Plante Moran Survey Offers Free Evaluation Of Business' Innovation Potential

SOUTHFIELD -- The accounting and business advisory firm Plante Moran is back for a third year to ask Midwest organizations how they fuel innovation.

The Plante Moran 2013 Innovation Survey aims to share best practices among its participants, to make participants more innovative.

"Our goal for the survey is to provide a better understanding of the innovation process," said Gordon Krater, Plante Moran managing partner. "Last year our analysts charted the characteristics of innovators and documented techniques for improving innovation efforts. This year we're building on that effort and we consider the survey a conversation starter among organizations looking for ways to improve. The more people who contribute to the conversation, the stronger the information we have to share."

The survey will again ask Midwest businesses and organizations to share how they use innovation to increase revenue, improve quality and cut costs. New to the survey this year will be three sections exploring collaboration, which was identified by the 2012 innovation "superstars" as key to their success.

This year the survey will continue to chart attitudes toward innovation and investigate the level of interest in and perceived barriers to partnering for innovation.

The 10-minute survey, which is available at www.innovationquotientsurvey.com, asks C-suite executives and innovation team leaders to answer questions designed to measure innovation activity, the business value of innovation and drivers and constraints on innovation.

Last year, executives from more than 550 businesses, nonprofits and governmental entities from Michigan, Illinois, Ohio and Indiana took the survey, which found that:  • Organizations that make a deliberate choice to build and nourish innovation can earn a significant payoff for their efforts. • Survey respondents said they generated 16 percent of their revenue from new products or services introduced in the last three years. • Innovators can be divided into four categories, from "accidental innovators" who dabble to "superstars," who adopt deliberate innovation practices, establish budgets and publicly reward employees for ideas that emerge.

All survey participants will receive a customized report benchmarking their organization's Innovation Quotient against best-in-class practices. The report will have case studies and action items to help participants move the needle on innovation. All participants will get an advanced release of the report. The study wraps up in mid-July.

This year's partners for the survey include: the National Center for the Middle Market, NewNorth Center, the Technology Entrepreneurship and Commercialization Institute at The Ohio State University, the WWJ Technology Report from CBS Radio Detroit and the "World Industrial Reporter."