Innovation: why boards should care and lead in it

IN today's business environment, it is becoming increasingly apparent that only those who change, and do so fast, will have a future.

Innovation has moved a rung up the ladder from being a corporate buzzword to a key business strategy. Companies can no longer afford to rest on their laurels as they risk becoming obsolete.

No change, no future

Examples of such companies are aplenty. Nokia, the kingpin of the mobile phone industry in the 2000s, saw its share in the global smart phones market plummet to a low of 3.1 per cent in 2013 from 50 per cent in 2007. This business was eventually acquired by Microsoft.

Kodak, an imaging solutions powerhouse in the 80s and 90s, made its largest blunder not seizing opportunities…