Russian companies have overestimated their level of innovation

Consulting firm Booz & Company has published its eighth report 1000 Global Leaders of innovation this week, the results of which are based on surveys and analysis of reports on innovation expenditures by thousands of companies. This study includes companies from Russia and Kazakhstan that are among the leaders in various sectors.

About half of the 28 Russian companies that took part in the anonymous survey belong to the energy and financial sectors. The main efforts of this research has been focused on the starting phase - the process of generating ideas and transforming them into projects and products. More than 50% of companies participating in the global research admitted that their efforts to generate new ideas and realize them into products demanded by the market are ineffective. However, 25% of firms that have recognized their innovative processes and products as highly efficient exceeded the other participants in terms of revenue, increased capitalization and EBITDA for the past five years.

The results of Russian companies study is mostly similar to the data of the global research: more than half of respondents from Russia recognized that they generate and realize innovative ideas inefficiently. However, the share of the Russian companies that see themselves as highly efficient, is much higher than among respondents of the international study.

In addition, Russian respondents were also more optimistic about the number of ideas that result entering the market - 36%. The corresponding figure for global companies is considerably less - 23%.

According to the authors of the study, such high self-esteem of Russian companies may indicate inconsistencies in the terms meaning the lack of uniform definitions on what the innovation is: Innovation can be a new color of packaging, and a radically new business model - the researchers note.

The possible reason is that Russian companies often consider products taken over from other countries and introduced in Russia as innovations. These 'innovations' pass accelerated development cycle and enter the market faster and less painfully. Another reason is a feature of the Russian market with an increased interest in new products and their types.