According to Prophet's 2008 Best Practices Study, the following factors define companies who innovate:

• Innovators are three times as likely to view innovation as the most strategic driver of growth.
• Sixty-four percent of model innovators have proactive and continuing approaches to innovation strategy.
• Eighty percent of model innovators tend to encourage employees to be curious, and 76 percent systematically encourage risk-taking.
• Sixty-four percent make it a priority to provide time and space for the development of new ideas; fifty-two percent also train their people well in best practices.
• Sixty percent have built incentive systems that encourage their employees to contribute to innovation efforts.
• Nearly half make more use of newer, more progressive sources of inspiration, such as Internet blogs.