Building an innovative organization: consistent business and technology integration

Purpose – The IBM 2006 CEO study (which interviewed 765 CEOs, business executives and public sector leaders) took a comprehensive global look at a topic that is increasingly important to leaders worldwide: innovation. Design/methodology/approach – The study's findings covered three major areas, such as the value of external collaboration, the importance of business model innovation, and the need for consistent business and technology integration. Findings – Two out of every three CEOs interviewed expect fundamental changes for their organizations over the next two years. Surprisingly undaunted by this challenge, they see innovation as a means to seize opportunities. Practical implications – In the IBM study: 76 percent of all CEOs ranked business partnerships and collaboration as important for innovation – but only half of the CEOs surveyed believed their organizations were collaborating beyond a moderate level. Only 14 percent of CEOs ranked internal R&D as a significant source for new ideas. Originality/value – Approximately one‐third of CEOs' innovation emphasis is now targeted at business model innovation – innovation in the structure and/or financial model of the business.