A recent Booz Allen Hamilton study, “Smart Spenders: The Global Innovation 1,000,” found that although research-and-development spending by these companies last year rose more than $20 billion, a group of “high-leverage innovators,” including
- Caterpillar
- Christian Dior
- Apple
- GlaxoSmithKline
spend far less than their competitors on research and development — and consistently outperform their rivals. They listen closely to their customers across the entire innovation cycle. Companies such as Stryker and Black & Decker design their innovation strategy around a keen understanding of their end customers’ needs,” according to the study.
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