More than 40 percent of companies in the Fortune 1,000 have grown more confident in the competitive advantage of their innovation strategies and investments in the past year, according to a new survey from KPMG and Innovation Leader.
Here are four more key takeaways from the "Benchmarking Innovation Impact 2020" report, which surveyed more than 200 executives in innovation, research, strategy and research and development from Fortune 1,000 companies.
1. A total of 56 percent of respondents said they expect their organization's overall innovation investment to increase in 2020. Only 7 percent said they expect to see a decrease in innovation funding.
2. Despite increasing investment in innovation, programs dedicated specifically to innovation are still not well-established within their organizations. Almost 60 percent of those surveyed said their innovation labs, corporate venture capital programs and innovation ecosystems were still in the earliest stages of development, and 43 percent of innovation-related programs have fewer than 10 dedicated full-time staffers.
3. Respondents identified three of the most common obstacles — all carryovers from the 2018 edition of the survey — they face when innovating: company politics, turf wars and a lack of alignment.
4. When it comes to scaling innovations across their organizations, specifically, more than 60 percent of respondents said the biggest challenge comes from competing priorities. A close second, identified by 59 percent of those surveyed, stems from company culture or entrenched attitudes.