Philippe Aghion and Peter Howitt, together with Joel Mokyr, were honoured with the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences. Why their research is more relevant today than ever before and how modern CPQ solutions such as CREALIS® from ORISA help companies to systematically shape innovation.
Innovation arises from renewal
Economists Philippe Aghion and Peter Howitt have shown with their Schumpeterian growth theory that long-term economic growth is driven by continuous innovation, in which new technologies and organisational forms replace old ones – a process known as ‘creative destruction’. According to this theory, growth does not simply result from capital accumulation, but from innovation, i.e. new ideas, products, services and production processes. These innovations are driven by companies (known as leaders) that seek to replace existing technologies, processes and organisational structures with more efficient ones in order to gain a competitive advantage. Economic growth is thus a destructive competition and a constant cycle of innovation, temporary monopoly formation and competition from new innovations.
In other words, in our rapidly changing world, standing still is not an option. Economic progress occurs when companies continually renew themselves and replace old structures with more efficient ones; otherwise, they run the risk of going from leader to follower and being replaced by more innovative companies themselves.
This is precisely where CPQ (Configure, Price, Quote) software comes in. It is a tool that companies can use to digitise their sales processes, make knowledge more accessible and thus accelerate innovation cycles.
CPQ as a piece of the creative destruction puzzle
In the past, quotations were created manually, prices were calculated individually, and product variants were laboriously maintained. Today, CPQ software performs these tasks automatically, reliably, and transparently. CREALIS® CPQ enables companies to efficiently configure, price, and offer their complex products.
- Configure: Product knowledge is digitised and made accessible.
- Price: Pricing logic is automated and strategically optimised.
- Quote: Quotations are generated in minutes – error-free and in line with market conditions.
The effect: Old, manual processes are replaced by intelligent automation. This is creative destruction in action, in the best sense of Aghion & Howitt’s research.
CPQ as digital memory
In their research, Aghion & Howitt emphasise that knowledge and its transformation into innovation are the most important assets of a growth-oriented economy. In modern companies, this means that knowledge must be scalable, i.e. easily accessible and usable by everyone.
A CPQ system such as CREALIS® transforms individual expert knowledge into a digital corporate memory. Every rule, every pricing strategy, every product configuration is documented, reusable and optimisable. This leads to:
- shorter training times thanks to centralised, rule-based knowledge models,
- lower error rates thanks to guided configuration and variant logic,
- faster time-to-market for new products thanks to configurable building blocks,
- higher customer satisfaction thanks to error-free, fast and flexibly generated quotations,
- a strategic database for continuous product and market analysis.
This creates exactly the mechanism described by Aghion & Howitt: innovation-driven growth from within the company.
The balancing act: efficiency meets renewal
Every innovation changes structures. This is the essence of creative destruction. The introduction of CPQ systems also means change: processes must be adapted, data harmonised and teams realigned. But with a well-thought-out approach – as ORISA has been pursuing for over 30 years – this transition can be achieved in a controlled, secure and sustainable manner.
Thanks to ISO-certified processes, integrated interfaces and many years of project experience in the industry, innovation is based on the specific knowledge and structures of our customers. In this way, we are also constantly evolving to meet current and future relevant issues, such as accessibility, AI or the increasing demands of complexity management, and to lead the way as a leader. In this way, we help our customers achieve their goals and thus contribute to long-term growth. This is entirely in line with the practical sense of applied economics according to Nobel Prize winners Philippe Aghion and Peter Howitt.
Conclusion: Theory meets practice
Aghion & Howitt’s research describes how economic systems grow through innovation. CPQ software shows how we as a company can implement exactly that today. With CREALIS® CPQ from ORISA, the abstract concept of creative destruction becomes tangible: old, error-prone sales processes are transformed, knowledge is digitised and made scalable, and your own innovative strength is increased.
CREALIS® CPQ supports you in actively shaping the process of creative destruction yourself as a leader in order to grow and significantly increase your competitiveness.
If you would like to learn more about how your company can become more innovative and competitive, please feel free to contact us.