A PwC Pulse Survey of 246 CEOs in North and South America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East reveals that 97% of CEOs see innovation as a top priority for their business. The Pulse Survey was conducted as a follow-up to the recent PwC CEO Survey of 1,330 CEOs around the globe which showed innovation to be a major and lingering CEO concern.

Not every region sees the need for innovation in the same light. The appetite for innovation was strongest in Asia-Pacific and North America, where CEOs unanimously agreed that innovation is a key focus area within their organisation. In contrast, 18% of CEOs in Central and Eastern Europe and 10% of their peers in the Middle East disagreed, reporting that innovation is not a priority in the markets in which they operate.

Perhaps the most interesting news is there has been an important shift in the relative focus on operations and innovation. Globally, almost two in three CEOs see innovation and operational effectiveness as equally important to the success of their company. Business leaders in Latin America agree with this the most (71%), in contrast to their peers in the Middle East who are more divided (50%).

The research also shows that there has been a shift in how CEOs view their role in driving innovation. Today’s CEOs recognise that they need to be directly involved in driving innovation within their business, with 37% reporting their role as ‘leader’ in this area, and 34% as ‘visionary’. This contrasts sharply with the situation three years ago when a similar survey showed only 12% of CEOs were leading the charge on the innovation strategy.

And their innovation plans are broad. Over the next three years, CEOs are planning to innovate across the board, from customer experience, products and services, through to business models, systems and approaches.   With such widespread innovation planned by so many companies, the question will be around how companies will be able to differentiate themselves for competitive advantage.

Says David Percival, Global Innovation Product Lead, PwC:

“Put simply, CEOs have overwhelmingly recognised that today, companies that don’t innovate will fail. It’s no longer a choice. The CEOs we surveyed are ready for the challenge and are taking the helm. The key will be for them to deliver value in new forms, in new ways, to existing and new customers.  What remains to be seen is whether their organisations are ready to deliver on their aspirations.”