Innovation 2006 (July 2006) - Cick here to download this publication
The third annual global survey on innovation and the innovation-to-cash process (ITC) polled 1,070 senior executives in 63 countries and all major industries and covered the many interrelated activities involved in turning ideas into financial returns. The message from executives continues to remain constant across all three surveys: Most companies are strongly committed to innovation and consider it to be critical to their success, perhaps even their viability. While innovation remains a top strategic focus for many companies, however, many executives remain unsatisfied with the financial returns on their companies’ investments in innovation.
The issues explored extend well beyond ideation and new-product development to include such issues as portfolio management, life-cycle management, and organizational alignment. The insights yielded from the survey results offer a framework that can guide managers as they think about how to turn their ideas into bottom-line results.
Measuring Innovation 2006 (July 2006) - Cick here to download this publication
In conjunction with its recently completed global survey on innovation, Innovation 2006, The Boston Consulting Group invited senior executives to complete a separate survey on innovation metrics and measurement. As Innovation 2006 revealed, companies around the world are attaching ever-greater strategic importance to innovation and are thus raising their spending in this area. One critical element is missing across the board, however: metrics and measurement.
Without a doubt, measuring innovation is a challenge, but it is also a necessity, given the rising sums that most companies are investing in innovation and the competitive implications of earning a poor return on those investments. This report highlights the results of the BCG survey on innovation metrics, offering a snapshot of companies’ current measurement practices as well as suggestions for measuring innovation efforts with a sufficiently high degree of thoroughness, rigor, and accuracy. The results reflect responses from 269 executives.
Innovation 2005 (September 2005) - Cick here to download this publication
As they search for new sources of growth, companies across all industries and regions are increasing their spending on innovation in 2005. In late 2004, The Boston Consulting Group conducted its second annual global survey on innovation and the innovation-to-cash (ITC) process. A total of 940 senior executives, representing 68 countries and all major industries, participated in the survey.
This report highlights the top-level findings from the survey and explores the implications. It also offers a framework that managers can use as they continue to strive to turn their ideas into profits.
Raising the Return on Innovation (December 2003) - Cick here to download this publication
Globalization and recent developments in technology have amplified the challenges and the opportunities associated with innovation. As a result, The Boston Consulting Group launched a survey in October 2003 assessing senior management’s view of the innovation-to-cash (ITC) process. The findings—based on responses from 236 executives in major corporations in 30 countries and in all major industries—were compelling. The survey generated quantifiable data on what’s working, what isn’t, who’s on the cutting edge, and what’s ahead for innovation.
The key messages and themes that emerged from analysis of the responses provide insights into the best way to effectively change the ITC process. It also enables readers to understand which characteristics really separate the front-runners in innovation from the rest of the pack.
Organizational Trends in R&D and France's Attractiveness for R&D Investments (April 1999) - Cick here to download this publication
This study was conducted for the Forum on Research and Development in partnership with the French Ministry of Economy, Finance, and Industry. The study sought to identify the key levers that the French government could use to make France a more attractive locale for R&D investments. The Boston Consulting Group conducted 20 interviews with R&D executives—primarily in the high-tech industry but also in the pharmaceutical and automotive industries—to help us determine the major trends in R&D strategies and organizational changes.
The report begins with the authors exploring globalization trends and highlighting the examples of Hewlett-Packard (HP) and Canon. It continues by examining the decentralization of R&D into business units, an approach that was embraced both by Lucent and HP. Next, the authors explore the trend toward outsourcing, and they demonstrate how Cisco is building competencies through acquisitions and participation in partnerships. The report concludes by outlining France's strengths and weaknesses along key criteria and providing six proposals for enhancing R&D in France.