How companies prioritized innovation during the crisis – Board of Innovation

We do regular pulse checks with a variety of organizations. So naturally, the moment the Covid-19 crisis hit, we asked our network how they were responding. By mid-May 2020, we’d gathered the reaction strategies of more than 750 companies.

Though many told us they were concerned about the outbreak’s impact on the economy and their organization’s future prospects, most had yet to do anything about it. Of the companies we spoke to, just 24% had so far made bold investments or launched new products or services. Most had been hesitant – instead of conducting smaller experiments or slashing costs in an effort to protect their core business and weather the initial storm.

Interestingly, large businesses were less inclined to prioritize innovation and new growth than smaller companies. 52% of enterprises containing more than 1000 employees decided to reallocate budgets from adjacent, exploratory growth areas (horizon 2 projects) to innovation programs aimed at shoring up the core business (horizon 1). Only 21% of those larger companies were investing in projects for new growth.

Whereas with smaller organizations, this shift was reversed. 41% of small businesses we spoke to were already exploring new or adjacent opportunities. While only 35% were reinforcing their core products.

Of course, many businesses are wisely doing both. A survey by Innovation Leader shows that, in general, organizations are splitting their innovation budgets up as follows: