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· The Department of Science and Technology and Statistics South Africa, has released a latest publication titled “National Business Innovation Survey”
· Nearly 70% of the sample was innovation-active
· They are using scientific, technological, organizational, financial or commercial steps towards implementing an innovation
· This trend compares favorably with OECD trends
Necessity is the mother of invention. That holds true for innovation also. Does Covid-19 catalyze innovation? Many feel in the affirmative, particularly for businesses. Through innovation, businesses are adjusting their practices and strategies, introducing new technologies, products and designs and installing digital and automated technologies.
The Department of Science and Technology and Statistics South Africa, has released a latest publication titled “National Business Innovation Survey”. The survey covering deals, which took place during 2014-16 takes stock of the innovative trails of business leaders, industry groups and government policy-makers. The data collated can be of use to encourage more firms to innovate.
The survey revealed that innovation was pronounced in engineering and technology, manufacturing and trade. Nearly 70% of the sample was innovation-active. They are using scientific, technological, organizational, financial or commercial steps towards implementing an innovation. This trend compares favorably with OECD trends
The survey measured four types of innovation, such as product, process, organizational and marketing and found that there were distinct patterns of these types of innovation in different economic sectors. Sectors like mining and utilities businesses reflected low levels of innovation. Manufacturing had the largest proportion of businesses with product innovation (59.8%) and marketing innovation (43.4%). Process innovation was most prominent in logistics businesses (61.7%). More finance (52.0%) and manufacturing (49.1%) businesses reported organizational innovations than businesses in any other sector.
A substantial number of innovation-active businesses reported the use or development of advanced new technologies, such as computerised design and engineering, material handling, supply chain and logistics technologies, business intelligence technologies, and green technologies. The other observation of the survey was that innovation was less likely to have an immediate impact on turnover, and the impact will be incremental than radical.
Innovations with high degrees of novelty did not have a strong effect on the turnover of the businesses. Over 80% of their turnover was generated by the past goods and services that were unchanged. This was in contrast to a product that was new to the market (10.8%), new to the business (7.0%), or new to the world (1.8%).
Quality improvement was the top-rated innovation outcome for innovation-active businesses. Improved quality of goods and services was considered by 38.0% of product and process innovators as a highly successful outcome of innovation. This was followed by increased revenue (31.8%) and improved profit margins (30.9%). Similarly, for nearly 50% of organizational innovators, improved quality was the main innovation outcome.
