New research shows that while nearly 70 percent of companies consider themselves above average innovators, barely 14 percent actually see significant business impact from this crucial component in achieving strategic business outcomes, according to a staff report from PR Newswire.

The IDC study commissioned by Ricoh has found that misconceptions on what innovation actually is abound, while the factors that define true innovation in leadership are often unclear and confused.

The IDC and Ricoh, which has its U.S. headquarters in Malvern, uncovered that in addition to driving product development, innovation contributes to a wide range of business areas. Leaders who excel in innovation use it to improve their customer service and find it vital to all aspect of their business. The majority of respondents pointed out the importance of innovation in information technology while 51 percent also cited customer service and support. Product development came in a surprising third at 45 percent.

“Many senior executives are simply not making the hard choices needed to enable innovation leadership,” said Crawford Del Prete, Executive Vice President, Worldwide Research Products & Chief Research Officer at IDC. “Innovation is not just about producing new products, but rather about taking risks both in business processes and R&D investment. True innovation leaders understand that growth is dependent on this type of comprehensive approach.”

The study returned several other interesting findings that directly relate to how companies invest in accomplishing success in innovation. It found that innovation is not only about creating new ideas to disrupt existing markets through new products, concepts, and business models, but innovation can also be about improving existing ones.

So called “blue sky projects” where it is not immediately obvious what the real-world application of the research will be, are more often green-lit by innovation leaders rather than non-innovators. In addition, innovation leaders support their innovation efforts through information technology at a much higher rate than other companies.

The research concluded that there are clear advantages that innovation leaders have over non-innovators through key business outcomes, such as a 44 percent gain in average annual revenue growth, a 46 percent benefit to annual revenue from new products, an over 40 percent increase in average employee productivity, and a 34 percent increase in product quality.

To read more details from the study see here.