Survey Shows Property Catching up to Auto on Innovation

Enservio released the results of a survey on innovation it conducted among 130 senior P&C executives attending the invitation-only Property Innovation Summit held in Boston earlier this month.

The survey examined trends in innovation such as an organization’s capacity to innovate, the perceived obstacles limiting innovation, areas of investment, and other initiatives.

Optimism prevailed when it came to executives ranking their companies on a scale of one to 10 pending its “ability to innovate”. Most survey respondents (32 percent) gave their companies a seven, and 23 percent gave a thumbs-up nine. When asked why they decided to attend the Summit, 68 percent said “to increase my ability to lead others.” Interestingly, zero percent selected “to influence my boss to innovate.”

A majority of respondents (53 percent) cited ‘culture’ as a stumbling block to pursuing innovative ideas within the walls at their companies. Sixteen percent cited “failure not acceptable” as standing in the way of innovation. This was interpreted to mean that organizations typically have a low tolerance for failure or for projects that have a high probability to fail.

The insurance industry has largely benefited from investments made in automobile technology, as evidenced by innovations made with driverless cars, collison avoidance sensors, and telematics equipment. Yet in terms of where companies feel they need to innovate most when given the choice between auto and property, a vast majority (73 percent) cited ‘property’ as the area calling for the most need for innovation.

Source: Enservio