61% of Global Business Leaders Excel at Getting Innovation to Market, but U.S. Companies Have Not Seen a Return on Investment for Current Innovation Activity

NEW YORK, April 19, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- PA Consulting Group, a global consulting, innovation and technology firm, released today the findings from its annual global innovation survey, titled "Innovation Matters," in which 821 senior executives participated. The report concludes that two thirds (66%) of global organizations say innovation is crucial to survival but only 28% are innovating successfully to drive growth and increase revenue. In the U.S., which is by far the global leader in R&D spend according to UNESCO, accounting for some 30% of all spending worldwide on innovation, American companies were just about average among countries surveyed in terms of those that felt innovation efforts were producing results. In fact, more than half of companies in the U.S. surveyed in this study (58%) say innovation efforts have not been successful in helping them achieve growth, with nearly the same number (55%) saying innovation had not helped achieve profitability either. 

This skeptical view of return on investment in innovation is spurring anticipation by U.S. companies that change is coming and quickly. In fact, according to the survey, when asked what changes their company had taken over the past three years and what change they foresee taking over the next three years, 57% of respondents said the biggest was their approach to innovation – the number one issue identified. Additionally, 38% of respondents – the top response – said they see innovation change in their company ramping up quickly.

"You have many companies in the U.S. that are highly innovative and are highly successful as a result," says Peter Siggins, U.S. Region Head for PA Consulting. "However, there is a constant competitive threat for these companies and to stay in the race, they cannot stand still when it comes to sustained innovation."

Learn from the leaders

The global innovation leaders in the PA Consulting global innovation survey point to a clear pathway for achieving innovation success. The research shows that successful innovators are more likely to:

• Focus on the future – believe their organization can deploy technology to meet customer needs (59% versus 49% of less successful peers) and excel at measuring the business case for innovation (57% versus 41%).
• Design for innovation – measure the value of innovation (61% versus 47%) and take new products and services to the market faster (61% versus 42%).
• Create an innovation culture – kill off 'zombie' projects earlier than their less successful peers (54% versus 40%) and reward employees for innovation (81% versus 69%).
• Build a network for innovation –source ideas for innovation from outside the organization (61% versus 52%) and have executive and leadership teams with a diverse range of skills and professional backgrounds (78% versus 66%).

"On a global scale, the companies that are most successful at innovation build it into the very fabric of their organization, use agile techniques across the business, and learn from their mistakes and successes," states Hsiu Mei  Wong, one of the authors of the innovation report and a Business Design expert at PA Consulting. "In the U.S., it's evident that companies realize not only that innovation is critical to their survival, but that current approaches have not produced the return they desire.  As a result, change is ramping up in these companies and quickly. We anticípate a significant re-directed effort regarding innovation from U.S. companies in the months ahead, which will set them up for future success in the long-term."

Note to Editors

About the research:

The research was conducted by Longitude Research on behalf of PA Consulting in late 2016. The survey questioned 821 senior business leaders. Half were C-level, with the others comprising of a mix of senior vice president, board and director level positions.

Respondents were based in Central Europe (30%), the USA (20%), UK and Ireland (19%), the Nordics (19%), Mexico (6%) and the Gulf Corporation Council states (6%).

The breakdown by sector is as follows: energy and utilities (12%), financial services (13%), life sciences (13%), healthcare (12%), transport and logistics (13%), manufacturing (6%), consumer goods and retail (7%), defence and security (12%) and the public sector (12%).

Innovation leaders have been defined in the research as successful organisations when it comes to innovation activity. Innovation leaders are realising a substantial increase in revenue and growth as a direct result of their innovation activity. Click here to download the full report.

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SOURCE PA Consulting Group

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