New study of ASX companies shows four places to start to become more innovative

A new study of ASX-listed companies by CSIRO and University of Queensland has identified “four innovation factors which drive success”.

The Thriving Through Innovation report, released on Wednesday, included a survey of 197 leaders at top-performing ASX companies and an analysis of company and financial data. It isolated the below at the top 10 per cent of surveyed ASX firms:

• Corporate entrepreneurship
• Collaborative breadth
• Innovation novelty
• Triple threats.

(See graphic for an explanation of each.)

“Businesses seeking to increase their innovation efforts can focus on the four factors as a starting point,” said Dr Edgar Brea, a researcher at UQ’s Australian Institute for Business and Economics.

Brea said that Covid-19 had made innovation mandatory for many businesses. 

Innovation activity needed to be boosted, added Brea, and the report was an effort to demonstrate its benefits.

According to information cited in Thriving Through Innovation, less than half of Australian companies introduced a new product or service in the last three years, a mere three per cent of these could be directly traced to our research institutions, and under nine per cent of innovations “are market leading (i.e. new to the world).”

A copy of the report can be accessed here.

Featured picture: UQ

Subscribe to our free @AuManufacturing newsletter here.