essential marketing word for each product or organization. However, the varieties of studies have proven the complexity of innovation and the multitude of specific characteristics of each activity sector [17]. 

For an organization to benefit from the advantages of the knowledge given by innovation management it is important to continuous improve and find innovative solutions that will guarantee them superior results. The business environment it is very disruptive and volatile, customers are too hesitant and willing to switch between providers when the purchase experience does not satisfy them, competitors eagerly leverage first-mover advantages and exploit their rivals' mistakes. By analysing the information presented so far a series of aspects that can make the difference between a successful and an unsuccessful innovation management can be found [18].

The success of any organization regardless of its activity is influenced by its leader. In case of a successful innovation management it is very important that the leader is indefatigable. Leaders must understand that changing structures and processes in order to have a better diffusion of innovation is possible only if he is a part of it and if he is an example for the others employees. Therefore an indefatigable leader keeps the personnel in reaching the specific objectives and goals, all the time [19]. A good innovation management can make the difference between a profitable organization and one that is trying to survive in the current global markets. 

The Phases of an Innovation Process

The complexity of the innovation phenomenon and the need for a systemic approach to the management of the entire innovation process is evident from the comprehensive definition of innovation, research institutes, funders, as well as the networks through which they all come into contact. In reality, the innovation process is much more complex than finding a market solution and differs from the implementation of an invention in production, which usually means only the creation of a new product/service or a new technological process [1].

Innovation is a general systemic process that goes through four phases:

• Designing a scientifically based idea (generated by the creative spirit, inspiration, research-development, imitation)

• Industrial transposition through a qualified partnership industry (preferably private) - research, which involves funding and a certain technological process, a new form of presentation, a new functional structure, a new organizational form, new methods of management and organization of work and so on

• Strong, efficient and extensive protection of the elements of intellectual property, which must be an opportunity to create new benefits as a result of a process that ensures to an action an increase of the added intellectual value

• The successful impact on the market of the result of the innovation process (a new product or a new service, a new form of presentation and sale of goods, a new functional structure, a new organizational form, new methods of management and organization of work, etc.

The need to innovate should emerge from the strategies of a construction organization to enable it to reap the desired benefits and market share. Most successful examples of construction innovation have highlighted that it is teamwork, leadership and the flow of information facilitates innovation. Construction innovation could be represented as a dynamic process within an organization's strategies and structures. There are many models that have been developed to represent the process of innovation in construction organizations. The performance of innovation is clearly linked to the effectiveness of which companies have taken the main innovation activities. In general, the more intense the competitiveness is, the more innovative companies are, because of the continuous impulse to keep on the market, to come up with something new and to overcome its competition.

1. AGEPI. Studiu privind îmbunătăţirea cadrului normativ-legislativ naţional din domeniul proprietății intelectuale în vederea încurajării activităţii inovaţionale. 2014, http://agepi.gov.md/sites/default/files/2015/11/Studiu_inovare.pdf.

2. BCE. Cum conduce inovarea la creștere economică? 2017, https://www.ecb.europa.eu/explainers/tell-me-more/html/growth.ro.html.

3. Maier, D. “The Romanian national innovation performance in the EU context.” International Journal of Advanced Engineering and Management Research, vol. 3, 2018e, www.ijaemr.com.

4. Bollhoff. Inovarea asigură succesul. 2020, https://www.boellhoff.com/ro-ro/inovatii.php.

5. Maier, D. “Product and process innovation: A new perspective on the organizational development.” International Journal of Advanced Engineering and Management Research, vol. 3, 2018b, www.ijaemr.com.

6. OECD/Eurostat. Oslo manual 2018: Guidelines for collecting, reporting and using data on innovation, 4th edition, the measurement of scientific, technological and innovation activities. 2019, https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264304604-en.

7. Burz, G. “Inovare: Ce înseamnă și de ce trebuie să crească capacitatea de inovare a României.” Contributors, 2020, https://www.contributors.ro/inovare-ce-inseamna-și-de-ce-trebuie-sa-cresca-capacitatea-de-inovare-a-romaniei/.

8. Diaconu, M. “Inovaţia tehnologică: Concept, proces, tipologie şi implicaţii în economie.” Economie Teoretică şi Aplicată, vol. 18, no. 563, 2011, pp. 107-124.

9. Maier, D. “Integration of management systems: Key issues for sustainable development of an organization.” International Journal of Advanced Engineering and Management Research, vol. 3, 2018a, www.ijaemr.com.

10. Hill, C.R. “The performance of incumbent firms in the face of radical technological innovation.” Academy of Management Review, vol. 28, no. 2, 2003, pp. 257-274.

11. Anderson, N., K. Potocnik and J. Zhou. “Innovation and creativity in organizations: A state-of-the-science review, prospective commentary and guiding framework.” Journal of Management, vol. 40, no. 5, 2014, pp. 1297-1333.

12. James, S.D., M.J. Leiblein and S.H. Lu. “How firms capture value from their innovations.” Journal of Management, vol. 39, no. 5, 2014, pp. 1123-1155.

13. Bessant, J. High involvement innovation: Building and sustaining competitive advantage through continuous change. John Wiley, 2003.

14. Maier, D. “Quality and innovation as a source of sustainability in construction industry.” International Journal of Advanced Engineering and Management Research, vol. 3, 2018c, www.ijaemr.com.

15. Maier, D. “Researchers approaches on innovation process in the construction sector.” Proceedings of the 34th International Business Information Management Association (IBIMA) Conference, 2019, pp. 6816-6824. Madrid, Spain.

16. Qi, G.Y. et al. “The drivers for contractors’ green innovation: An industry perspective.” Journal of Cleaner Production, vol. 18, no. 14, 2010, pp. 1358-1365, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2010.04.017.

17. Vadastreanu, A. et al. “Business success by improving the innovation management.” Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Informatics in Economy: Education, Research & Business Technologies, 2015. Bucharest.

18. Maier, D. “Study on the concerns of Romanian enterprises in the field of innovation in the context of implementing an integrated quality-environmental-security management system.” International Journal of Advanced Engineering and Management Research, vol. 3, 2018d, www.ijaemr.com.

19. Nicoara, D. et al. “General aspects related to the technology transfer, the main source of innovation and development among economic operators.” Annals - Economy Series, vol. 4, 2013, pp. 139-147.