Can it make innovation more sustainable?
For my thesis research on 'Application of Scrum in Innovation', I came across the fact that innovation is an expensive process and a lot of companies shy away from it. Do you think if Scrum methodology is applied to innovation, the process could be made more sustainable? Can Scrum be Applied to innovation successfully across all industry and not just IT?
If you look into evidence based management, you will see that 'Ability to innovate' is one of its key value metrics.
I do npt see why a company would shy away from innovating, due to the fact that if they do not innovate they will be at risk of being left behind by their competition, which will then inevitably cause them to lose market share.
If by "innovation" you mean learning to build the right thing at the right time, then yes. Scrum can be applied successfully to a wide range of complex challenges across industry. That's because it isn't the methodology you assume it to be, but a framework.
Innovation can actually be the cheapest option available. Can companies afford not to do it? Usually it's the organizational change required to innovate that makes them shy away from the challenge. Instead, they fake things up, perhaps by commandeering Scrum terms of reference, and hope for a magical outcome.
I agree with both @Scott Anthony Keatinge and @Ian Mitchell. It seems to me that your material may be dated because in today's world where technology and economy change so fast a company really have no choice but to be innovative. Scrum provides some help in controlling the work to innovate.
I'm going to point out something to you since you are doing a thesis. Scrum is not a methodology. It is a framework. If you are doing a thesis on application of Scrum, you need to fully understand what Scrum is and isn't. If you don't know the difference between a methodology and a framework, you need to add that to your research topics.
The problem in most companies is not that they lack a desire to innovate; it is that the methods they choose are ineffective. Answering your question- Yes, I think Scrum methodology can make innovation more sustainable.
I can say so because in our company were several attempts to innovate and only with the help of scrum we can make it. Not for the ideal but for real