Innovation

Core Competency for 

the 21st Century

By: Robert Tucker

I

       Despite the growing recognition that innovation is the only sustainable source of growth, competitive advantage and new wealth, an Arthur D. Little survey of 669 global company executives found fewer than 25 percent of the companies believe innovation performance is where it needs to be if they are to be successful in the competitive marketplace. Having tried an endless array of alternatives, company leaders are now accepting enterprise-wide innovation as a key operational discipline, just as in the past they adopted the disciplines of quality, planning, and management.

Of course, innovation is not a new discipline in most organizations. But the old ways, even those that may have worked in the ’80s and ’90s, are no longer adequate. Firms across the board are engaged in exciting experiments to reinvent the way they create the future, because business as usual hasn’t produced the desired results.

Try as it might, Procter & Gamble hasn’t had a bona fide new product breakthrough since Pampers was introduced in 1963. McDonalds has pioneered numerous breakthrough innovations since its inception in the l950s, including new products, new service enhancements such as the drive-in window and playgrounds for the kids, and even led the way in expanding globally and opening for breakfast. But its last real breakthrough product was McNuggets, introduced in l983 at the ...

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