Investments in innovation have slowed during the pandemic

Visual form

Bar Chart: grouped priority bars for executive investment focus before, during, and after the crisis.

Layout / body structure

Bars are grouped under innovation, M&A, organizational health, efficiency, and core. Within each group, separate bars compare the precrisis normal, today, the end of the health crisis, and economic recovery.

What is being compared

It compares which actions executives ranked as their number one or number two priority across four time horizons. The chart shows how innovation, efficiency, organizational health, M&A, and core-business priorities moved as the pandemic changed management focus.

Measurement system

Bars show percent of executives selecting each action as a top-two priority. Percentage-point callouts highlight the change from the precrisis normal to today.

Visible structure inside the graphic

Innovation drops sharply from the precrisis bar to the today bar, while efficiency and organizational health rise. Core priorities stay high across the displayed periods, and the future bars suggest innovation is expected to recover later.

Main takeaway from the visual

The chart shows that companies pulled attention away from innovation during the crisis and redirected it toward near-term operating needs. The risk is that delaying innovation may leave firms weaker in the recovery period.

Key standout values or extremes

Innovation falls from 55 percent precrisis to 23 percent today, a 32 percentage-point drop. Efficiency rises from 36 percent to 59 percent, and organizational health rises from 7 percent to 29 percent.

Controls / sequence, when applicable

This is a static grouped bar chart; there are no in-chart controls to operate.

Companion media, when applicable

There is no separate companion audio or video; the grouped bar chart is the full visual on this page.