For the study, Accenture surveyed 519 companies across more than 12 industry sectors in France, Britain and the U.S. Half (51 percent) of survey respondents reported they had recently increased funding for innovation at their companies. Almost all (93 percent) said the long-term success of their organization's business strategy depends on their ability to innovate.

Despite the importance they assign to this innovate-or-die business rationale, just 18 percent of CEOs say they're seeing their investments in innovation pay off. At the same time, 46 percent of the executives surveyed said their company had become more risk averse when considering new breakthrough ideas, the study found.

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