Consumers Not Nearly as Hungry for Innovation as Cos. Think They Are

The ILO Institute (Innovation in Large Organizations) yesterday released the results of a survey of 50 senior executives at multibillion-dollar companies, asking them about their innovation initiatives. The findings reveal a discrepancy between corporations’ support for innovation and the marketplace’s thirst for the new products, services and processes those efforts yield.

In short, the marketplace does not appear to have the same appetite for innovation that companies have, according to Dr. Peter Temes, president of the Fairfield, Conn.-based membership organization. He notes in a press release summarizing the survey findings that companies investing in innovation initiatives may be blindsided by the fact that the marketplace isn’t ready to absorb new products. As a result, their new product introductions may fail.

“Firms that lower the cost of failure and shorten the cycle time of experimentation are best positioned to apply the lessons of these failures to refine or redirect innovation initiatives,” the ILO Institute concludes.

-Meridith Levinson

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