logologologo
  • Home
  • About
    • Contributors
    • Guide for contributors
  • Themes
    • Roadmapping
    • Open Innovation
    • Managing the R&D pipeline
    • Technology Strategy
    • Managing international R&D
    • Ideation and creativity in R&D
    • Impact of digital technologies
    • The resurgence of frugal innovation
    • Design Thinking
    • Penetrating the fog of Agile
    • China’s Belt and Road Initiative, a new model for Open Innovation
  • Tools
  • News
    • R&D Today newsletter archive
  • Resources
  • Papers
  • Case Studies
  • Events
  • R&D Conference
  • Contact
  • Home
  • About
    • Contributors
    • Guide for contributors
  • Themes
    • Roadmapping
    • Open Innovation
    • Managing the R&D pipeline
    • Technology Strategy
    • Managing international R&D
    • Ideation and creativity in R&D
    • Impact of digital technologies
    • The resurgence of frugal innovation
    • Design Thinking
    • Penetrating the fog of Agile
    • China’s Belt and Road Initiative, a new model for Open Innovation
  • Tools
  • News
    • R&D Today newsletter archive
  • Resources
  • Papers
  • Case Studies
  • Events
  • R&D Conference
  • Contact

How 100 innovative companies outperformed the competition

The practices of 100 innovative companies were reviewed in this paper, which looks at how innovation has become a major differentiator.

Innovation Strategies for Creating Competitive Advantage – Bowonder, Dambal, Kumar, Shirodkar

Innovation provides competitive advantageEnormous strategic opportunities for companies have arisen as a result of increasing globalisation, rapid technology changes and changing lifestyles. Innovation has become the major differentiator in the competitive race and innovative companies have learned to sustain themselves over long periods of time.

The objective of this study was to identify innovation processes and practices in 100 innovative companies.

The authors selected 100 firms from various sectors considered innovative by combining the Boston Consulting Group’s list of top 100 innovative companies and the UK Department of Trade and Industry 2007 global R&D scorecard.

The authors used three criteria for identifying the innovativeness of a firm:

  1. It created an innovative product, service or business model
  2. The innovation impacted the business in a positive manner
  3. Patents had been granted for the innovation.

The study looked at four major aspects:

  1. Leadership support for innovation
  2. Fostering an innovative culture
  3. Creating innovative processes
  4. Implementing innovation.

The authors identified 12 powerful strategies to visualise innovation strategies:

  1. Platform offering;
  2. Co-creation
  3. Cycle time reduction
  4. Brand value enhancement
  5. Technology leveraging
  6. Future proofing
  7. Lean development
  8. Partnering
  9. Innovation mutation
  10. Creative destruction
  11. Market segmentation
  12. Acquisition.

In conclusion 

The paper concludes that innovation can become a major competitive differentiator delivering benefits in three distinct dimensions:

  • Exciting customers through new features, offerings, experiences and services;
  • Leading competitors with innovative responses, including proprietary technologies;
  • Expanding, enriching and diversifying the product portfolio to achieve different growth strategies.

With globalisation, brands have become the messaging tools of global companies, which are using innovation to create and strengthen brand differentiation. Leading companies have begun to adopt external technologies for innovation.

The 12 innovation strategies identified in the report provide a way to catalyse open innovation processes so that innovation moves out of the confines of R&D labs and becomes an intrinsic part of the way companies plan their futures and implement those plans.

Read the paper:

B. Bowonder, Anirndha Dambal, Shambhu Kumar & Abhay Shirodkar (2010) Innovation Strategies for Creating Competitive Advantage, Research-Technology Management, 53:3, 19-32, DOI: 10.1080/08956308.2010.11657628

Reviewed by R&D Today editor

Abhay ShirodkarAnirndha DambalB. Bowonderbrandscompetitive advantageinnovation strategiesinnovation strategyShambhu Kumar
Previous PostFinancial benefits of moving from products to...
Next PostORONA finding the right innovation management...
Search R&D Today
Search
Generic filters
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Search in excerpt
Filter by Article Type
Papers
Events
Tools
Funding Articles
Case Studies
Resources
Opportunities
Theme Editor Blogs
Filter by Categories
Business model innovation
Ideation and creativity in R&D
Latest news
Managing international R&D
Managing technology platforms
Managing the R&D pipeline
Open innovation
Outsourcing R&D
Project valuation and selection
R&D strategy
Roadmapping
Stage gate processes
Technology intelligence
View our newsletter archive
Theme Editor Blogs
  • Digital disruption in the lab: The case for R&D digitalization in chemicals – a review
  • Accelerating product development: the tools you need now – a review
  • Using good practice R&D management to create new innovations in malodour control
Resources
  • Innovation Management: Learning for the experiences of companies in European countries
  • Top 20 Innovation Blogs of 2016
  • How to write and publish your research
Tools
  • Absorptive Capacity Audit
    Absorptive Capacity Audit
    Utilising this audit, the reader can assess the strengths and weaknesses in their ability...
  • Innovation Fitness Test - a tool to help scoring
    John Bessant recommends this tool developed by colleagues in Canada which helps with using...
  • Radar-Roadmap-feat
    The Halo-Effect: Creating Impact Through “Good-looking“ Roadmaps
    Content is the essence of roadmapping. But the impact of impressive, professional visuals that...
  • Would an analogy help?
    nalogies are a useful tool for creative problem solving, to help one move away...
  • Paired comparison
    Techniques for Effective Prioritisation
    Gut feeling may be a valid basis for making decisions about your personal life...
Have Your Say…

Have Your Say / Follow Us

R&D Today is the outreach site for the Research and Development Management Association, a charitable organisation that supports research, best practice and innovation.  www.radma.net

Click here to sign up to our newsletter, and click here to view our newsletter archive.

Copyright R&D Today 2020. All rights reserved.