Know your corporate IQ

Purpose – Most business executives understand the importance of developing new products to support future growth. But they often fail to actively monitor their performance on this metric relative to their peers. Furthermore, many executives do not understand how innovation is critical to driving margins as well as growth. Tracking a company's Innovation Quotient sm , enables executives to assess how they are doing versus competitors in successfully developing new products and services. Examining a company's development pipeline enables executives to forecast their future Innovation Quotient and provides insights into the future performance of the business. Design/methodology/approach – In this article, Jackson considers a number of case examples of businesses that actively monitor their innovation performance and use it as an indicator of future success and value creation. Examples industries cited in the article include consumer products, electronics, industrial products and investment banking. The author then draws lessons that can be applied broadly across any business seeking to improve future growth and profitability through greater innovation. Findings – Companies should proactively monitor their relative innovation performance compared to competitors using the Innovation Quotient metric. Measuring and monitoring a company's innovation rate and Corporate IQ can help management teams to take the tough choices, and build value for the long term when faced with the pressures of day to day performance. The companies that do the best job of building innovation capabilities and a strong development pipeline in tough times will be rewarded by even higher growth and margins when economic conditions improve. Originality/value – Business managers have always recognized that innovation is important to growth. This article extends that thinking to reinforce how a company's innovation performance relative to peers can drive not just future growth but higher future profitability as well.