Radical Innovation Requirements

The following article is from MIT Sloan "Measuring the Culture of Innovation" A brief synopsis of Innovation in Firms Across Nations: New Metrics and Drivers for Radical Innovation (University of Southern California Marshall School of Business Working Paper No. MKT 03-07, February 2007) by Gerard J. Tellis, Jaideep C. Prabhu and Rajesh K. Chandy Rather, the most important factor driving innovation is the internal culture of the company. Specifically, the researchers found that a future market orientation, a willingness to cannibalize and a tolerance for risk are three cultural elements that have a particularly strong relationship with radical innovation. Organizational tools such as incentives and product champions are also important, though less so. The only other factor that the authors found to be significant is R&D spending, but even that is not as strong as company culture.