Australian companies that innovate are more successful and confident about Australia’s future, a new National Australia Bank report on business innovation has found.
The NAB survey asked 2,000 businesses to assess the culture of innovation in Australia to help businesses understand how they are innovating and what they can do differently or better.
The report found that more than one in four businesses identified themselves as ‘highly innovative’, but, interestingly, only 13 per cent of companies rate Australia as a ‘highly innovative’ nation.
The report also found that highly innovative firms can be found across all sectors of the economy, including some more mature industries such as manufacturing and retail, and raised the possibility that business may be underestimating the true level of innovation in Australia.
NAB’s Group Executive for Business Banking Angela Mentis said leading businesses of the future will be those that are confident, optimistic and innovative.
“It’s no surprise that necessity is truly the mother of invention: industries that are under the most pressure are innovating more than other sectors in the economy,” she said.
“Australia’s future lies in our ability to foster a culture of innovation. Sharing information about innovations, trials, mistakes made and lessons learned helps the business community accelerate this culture we all want to create.”
Read the full survey here.