Focus your company's innovation strategy

“Let’s innovate!” is a rallying cry heard frequently in business today. Without constantly reinventing itself, how can any business hope to remain competitive in markets characterized by an ever-increasing competitive pressure.

Yet, staying at the head of the pack in the race to innovate is no easy matter. Indeed, the range of possibilities is almost infinite. Should the company strive for breakthrough innovations? Should it try to foster a culture of creativity and incremental, decentralized innovations? Should focus be placed on the attributes of the offering, the production processes or complementary services? "All of the above," many would be tempted to respond. However, if a company tries to fight on all fronts, it could easily spread itself too thin and fail to produce anything of note.

Analyzing the specific characteristics of the competitive playing field at the different stages of market maturity helps identify the types of innovation likely to have the greatest impact, and thus determine the most effective way to deploy the company’s efforts:

– In emerging markets, focus on adapting the offering in order to move faster than the competition to win new customer segments.

– In mature markets, focus on differentiation drivers or cost optimization.

– In declining markets, concentrate on developing new growth opportunities.