Indian start-ups have put the country on the global map for Innovation, and CXOs of Fortune 10 companies have demonstrated their intention to leverage India’s talent and innovation ecosystem to drive growth. But as we observed the Indian GCoE (Global Center of Excellence) ecosystem, the numbers were not promising. We found that 84% of GCoEs have very nascent innovation capabilities – meaning innovation is still a white space. Additionally, a mere 13% of the GCoEs get adequate time involvement and support from CXOs in local innovation programs. Our extensive experience indicates that leadership buy-in is critical for innovation to be fostered as a culture and to drive tangible business outcomes.
Although GCoE leaders have invested in building programs and capabilities in India, they are unsatisfied with their innovation efforts and are relooking at their approaches. Further, ‘The Great Resignation’ and the resulting pressure on talent costs has forced GCoEs to think beyond the cost advantage and build a new innovation-focused value proposition for India.
Hence, it is imperative now more than ever to assess and accelerate innovation capabilities in India GCoEs. Zinnov’s Innovation Benchmark for India GCoEs – 2021 edition has evaluated and built a baseline for the innovation approaches taken by India GCoEs till date. It also reflects on what worked and what didn’t, while proposing a way forward to fundamentally redefine India as the location for innovation advantage – and not just cost.
Additionally, the study also identified the biggest roadblock to accelerating innovation within GCoEs as the absence of a structured Innovation Management Officer – in fact, only 26% of GCoEs have an exclusive Innovation Management Office, with a Director (or above) helming it.