New North Highland Study Finds Return on Growth and Innovation Elusive for Most Businesses

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Apr 25, 2017, 10:43 ET

ATLANTA, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- In a new study from management consulting firm North Highland, 54 percent of business executives state that they believe their organization is not earning optimized returns on growth and innovation (G&I).

A new white paper based on the study titled, Driving Higher Value and ROI on Growth and Innovation, details a common threat to realizing greater return on investments (ROI): the inability to address internal failures that cut into G&I results.

A majority of organizations are not seeing ROI from growth and innovation activities.

The paper goes on to state that by tackling internal challenges and optimizing well-founded business strategies, organizations are capable of driving greater value, more competitive versatility, and significant results. Conservatively, leaders can create a 10-30 percent improvement in realized or captured value from their G&I portfolio simply by solving for the most common and negatively impactful failure points. In several cases, they can realize a multiplier effect on their current growth.

"Building on our experience leading clients through their own G&I challenges, we researched the latest innovation challenges and resolution paths," said Rob Mann, Vice President and Growth and Innovation Lead, North Highland. "Results led us to identify the biggest pain points that prevent organizations from taking control of their future and what leaders can do to proactively enhance returns on their innovation efforts."

The report highlights results from a North Highland Insights survey conducted in March 2017. North Highland surveyed more than 200 senior business leaders in the U.S. and U.K. about the most prevalent challenges and their perceived impact on G&I returns. Some of the highest hurdles to maximizing G&I performance included:

Failure to look beyond traditional customer segments (73 percent)
Insufficient use of emerging tools (60 percent)
Lack of talent management support for innovators (54 percent)
Disconnects between business and innovation strategies, and the portfolios/roadmaps intended to deliver business results (47 percent)
Failure to apply design thinking more broadly across company endeavors (46 percent)
Lack of creativity and game plans resulting in "me too" products, services, and businesses that are easily copied (43 percent)ⁱ

The report, which identifies seven innovation failure points and how to overcome them, also provides 12 G&I operating models that can produce superior results when implemented the right way. For additional research findings and to download the full white paper, please visit: Driving Higher Value and ROI on Growth and Innovation.

For more information about North Highland's strategy and advisory capabilities, please visit: http://www.northhighland.com/services/capabilities/strategy-advisory

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About North Highland
North Highland is a global management consulting firm known for helping clients solve their most complex challenges related to customer experience, performance improvement, technology and digital, and transformation. We add value and support our clients across the full spectrum of consulting, from strategy through delivery. We bring the big ideas, then we make them real. North Highland is an employee-owned firm, headquartered in Atlanta, Ga., with more than 3,000 consultants worldwide and 60+ offices around the globe. The firm is a member of Cordence Worldwide(www.cordenceworldwide.com), a global management consulting alliance. For more information, visit northhighland.com and connect with us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.

ⁱNorth Highland market research, March 2017

SOURCE North Highland