Our review of the sectors takes the identified success criteria and ranks 21 sectors on how they scored on each (sectors included had a sample size of at least 10 businesses responding). Innovation obviously lends itself to some sectors more easily than others and results must be seen in this context, however we believe every sector can learn from the success of all businesses, especially today.

It will be very interesting to see how the sectors change during and after this crisis and a repeat investigation of industry performance around innovation in the future will be a fascinating read.

* Numbering has been omitted where percentage is equal to previous entry

This data tells us that simply because a sector says that innovation was very important it didn’t always correlate with their performance at achieving their innovation aims, and vice versa.

Textiles and healthcare are consistent sectors, high on both, but it is interesting to note that Marketing and Electronic firms are not performing as high as might be expected given the relative importance given to Innovation. In addition, whilst their sectors didn’t rank in the top half for the importance of innovation, the food and drink, manufacturing and automotive industries are confidently achieving their aims.

It is a surprise to see financial services in the bottom half of both tables here given the focus that companies in this sector have placed on digital innovation.

Success criteria: Technology

* Numbering has been omitted where percentage is equal to previous entry

Observations: Overall you would not naturally expect to see the same levels of success of businesses doing well on changing the business models as applying technology to improve efficiency as these require a separate focus.

If you are in an industry where margins are very thin, and you are forced to compete where the market sets the price, the focus will be on technology investment for efficiency. In other businesses where you are actively looking at changing business models, huge commitment needs to come, particularly from senior leadership. It would be rare to see sectors using technology to both transform their business model and drive down costs, which is why the top five here don’t all match up.

The two sectors able to do this, and working in markets that demand both, are retail and the pharmaceutical/science industry. Successful businesses in both sectors, already using technology for business model change and efficiency, will be in a position of strength in the current crisis.

Success criteria: embedded innovation culture and stakeholder feedback

* Numbering has been omitted where percentage is equal to previous entry

Here we see the differences of how certain industries behave around innovation. The retail industry sits at the bottom for embedding culture in everyone’s role but came first in the previous table for technology adoption to change business models. It will be interesting to see if this focus on technology rather than people is strengthened or shifts as the business world changes.

Hospitality and automotive both rank high on feedback (and achieving aims) which can be seen as a direct reflection of the constant change and impact of customer experience within their industries.

One of the consistently low performers on the tables is real estate. Whilst it is not an industry where historically innovation or changing its business model would have been a high priority (as the tables highlight), it will be interesting to see how this sector can react to the changes the crisis will bring with an expected shift to home working changing demand for commercial property. Disruption and new innovations in the more traditional sectors will be very interesting to watch.