The biggest questions facing every executive are: How can we get there from here? How can we increase market share, revenue, and profit? What’s the best way to reduce costs, employee turnover, and bureaucracy? What’s the next “big thing” in our industry, and how do we get there first?
The answer to all of these questions comes down to a single word: innovation.
Many people—including a lot of senior executives I’ve talked to—think innovation is primarily a research and development function. But innovation should be understood to include the entire value chain: from R&D to engineering, manufacturing, distribution, sales, marketing, and even facility utilization and investment strategy. Only a few innovations will be blockbusters. Some will result in incremental changes, but that doesn’t make them any less important.
To read the original article: Innovation Is Not Just About R&D - Businessweek
