September 21, 2018
Article
Harvard Business Review (website)

Innovation Should Be a Top Priority for Boards. So Why Isn't It?

By: J. Yo-Jud Cheng and Boris Groysberg

Format:Electronic

Abstract

Corporate directors and executives alike recognize that today’s pace of change continues to accelerate and that firms need to innovate to stay ahead. But are boards doing enough to support innovation, as they should? We conducted a survey of over 5,000 board members from around the world to find out. We found that, overall, innovation does not rank as a top strategic challenge for the majority of boards. Although directors in certain industries are more cognizant of the threat of disruption, the widespread lack of board-level engagement in innovation processes could be a major blind spot and a potential liability. Fewer than one-third (30%) of respondents see innovation as one of the top three challenges their company faces in achieving its strategic objectives, and just 21% think that technology trends are a major strategic challenge. Innovation ranks fifth, after more conventional concerns such as attracting and retaining top talent and the regulatory environment. Boards’ abilities to foster innovation clearly fall short when compared with their other activities.