The number of radical innovations has shown a declining trend for 3 years, and companies seem to be primarily focusing on small-scale improvements to existing products and services. What’s more, executives are also more negative about their organisation's performance compared to a year ago. These are just some of the findings of  the Amsterdam Centre for Business Innovation’s 2023 Dutch Innovation Monitor. The report was published on Tuesday, 24 October.

‘Macroeconomic disruptions are also undermining the climate ambitions of Dutch companies,' says research leader Henk Volberda. 'Organisations struggling with the significant impact of higher energy prices are less ambitious in their climate goals. This also applies to organisations that are increasingly affected by shortages of raw materials.’

Sustainability plans postponed

The share of climate-ambitious companies - defined as companies aiming for a negligible ecological footprint by 2030 - has decreased by nearly 4 percen. However, the share of companies with this climate ambition by 2050 increased by over 6 percent. It is possible that the macroeconomic disruptions faced by many companies are causing them to shelve their sustainability plans for now. At the same time, the share of companies without climate ambitions (those not aiming for a negligible footprint in this century) is at its lowest level since this aspect was first measured: with 21.1% of companies, it is 3 percent lower than in the previous two years. Unfortunately, the majority of polluting companies fall into this last category.

Digital Threats

Nearly half of the companies (44 percent) believe that cybercrime and digital espionage are rapidly growing threats in their sector. Almost one in five companies admits to being inadequately prepared, and the primary business processes of 1 out of every 15 companies have come to a standstill due to a digital threat.

About the Dutch Innovation Monitor

The 2021 Dutch Innovation Monitor (Nederlandse Innovatie Monitor) is one of the largest annual survey-based studies on innovation in the Netherlands. The monitor is an initiative of the Amsterdam Business School’s Amsterdam Centre for Business Innovation. The survey is conducted by SEO Amsterdam Economics and coordinated by Henk Volberda, Professor of Strategic Management and Innovation at the Amsterdam Business School. Volberda is also director of the Amsterdam Centre for Business Innovation. The findings are based on answers from a representative sample of senior managers working in the Dutch corporate sector.