It’s been over two years since the COVID-19 pandemic began, which in turn fueled a massive
explosion of innovation. Early efforts focused on getting customers on board the moving digital train. New and improved technologies were deployed with the hope that some of them would resonate with consumers. The primary measure of success for these innovation initiatives was customer satisfaction. Fast forward to today’s business climate and we’ve discovered that the executive mindset on innovation has changed. More precisely, it has EVOLVED.
Innovation centers of excellence and dedicated innovation teams have shot up in popularity. M&A and an expanded partner ecosystems are heralded as new sources of innovation. Business leaders have moved away from using customer satisfaction as the primary measure of innovation success, adding a focus on internal systems. In short, the world has changed and business leaders have responded by adjusting their innovation strategies.
Arizent conducted this survey to explore the current state of innovation. More specifically, the research looks at how organizations are adapting to the changing business environment and what future plans companies are considering to further drive innovation.
Key findings include:
- Size has a big impact on the innovation type pursued and most want to focus on existing markets because that’s where they see the biggest opportunities and least risk.
- Partners are a key source of innovation and companies are expanding their partner/vendor ecosystems. M&A is also a growing source of innovation.
- Customer experience as a top innovation driver is losing steam. Internal-facing, systems take in more than 40% of dollars spent in order to support consumer-facing systems.
- About 75% of institutions report that they expect to increase their innovation spending over the next 12 months, with 41% planning to increase it by 10% or more.
- Hiring and retaining talent is a major factor impacting the ability to drive innovation, yet those who are modernizing their technology says it’s easier to hire and retain talent.
Why read this report?
As competitive, regulatory and financial pressures mount, organizations are being forced to innovate to stay ahead of the competition and drive their businesses forward. This report provides business leaders with new insights into how their peers are organizing their internal cultures, teams and processes to deliver innovation.