Addressing the Innovation Deficit to Improve Global Economies
In an incisive article on the Science|Business website Soumitra Dutta, professor of Business at INSEAD argues that innovation is necessary for sustainable growth, but that recent policy discussions on the global economy have paid relatively little attention to it, focusing instead on austerity measures.
He points out that many companies still have closed innovation models, and that only a few (such as P&G and Unilever) have pursued successful strategies that open their innovation models to ideas from employees, customers and business partners – all outside the traditional boundaries of their R&D department.
Dutta states that out although innovation has itself evolved, innovation policies have not kept pace, and he lays some of the blame on mindsets that have not changed with the times – in both the private and public sectors.
“Many CEOs of large firms extol the virtues of innovation but fail in pursuing radical innovations in face of new technological and market opportunities (Kodak, Sony, Nokia and Xerox to name a few Hole),” he writes
Resistance to Change
According to Dutta, the innovation deficit is not only here, but it’s growing as well. He looks at developing nations where there is an incredible amount of innovation at the grassroots level with people wanting to play bigger roles in their communities and societies. But despite this, governments are still resistant to change how they engage and operate with their citizens.
He makes three recommendations to help turn the tide:
1) Measures for innovation have to evolve to capture the changing faces of innovation. Dutta sites The 2012 Global Innovation Index, of which he was one of the authors, as a step in the right direction.
2) Focus on changing mindsets of public and private sector leaders.
3) Invest in the innovation infrastructure at both firm and country levels.
The article concludes with a sober line reminding others of the need to act, “…. it is time to also start addressing the growing innovation deficit. Otherwise, future generations will wonder why we were so short sighted in the face of great opportunity”.
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