Incremental or sustaining innovation refers to:

• A. A series of incremental, small improvements to existing products or product lines that sustain or improve competitive position with reduced risk.
• B. Radical new product categories that redefine markets.
• C. Mergers and acquisitions strategies.
• D. Outsourcing non-core activities.

Answer: (A)

Incremental or sustaining innovation means making small, continuous improvements to what you already offer. These tweaks aim to keep your product competitive by enhancing features, performance, quality, or cost efficiency in ways that build on existing technology and markets. Because you’re not introducing a completely new category, the risks and investments tend to be lower, and you can leverage established customer relationships and production processes. In practice, this looks like successive product updates, minor design refinements, or modest performance gains within the same product family.

The other options describe different strategic moves rather than a type of innovation. Radical or disruptive innovation would redefine markets with new categories or business models. Mergers and acquisitions are about combining firms, and outsourcing shifts activities to external partners. None of those capture the idea of small, ongoing improvements to an existing offering.