According to top managers in German industrial companies, the biggest challenge the industry will face in the future is coping with the pressure of having to differentiate one’s company from the competition by means of products and solutions. Eighty-two percent of decision makers consider innovative strength a key component for a company’s success. Innovativeness has grown, as the Industry Innovation Index 2016 shows. For the study, the specialty chemicals Group ALTANA commissioned the Forsa institute for the third year in a row to survey 250 top decision makers and 250 entry-level employees in German industrial companies.
The Industry Innovation Index, a specially developed indicator for recording the innovative ability of German companies, reached a level of 143.5 points in 2016, a four-point increase compared to 2015. Managers, in particular, assess their companies to be more innovative vis-à-vis the previous year. Almost every second manager – 48 percent – sees his or her company as being “very innovative”; in 2015 it was 43 percent. The benchmark group of entry-level employees has also given their employers a better evaluation: 44 percent currently perceive their companies to be very innovative (2015: 42 percent).