Second, companies are expanding top-line revenue by inno-

vating in both the way they go to market and what they offer
their customers. These execution challenges include creating new
markets and rapidly launching new products.

“Growth—real growth—depends on innovation,” said

London Business School professor Gary Hamel in the Harvard
Business Review.

3

“Study a company that has delivered strong

revenue growth over a decade or more, and you’re likely to find
evidence of world-class innovation. Maybe the company invented
a new industry structure, like Microsoft did when it ‘de-vertical-
ized’ the computer industry. Maybe the firm pioneered a bold new
business model, like Costco did with its upscale warehouse stores.
Or maybe it hatched a bountiful brood of sleek new products, like
Nokia did. Put simply, innovation is the fuel for growth. When a
company runs out of innovation, it runs out of growth.”

How the Survey Was Done

From 2002 through 2005, The Real Learning Company and

Advantage Performance Group conducted 20- to 60-minute

interviews with 96 executives. The executives represented a

cross-section of industries and functional areas. All respon-

dents were at the officer level or above.

Participating executives responded to more than 25 ques-

tions about how they make purchasing decisions, what they

expect from salespeople, and the role of sales managers. An

interactive presentation with responses to all of the questions

is available from The Real Learning Company.

Third, companies are improving their internal processes,

learning to do what they do better and more efficiently. They are
achieving operational excellence, leveraging advances in technol-
ogy to increase efficiency, and getting costs down.

“Getting people to do the right things, to build on internal

knowledge, and focus all that energy on the customer is what
enables us to achieve our goals,” said an executive of a consumer
products company in our study. An executive at a leading devel-
oper of customer relationship management software told us,

Context Is Everything

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