In June 2023, PWC released the results of its fourth annual Global Hopes and Fears Survey, in which 54,000 workers in 46 countries shared their views on future threats and opportunities. About a quarter of respondents to the survey said they were looking to change their jobs over the next 12 months, indicating that the […]
An analysis of 6.6 million papers related to the medical sciences published between 2000 and 2021 showed that the proportion of gender-diverse teams involved in medical research is growing steadily for all team sizes. The gender diversity of research teams of four members, for example, increased by 10% in that period (from 60% in 2000 […]
Knowledge acquired from contacts in the social networks of employees can influence and impact their creativity—contributing, for example, insights, perspectives, and supporting material to help them generate innovative ideas for products and processes. According to a meta-analysis of 30 years of research on social networks and creativity, conducted by researchers in Europe and Singapore, the […]
Is novelty a winning strategy for business? Some observers argue that innovative products attract more customers, who are eager to discover new features. Others argue that customers do not want products that are vastly different from what they are accustomed to buying. A study from two researchers from the University of Cambridge Judge School of […]
Where should companies source the knowledge and new ideas that will keep them at the forefront of innovation? The answer, according to an extensive study of 18,000 UK firms, depends in large part on the in-firm characteristics of the company—notably in terms of productivity and resources. Productivity is measured as the difference between a company’s […]
Artificial Intelligence is both appreciated and feared: appreciated for the benefits it offers in terms of speed, accuracy and consistency; feared because many believe those benefits can render many human employees obsolete—a fear summarized in the familiar phrase, “Machines will take our jobs.” Studies show that such fears, leading to employee resistance and suspicion, will […]
We expect start-ups and high technology companies in general to be innovators. We know, in contrast, that large incumbents are likely to want to continue to exploit their past innovations rather than venture into new innovations that may cannibalize current products and/or ultimately fail. How do family businesses fit into the innovation picture? A study […]
Companies in search of innovation-based competitive advantages recognize the benefit of innovation teams and projects that bring together a diverse set of backgrounds, skills, knowledge and perspectives. To achieve this diversity, companies create cross-functional teams that bring together team members from a variety of functions and units and open innovation teams that combine internal team […]
An extensive review of innovation studies in leading academic journals reveal that constraints on innovation are not necessarily negative. In fact, according to this careful analysis of 145 academic studies, constraints increase innovation…. up to a certain point. When constraints are pushed too far, they stifle rather than enable and encourage innovation. The term ‘innovation’ […]
Terms such as ‘volatility’ and ‘disruption’ are often used to describe a world in which competitive advantage is increasingly difficult to maintain. The extent of such volatility and disruption is quantified in a Boston Consulting Group study that examined the performance record, relative to their competitors, of 20,000 companies over a period of 40 years. […]