Customers lead on Innovation
A new report from Grant Thornton International reveals that customers are now the leading source of innovation for businesses globally. No longer simply passive recipients of goods and services, customers are shaping the future of their own consumption. When asked to name the origin of the best innovation ideas, business owners globally named customers (41%) their leading source of innovations followed by heads of business units (35%), employees (33%) and in house R&D teams (33%).
Regionally the report reveals that in Asia Pacific customer focus is a particular source of innovative ideas and products with 48% of businesses citing customers as the source of the best innovative ideas, compared with 40% in Western Europe and 35% in North America.
Open innovation - where ideas and information are shared with a third party - is seen as key to future growth with 33% of businesses globally having successfully applied it and planning to continue to do so.
Innovation in general is regarded as a top corporate priority by more executives in Western Europe (41%) than in North America (33%) or in Asia Pacific (31%). In addition, North American firms appear more inward looking when describing their policy towards investing in innovation over the next two years with just 49% of respondents citing innovation as a means to explore new markets. This compares to 63% in both Western Europe and Asia Pacific.
Only 22% of Asia Pacific respondents cited product innovation in isolation as successfully increasing profitability, with China recording the highest rate of 32%, Vietnam at 18% and Thailand lowest rate of just 9%. These results help demonstrate the need for wider view on innovation in business and not just a focus on products.
Kenneth Atkinson, Managing Partner of Grant Thornton Vietnam "Innovation is no longer a practice confined to the laboratories of North America and Western Europe, but a word rich in meaning for the supply chain professionals of Shanghai, the IT directors of Stockholm and the product designers of Seattle. The interwoven strands of innovation,
outward-looking attitudes, collaborative working practices and the desire to cater to new, international markets have created a tapestry of mutual reliance. Businesses will need to pay more attention to what their customers are saying and listen to their ideas for innovations."
For further information contact Ken.Atkinson@gt.com.vn