Booz & Co. Finds Innovation Is Not About Money, But About Capabilities

Booz & Company’s sixth annual Global Innovation 1000 review looks at what makes some companies able to consistently innovate successful products. It finds that investment is not the reason, with no relationship between total R&D dollars or R&D as a percent of revenue. Instead, Booz focuses on the importance of aligning corporate capabilities – knowledge, talent, team structures, tools and processes – with wider business strategies and goals. Booz also identified three distinctive innovation strategies, each of which can be successful, which it termed  Need Seekers (actively engage customers to shape new products, use superior end-user understanding, try to be the first to market), Market Readers (watch customers and competitors, use incremental change centered on proven trends) and Technology Drivers (push their technological capabilities, seek innovation to solve the unarticulated needs of customers). Apple, Google and 3M are considered the most innovative companies. Technology represents 6 of the top 10; Toyota is the sole car manufacturer and P&G the sole FMCG company.