Ikea is the most innovative company on the Swedish market followed by MTR Express and Netflix in second and third place. This is according to the Swedish Innovation Index, a new index which focuses on innovation from the customers’ perspective, developed by researchers at CTF, Service Research Center at Karlstad University, Sweden.
There are different types of innovation and different ways to measure innovation. For companies, organisations, decision makers and politicians, innovation contributes with generating growth, increased competitiveness and developing welfare.
"From a customer point of view, innovation is a value-creating experience supported by a product or a service. This is what our index measures", say Per Kristensson, Professor and Director at CTF, Service Research Center at Karlstad University.
An indicator of a successful innovation is when customers and users experience a value-creating improvement, such as, how it makes their lives better, safer, and more sustainable from an environmental perspective, or saves time and money.
The Swedish Innovation Index 2018 is based on the information from about 13,000 customers who ranked the degree of innovation at 70 companies and organisations within 9 industries, based on how they perceive the company’s innovativeness, and how attractive customers perceive the company. The customers have also evaluated the company’s offer, delivery, treatment and interaction space.
The result for 2018 shows, among other things that changes in a company’s offerings and the customer environment, for example the appearance of the store or the web site, are factors that drive the customer’s perception of innovation.
Measuring innovation
We look at innovation in different ways, and that is why the researchers believe that innovation should also be measured in different ways.
"The purpose of our index is to complement other surveys and contribute to creating an overall picture around innovation and how to succeed with innovation. The Swedish Innovation Index makes it possible to follow the development and results of investments in innovation from a customer perspective", says Per Kristensson. "Successful innovations lead to increased attractiveness and growth in different markets".
The Swedish Innovation Index and the results for 2018 were launched on March 7th at the Service Innovation Day 2019. The index is developed by researchers at CTF, and Karlstad Business School at Karlstad University, in collaboration with NHH Norwegian School of Economics and Fordham University, USA.
