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U.S. companies are struggling with various innovation pursuits -- continuing a problem they have been grappling with for the past three years, a new Accenture (NYSE: ACN) survey finds.

The survey of executives and managers within 500 U.S. companies reveals that six in 10 (60 percent) said their companies do not learn from past mistakes. This is nearly double the 36 percent who admitted to this three years ago when Accenture last conducted a similar survey.

Nearly three-fourths (72 percent) indicate their firm’s often miss opportunities to exploit underdeveloped areas or markets versus 53 percent three years ago. And more than two-thirds (67 percent) believe their companies are risk averse, a large increase from 46 percent revealed in the previous survey.

The survey also shows that 82 percent admit they do not distinguish their innovation approaches between incremental versus large-scale transformational change – meaning they use a single "one-size-fits-all" approach to achieve different goals. Most respondents said they have "big" innovation ideas but are missing an organizational "home" with the company. So their ideas often go nowhere.

"A significant gap exists between what U.S. companies want to achieve in the innovation arena versus what they are able to do," said Adi Alon, managing director, Accenture Strategy. "They want to innovate yet they need to take different and bolder actions to achieve transformational, major revenue-generating innovation. True innovation requires aggressive changes in technologies, operating models and talent."

The survey polled executives and managers involved with innovation in 12 industries such as communications, electronics and high-tech, consumer products, and retail. Accenture’s analysis of these results, summarized in a new report titled "2015 Accenture U.S. Innovation Survey: Clear Vision, Cloudy Execution," concludes that these companies hold on to outdated products too long thereby increasing expenses and making them less competitive.

More bullish on disruptive innovation

Despite their companies’ innovation shortcomings, respondents are more bullish on disruptive innovation than they were three years ago. For instance, 84 percent said they believe innovation is key for their long-term success compared with 67 percent three years ago. The same percentage of respondents—84 percent—said they are looking for the "next silver bullet," meaning a market-defining innovation rather than incremental iterations of the same products. Creating new products is a priority for almost half (47 percent) of respondents, an increase of 20 percentage points from three years ago.

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Posted by Laura Collins, Editorial Management
Source: https://newsroom.accenture.com