The Need for Innovation

November, 2018

In the Media

Most organizations fail to meet their innovation goals and face management failures to successfully innovate, according to a study sponsored by DHR International and conducted by Harvard Business Review Analytics Services.

Only 16% of surveyed executives consider their companies to be effective in achieving innovation goals.

While most companies believe that an innovation-based culture is strategically important, most leaders believe that their organizations do not meet innovation goals and do not have leadership skills to innovate with success- few conclusions from a study sponsored by DHR International, conducted by Harvard Business Review Analytics Services. Another key survey results show that only 16% of surveyed leaders consider their companies to be effective in meeting innovation goals.

The study measured the views of 636 respondents from different regions, including North America, EMEA, Asia / Pacific and Latin America. Almost 50% of survey respondents come from organizations with incomes of $ 1 billion or more and 25% of respondents from organizations with 10,000 or more employees.

Other key findings of the survey include the following:

  • 85% of respondents believe the CEO is the most important leader in driving innovation efforts.

  • Only 14% of respondents believe that their organizations are effective in attracting, developing and retaining leaders with appropriate skill sets; companies with major performance in their field of activity have much better results, with almost half of their leaders indicating that their organizations are effective in attracting, maintaining and developing leaders.

  • 44% of surveyed think that business leaders have the strategic vision to innovate successfully.

  • 45% of respondents believe that the emphasis on innovation helps them transform their business models, products and services in a competitive way; 28% said they wanted to keep up with the changes in industry.

  • Only 16% of the respondents, as a whole, stated that the majority of the members of the board of directors currently have the necessary skills to oversee the innovation process; nearly one-third of respondents reported that these boards have an Innovation Committee.

DHR International CEO Geoff Hoffmann said: “In the recruitment for executive management positions, we have never seen and experienced a fundamental change in our industry as is happening today, largely due to the rapid pace of innovation at the level of industries and organizations “. Hoffmann added: “As this study shows, there is a major discrepancy. While most companies regard innovation as an important strategic component, the vast majority of respondents in the survey believe that their organizations do not meet the objectives of innovation. Our view is that there will be significant changes as organizations, although slow, will increasingly apply the lessons learned from the most innovative representatives of the industries they belong to. “

Alex Clemente, Managing Director, Harvard Business Review Analytic Services, said: “As the results of the survey show, the primary issue seems to be the fact that most companies have not clearly defined what their leadership is for them, nor have they built programs to develop key competences for effective approaches. Clemente added, “By comparing industry pioneers with other surveyed organizations, having executive leaders and board members with the right skills is the foundation on which an innovative organization is building.” 

 

 

Stay Connected

Insights in your inbox