Innovation is clearly increasingly being seen as a good thing. From FTSE 100 companies and EU Framework programmes to the World Bank and UN, it is being embraced as a source of improved performance, sustained growth and long term benefit. Although quite what it actually means to different organisations, disciplines and even individuals varies widely from such ambitions as improved market share, greater return on investment and more product launches to increased intellectual capital etc., innovation per se is being ever more linked to positive outcomes: Innovative organisations are twice as profitable as other firms (Pavitt 1991). The top 20% innovative firms deliver up to four times the 'shareholder return' of the bottom 20% (AD Little 1999). Companies generating 80% of their revenue from new products typically double their market capitalisation over a five year period (PwC 1999). Innovative firms have repeatedly shown above average growth (Tidd 2000).
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