The Value of Innovation

Chapter 3The Case for a New System

After speaking on the use of ROI for non-capital investments to the British Chamber of Commerce in Singapore, we were invited to visit the local offices of a European-based chemical company. The largest chemical company in the world, with customers in over 190 countries, made the decision to move much of its R&D operations from Europe to Asia. Our host was the executive responsible for R&D and he was concerned about the value of this large R&D operation, based in Asia with most of it located in India. He wanted to know how to show the ROI of all of their research and development efforts.

The next week, we received a request from a consulting firm in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to show the ROI of innovation. As they explained, the UAE government had pumped millions of dollars into all types of innovation projects and now government leaders are asking for ROI. They see many activities, some ideas developing, and a few ideas that can be converted into useable business, but there’s a sense that not enough value is being delivered. In short, they need to see the ROI on innovation efforts. They’re requesting that we conduct our ROI Certification for these innovation champions and leaders so they can show the ROI of their projects.

Both of these scenarios, occurring within a week in June 2017, illustrate the concern in the organizations about the ultimate accountability, the return on investment. This is an important measure, although it can be ...