Manufacturing Executive - September 2008 - (Page 18)

STRATEGIC CONSIDERATIONS – PART 2 ropean companies (59.9%) strongly agree with that statement (chart 1). But when asked whether their companies have put in place a core set of metrics to measure whether innovation efforts are effective, 29.2% of U.S. companies (compared with 30.3% last year) and 27.2% of European companies say they have done so (chart 4). What’s even more telling is that more than 40% of respondents to both polls indicate that they are not even sure such a set of metrics exists within their companies. Serious gaps emerge in other key areas as well. When asked whether innovation has been identified as a strategic initiative, a solid majority of both U.S. (57.9% this year; 59.8% in 2007) and European (60.3%) respondents strongly agree (chart 3). But when it comes to having a clear innovation vision and knowing whether people share the same viewpoint about what innovation means, the results are, frankly, shocking. Only 37% of U.S. poll respondents (down from 41.6% last year) and 42% of European respondents indicate that their companies’ vision for innovation is clear throughout their organizations. Even more startling is the finding that 23% (the same as last year) of U.S. companies and only 20.5% of European companies could agree on what innovation means for their businesses. Why the schisms between the idea of innovation and the practice of making innovation a process that can produce sustained results? In a word, management. Though a majority of both U.S. and European manufacturers indicate that their managements have been “involved” in setting innovation strategy and that resources are focused on ideas that will best move their businesses forward (chart 5), the numbers almost invert when respondents are asked about such revealing details as management roles and responsibilities and how innovation projects are managed. Take a systematic method for keeping track of innovation ideas. One would think that manufacturers, long used to step-by-step processes in building products, would naturally gravitate to a structured process around innovation. But this isn’t the case, according to the survey’s findings. Only about one-third of European respondents say they have a systematic method or pipeline to keep track of innovation ideas. It’s even worse in the United States. Only 26% say they do so, compared with 35.9% last year. Likewise when it comes to roles and responsibilities. Only about 32% (36.2% last year) of U.S. respondents strongly agree with the ideasma poll INFORMAL CUSTOMER ASSESSMENTS DRIVE IDEAS 1 Do customer insights and unmet needs drive innovation efforts? 2008 U.S. 2007 U.S. 57.2% 56.7% 59.9% 12.2% 9.6% 8.5% 30.6% 33.7% 31.6% 2008 Europe 2 Do you use anthropological, ethnographic, or other customer research to discover unmet needs? 2008 U.S. 12.5% 2007 U.S. 13.2% 37.2% 39.2% 46.3% Strongly Disagree = 50.3% 47.6% 39% Neither Agree/Disagree = 2008 Europe 14.7% Strongly Agree = ma strategy poll INNOVATION SEEN AS KEY BUT NOT WELL-MEASURED 3 Has innovation been identified as one of the key strategic objectives for your company? 10.7% 12.1% 59.8% 12.6% 60.3% 57.9% 31.4% 28.1% 27.2% U.S. 2008 4 U.S. 2007 Europe 2008 Have you put in place a core set of metrics to determine the effectiveness of innovation efforts? 28% 30.3% 29.2% 42.8% 29.5% 27.2% 28.5% 40.2% 44.4% U.S. 2008 Strongly Agree = U.S. 2007 Strongly Disagree = Europe 2008 Neither Agree/Disagree = Graphs source: Managing Automation/futurethink Percentages may have been rounded and may not total 100%. 18 September 2008

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Manufacturing Executive - September 2008

Manufacturing Executive - September 2008 Contents Editor's Letter Opinion By David Humphrey Starters Road Trip Part 1: Innovation or Efficiency? Part 2: The Innovation Gap Opinion By Lisa Bodell Special Report: Great Aspirations Supply Chain: The New Money Machine Product Design: Fruehauf Gets into High Gear with 3D CAD Business Intelligence: Food Distributor Turns Up the Heat on Manufacturers Software: Manufacturers Face SaaS Hurdles Dialogue Opinion By Pierfrancesco Manenti

Manufacturing Executive - September 2008

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