The 2008 Chicago Innovation Awards
About CIA
The Chicago Innovation Awards
The goal of the Chicago Innovation Awards is to recognize, educate and inspire. Entering its sixth year, the awards honor Chicago-area businesses and nonprofit organizations that develop the year’s most innovative new products and services.
From Abbott Laboratories to United States Gypsum, Chicago has changed the landscape of the world with great inventions that enhance our lives. By recognizing and publishing the details of Chicago-area innovations, we bring attention to locally developed products and services, and inspire organizations to re-evaluate their commitment to innovation.
Founder Kuczmarski & Associates: A Focus on Innovation
Kuczmarski & Associates is a leading management consulting firm specializing in helping companies accelerate growth through innovative new product and service development and branding, positioning and marketing strategy.
“Innovation is the key to gaining a competitive advantage. We have reengineered, restructured, reorganized, and reexamined ourselves about as much as we can.”
Founded in 1983, K&A has been recognized by Consultants News as “one of North America’s leading management consulting firms,” serving organizations from Fortune 500 corporations to small businesses across a broad range of industries.
Innovation is often overlooked as a key component of business strategy. For too long, the primary thrust of strategic thinking and planning has centered on how best to become low-cost producers.
The Benefits of Innovation: Growth, Loyalty, Motivation
Innovation is often overlooked as a key component of business strategy. For too long, the primary thrust of strategic thinking and planning has centered on how best to become low-cost producers. Of course, reducing costs and increasing operating efficiencies are important pieces of any smart business strategy puzzle. But innovation brings with it far more potential power to reach strategic and financial business goals.
Innovation has many benefits, both individually and organizationally. You can benefit personally from an aggressive pursuit of innovation by enhancing your own credibility and leaving your mark on your organization. Organizationally, the benefits that occur from innovation can be astounding on many fronts.
Companies that innovate grow stock price.
Innovative approaches to markets and product development lead to market leadership and increased stock value. Shareholders benefit from innovation. Look at anyone’s list of “best companies” and you’ll see that, as a group, they enjoy increased stock price and share a natural ability to innovate.
Your customers enjoy the benefits of innovation.
When an innovative approach, product or service gives customers a new benefit, their lives are improved. When a customer finds that your product or service outperforms competitive alternatives, or your delivery and service is faster and more reliable, you’ll gain “loyalty points” with customers. Innovation is your strongest tool for gaining customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Innovation energizes employee motivation and performance.
Innovation provides both expanded employment opportunities and increased employee satisfaction. Studies conducted by Kuczmarski & Associates show that three key motivators are most valued by people who want a career in innovation. They are:
“We’d contend, and Fortune rankings agree, that highly innovative companies include corporations such as Jet Blue, Dell Computer, Southwest Airlines, Maytag, Philips, Costco and Microsoft. Each of these innovation giants has clearly shown that true innovation pays for itself many times over. And guess what? Each of these highly innovative companies has been the stock price leader in its industry over the last five years. Smart investors target companies that create an innovation core competency.”
- A sense of pride and personal accomplishment
- Peer recognition
- Senior management exposure
The company-wide advantages of innovation are also highly valuable:
- More sustainable growth
- Increased margins
- More effective and efficient marketing
- More dynamic processes
- Stronger and more robust positions within categories
- Increased employee retention
- Powerful public image
- The ability to redefine the existing business and enter new markets, segments and geographies
Society as a whole gains the most from innovation.
Little more than 50 years ago, diabetes was a death sentence for thousands of people every year. For millions of others, it meant living on severely restricted terms. Today, with continuous advances in medicine, it is a mere inconvenience for many people who have it. A longer life and a better quality of life are just two benefits of innovation.