Canadians Name Diversity As Key Ingredient In Formula For Innovation Success
_Almost 80 per cent of working population considers diversity a business advantage_ TORONTO, Sept. 25, 2007 – The majority of working Canadians believe that Canada's diversity leads to greater innovation and business success, according to a national survey conducted by the Xerox Research Centre of Canada and Leger Marketing. The survey revealed that more than three-quarters of Canadian workers (77 per cent) feel that diversity in culture and background contributes to innovation and creates a stronger Canadian business landscape, and nearly four-fifths (79 per cent) of respondents feel that Canada's cultural diversity gives us a distinct advantage when it comes to fostering innovation. Working Canadians feel that individual talent and experience have the greatest impact on innovation (38 and 35 per cent), which was nearly unanimously seen by respondents as a necessity for business success (96 per cent). An individual's worldliness was seen by respondents as more important to their ability to innovate than in-depth job knowledge or even education. "The findings from this survey validate an approach that's been the linchpin of Xerox Canada's innovation success for decades: finding the most talented and innovative research professionals from around the world and bringing them together under one roof," says Hadi Mahabadi, vice-president and manager of the Xerox Research Centre of Canada. "In the global economy of the 21st century innovation will only thrive with the shared ideas of individuals with different backgrounds, areas of expertise and life experiences." *Other survey highlights:* * 68 per cent say that working as a team contributes to their own creativity and innovative thinking. * 52 per cent of Canadian workers feel that brainstorming adds to their creativity and innovative thinking * Exposure to different cultures (50 per cent) and working with people from different disciplinary backgrounds (46 per cent) bolsters creativity and innovation. * Ninety-six per cent of Canadians seek the advice of those with a different background when solving business problems * Opinions of those with different work experience (92 per cent), age (82 per cent), and "outlook on life" (82 per cent) are most frequently sought Scott Cho, associate vice-president of Leger, says of the findings: "The state of our country's innovation is much discussed among Canada's industry leaders. While there's no silver bullet, our findings demonstrate that companies with diverse employee backgrounds tend to focus more on innovation, and those innovation efforts tend to be more successful." *About the Survey* The national survey was conducted for the Xerox Research Centre of Canada by Leger Marketing between July 17 and July 31, 2007 with a representative sample of 1000 working Canadians. The survey is considered accurate within +/- 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. For the complete article, visit the Xerox Media page.