How Mid-Market Manufacturing CEOs Are Involved in the Innovation Process

According to a recent information released by the National Center for The Middle Market, the more involved a company is in innovation, the more established their processes are. For example, 51% of respondents have a formal process in place for innovation idea generation. That number increases to 59% for project selection, and increases even further to 63% when it comes to implementation of a new idea.

The C-suite is most involved when discussing ideas to fund, whereas, customer feedback is critical at all three stages. Just 29% of CEOs are involved at general discussion phase, while 44% are involved in selection. That number drops down to 34% once the idea moves to the implementation phase.

In addition, the most adept middle-market innovators, which NCMM says are also likely to be the fastest-growing companies, maintain innovation portfolios that include more adventurous projects.