Innovation has been studied from a variety of perspectives and has always been a source of success for those who use it for their competitive advantage. It is a matter of great interest for the researchers of social and management sciences that how people think about innovation and their level of familiarity with this notion. The objective of this study is to assess the awareness of Pakistani youth regarding innovation and its impact on organizational growth and survival. For this purpose a self-administered questionnaire was distributed among students of different universities of Rawalpindi/Islamabad area. The sample size of this study is consisted of 200 students of different disciplines and they were asked to give their opinion about innovation. The collected data then analyzed using different statistical tools with the help of SPSS. The results showed that the young people in Pakistan have understanding of the term innovation, though they have different reasons and aspirations to be innovative. However they feel that lack of resources, knowledge, opportunities and conducive environment are major barriers to innovation.
Key Words: Innovation, Aspiration, Competitive advantage