Businesses are looking to grow their revenues in ways that they haven’t been able to focus on since before emerging from the relatively recent economic slump. Today and tomorrow, at Forrester Research, Inc’s. (Nasdaq: FORR) Executive Strategy Forum in Boston, 500 senior executives will examine the impact of global innovation on driving top-line growth.

“Growth has been elusive over the past four years,” said George F. Colony, Forrester’s chairman of the board and chief executive officer. “The muscles that businesses used to improve the top line have atrophied due to a prolonged period of cutbacks. Forrester believes that innovation is the major muscle that companies need to exercise to revive growth.”

Forrester’s Executive Strategy Forum will feature recent research, authored by Vice President Navi Radjou, entitled Innovation Networks, a new approach to innovation that relies on a network of organizations rather than a single company to develop and market the best ideas faster, better, and at a lower cost, resulting in revenue growth.

Innovation Networks means that companies don’t have to invent to innovate. They can build on partners’ inventions and excel in one of the four key roles that comprise Innovation Networks: the inventor or creator of the idea; the transformer, or the entity that converts the idea into a product, service, or process for internal or external customers; the financier, the individual or group that financially backs the innovation; and the broker, the marketmakers who connect the other participants to the internal and external stakeholders who then ensure the completion and delivery of the innovation.

Technology is a big player in Innovation Networks; IT organizations must be aligned with the rest of their company to support revenue growth and innovation. Forrester Vice President and Research Director Marc Cecere will highlight key processes and organizational structures to focus on to enable growth.

Forrester Executive Strategy Forum keynote speakers include:

  • Michael L. Eskew, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, UPS
  • Carol H. Pletcher, Vice President and Cargill Innovation Officer, Cargill
  • Kevin B. Rollins, President and Chief Executive Officer, Dell
  • Adrian J. Slywotzky, Managing Director, Mercer Management Consulting
  • G. Richard Wagoner Jr., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, General Motors

In addition to the keynote speakers, the Forrester Executive Strategy Forum, at The Westin Coley Place, features speakers from Coca-Cola, 3M, EDS, IBM, and Whirlpool among others participating in specific tracks about:

  • Innovating For Top-Line Growth
  • Measuring And Managing Growth
  • Aligning IT Investments To Support Growth
  • Managing The Risks Of Growth