2013 General Electric (GE) Global Innovation Barometer provides insights on creating a business model to drive Malaysia towards becoming a high-income nation
- Innovation a strategic priority for Malaysian Executives
- Malaysians more accepting and supportive of innovation as compared to the global average
- Malaysia ranked 19 out of 25 by Global Executives for having an innovation conducive environment
- Malaysian respondents agree that success at innovation is more likely through collaboration
Kuala Lumpur, February 4, 2013 -- Malaysian executives see innovation as a strategic priority and are more supportive of innovation as compared to the global average. GE, in announcing the Malaysia results in its 2013 GE Global Innovation Barometer said 44% of Malaysian respondents, a result higher than the global average of 30%, felt that innovation would result in greater competition, making the overall environment more challenging.
The results of the survey demonstrate that an emerging "Innovation Vertigo" -- an uneasiness with the changing dynamics of today's business landscape and uncertainty over the best path forward -- is challenging leaders to think differently about how they will achieve growth. Many executives, however, seem to be embracing this complexity by exploring new and sometimes unexpected opportunities to innovate.
The annual Global Innovation Barometer is in its third year and included Malaysia for the first time. In a media briefing here, Stuart Dean, Chief Executive Officer of GE ASEAN, said, "As Malaysia progresses into a developed nation by year 2020, innovation will play an increasing role in driving growth and performance. Business executives will need to think beyond conventional methods of innovation to stay competitive. The GE Global Innovation Barometer provides valuable insight into the minds of these executives and what they view as the opportunities and gaps in creating an innovative and sustainable business model in line with Malaysia's aim towards becoming a high-income nation by 2020."
Innovation a strategic priority
Malaysian respondents (85%) viewed strongly that innovation is a strategic priority for their businesses and felt that the main types of innovation that would drive performance are: the improvement of existing products and services (72%), the development of new business processes (67%), and the development of entirely new products (66%). Notably, 65% of Malaysian respondents said that the development of new business models would boost future performance, a result higher than the global average of 52%.
Strong innovation conducive environment
The overall framework for innovation in Malaysia is perceived as quite challenging by business executives outside the country with only 29% of respondents agreeing that the environment for innovation is strongly innovation conducive, ranking Malaysia 19 out of 25 countries surveyed. This is in contrast to the perception of Malaysian business executives, 65% of whom report that the framework for innovation in Malaysia is highly conducive.
On a more detailed evaluation of the environment for innovation, 55% of Malaysian Business executives report higher satisfaction than the global average with regards to government support for innovation while 83% of Malaysia also reported a higher satisfaction than the global average with the belief that there is a strong appetite for innovation among the young generation and that society as a whole is more accepting of taking risks as part of the innovation process.
Malaysian businesses however felt less positively that it was easy for companies to partner with universities for their Research & Development needs. They also felt that renewed support and innovation incentives from policymakers are needed to encourage a stronger entrepreneurial culture in the education system through stronger linkages between students and business savvy individuals. Executives also shared that more could be done to help companies access funds and incentives allocated to innovation.
Key abilities needed to successfully innovate
In an ever-changing global environment, businesses recognize the importance of being able to innovate successfully and have identified key abilities believed to be crucial in order to do so. At the top of the list for Malaysian executives is an understanding of customers and the ability to anticipate market evolutions (82%), followed by the ability to identify and work collaboratively with the best business partners (75%), and the ability to attract and retain innovative people (67%).
Significantly, 50% of Malaysian respondents believed that the development of new business models is crucial to innovate successfully, a higher percentage than the global average of 45%.
Collaborative innovation the way forward
Companies are increasingly recognizing the benefits of collaborating and developing strategic partnership with other companies in order to remain competitive and grow their revenue as collaboration provides companies with the opportunities to scale up, access new technology as well as new markets. In fact, 85% of Malaysian respondents reported that their businesses are increasingly looking at collaborative innovation and over 88% believe that SMEs and individuals can be as innovative as large companies. This response was set on the back of strong views that businesses would be more successful at innovating when working with others rather than if the company were to venture alone. Barriers to collaborative innovation do exist however, and have been clearly identified with a lack of effective IP protection & confidentiality (73%), trust (45%), and the poaching of talent and knowledge (53%) the top three on the list.
"At GE we believe in co-creating with our partners to develop innovative solutions that address the real needs of communities. I am therefore heartened that Malaysian business executives recognize and are open to developing collaborative partnerships that will help drive future business performance. In Malaysia, GE has been creating innovative and sustainable solutions through collaborations with companies such as Tenaga Nasional Berhad, AirAsia, SapuraCrest and the NAZA Group and we hope to continue to support further economic growth through local partnerships here," Stuart Dean concluded.
About GE's Global Innovation Barometer:
The research was commissioned by GE and conducted by StrategyOne between October 22, 2012 and December 5, 2012. Interviews with the 3,100 senior business executives were conducted by telephone across 25 countries. All respondents are VP level or above and directly involved in their company's innovation processes. Twenty-eight percent of those surveyed are at the C-suite level. The countries included in the research are: Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, India, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, Nigeria, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden, Turkey, UAE, UK, USA and Vietnam.
About GE:
GE (NYSE: GE) works on things that matter. The best people and the best technologies taking on the toughest challenges. Finding solutions in energy, health and home, transportation and finance. Building, powering, moving and curing the Not just imagining. Doing. GE works. For more information, visit the company's website at www.ge.com.
Find out more and explore the interactive features of the Innovation Barometer at http://www.ideaslaboratory.com/2013/01/17/explore-the-interactive-innovation-barometer/
About StrategyOne:
Founded in 1999 StrategyOne is an independent research company with offices in New York, Washington, DC, Paris, Abu Dhabi, London, Chicago, Brussels, Atlanta, Dubai, Houston, Rochester, San Francisco, Seattle and Silicon Valley.
For media enquiries, kindly contact:
Zatalini Zulkiply
GE International
Malaysia
E: [email protected]
T: +60 3 2267 1862
M: +60 17 224 5752
Zatalini - Zulkiply
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