The Report

Why does Australian business need to measure Innovation & Creativity?

In the past there has been no qualitative report or study that has been conducted relating to how different levels of an organisation perceive Innovation and Creativity.

Innovation has become a buzz word in business; everyone is talking about it but how many are actually doing it well?

The value from Innovation & Creativity comes in not just the ideas themselves, but to a greater degree from the benefits to the internal culture of an organisation. The Australian Innovation & Creativity Report is designed to give Australian business a true indication of how Creativity & Innovation is travelling at all levels of business.

Unbiased and unedited, it is the first report that really examines how Creativity is being encouraged within organisations, as opposed to just measuring the outputs.

The Australian Innovation & Creativity Report will also give organisations a benchmark to measure themselves against. By engaging the Australian Innovation & Creativity Report team to survey an entire organisation, the management team will have a true understanding of the level of Creativity & Innovation within their organisation and how this compares to the country as a whole. By measuring the perception within an organisation on an annual basis, management teams will be able to truly gauge improvements or weaknesses in its Creative & Innovative performance.

The methodology of the survey

The Australian Innovation & Creativity Report survey instrument was developed to collect data on the views of employed individuals regarding Innovation & Creativity in the workplace. The data will be presented as perceptions from three levels within the surveyed organisations. The three levels are described as:
1.    Employees
              (individuals with no direct reports & no people management responsibilities)
2.    Managers/Supervisors
               (individuals with direct reports & people management responsibilities)
3.    Executive Management
     (individuals with people management responsibilities for "Managers/Supervisors”)

The survey instrument was designed in 2009 and was pre-tested by selected business professionals who were asked to examine the questionnaire and answer it. The resultant comments were used to clarify and improve the instrument.

The Australian Innovation & Creativity Report survey instrument has been developed for management teams by business managers. It is designed to provide accurate insights into the perceptions of individuals without being an overly onerous survey to complete; the average time to complete is about three minutes.

The Countries

The first Innovation & Creativity Report survey will be launched in Australia in March 2010 with “The 2010 Australian Innovation & Creativity Report” expected to be published during June/July of the same year. This will be the start of an annual survey and report that will provide an ongoing measure of Innovation & Creativity in the Australian business landscape.

It is intended to also survey businesses in other countries, such as the United Kingdom and North America, to provide global benchmarks for organisations in all countries. The end result will be an annual picture of how Creativity & Innovation are perceived in the global workplace.