Thriving through innovation: Lessons from the top is based on a survey conducted by UQ’s Australian Institute for Business and Economics (AIBE) and CSIRO, which can help businesses navigate the uncertainty caused by the economic impacts from COVID-19.
AIBE researcher Dr Edgar Brea said COVID-19 had forced many businesses to rethink their products, services and business models, making innovation a necessity rather than a choice.
“To boost innovation activity in the country, businesses must be informed about the benefits of innovation, what strategies work and under what circumstances,” Dr Brea said.
“With this report, we aim to take a step in this direction.
The report states that corporate entrepreneurship is the most important factor that exhibits risk-taking behaviour, innovative thinking and proactiveness, while innovation novelty is key to being first in the market with innovations that are new to the world or to Australia.
Collaborative breadth refers to co-creating innovations with a range of collaborators including customers and research agencies. Triple threats involved changing products, processes and business models to capitalise on further investments in innovation.
UQ Business School Director of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Associate Professor Tim Kastelle said the report explained why building an innovation capacity was so important for businesses and illustrated how changing mindsets and behaviours helped enable innovation.
The four key innovation factors
- Corporate entrepreneurship
- Collaborative breadth
- Innovation novelty
- Triple threats
“Every CEO, senior leader, and board member will say that they want their organisation to be innovative, but most are unwilling to actually change the way their organisations think and act,” Dr Kastelle said. “And without changing behaviour, there’s no change in outcomes.”
