Business leaders play the most important role of all in the creation of new products and services.
This is the key finding of a new report entitled Leadership for Innovation, published by the Advanced Institute of Management Research and supported by the Chartered Management Institute.
A whole series of studies has led to the publication of this latest report, starting with the review of UK competitiveness undertaken by Professor Michael Porter on behalf of the ESRC (Economic and Social Research Council) in 2002. Porter and his team concluded that the UK had a productivity gap, which was increasing and needed a new conception of competitiveness focusing on improving skills, stimulating innovation and fostering enterprise. At the time he said the UK needed to “… change from a location competing on low costs to a location competing on value and innovation�.
A subsequent DTI report suggested that the single most important factor missing in Britain’s business leadership was ‘inspiration’, a message that underlines the findings of Leadership for Innovation, that inspirational leadership is a prerequisite for successful change and innovation.
