Investment rising, especially in North America.

• Author: Marshall, Jeffrey
• Position: R & D SPENDING - Brief article

Corporate R & D investment is on a tear--it increased in 2006 by twice the dollar amount of 2005, and North American-headquartered companies led the way with a 13 percent increase in absolute spending.

That's according to Booz Allen Hamilton's third annual Global Innovation 1000 study, which analyzed the world's 1000 largest publicly held corporate R & D spenders and the impact of innovation on corporate performance. Beyond looking at spending alone, the study provides insights into how organizations can get the greatest return on their innovation investment.

While companies stepped up their spending last year, the study found that more spending doesn't lead to better results. Key findings include:

* R & D spending caught up to sales growth in 2006 for the first time in four years. For the Global Innovation 1000, R & D spend rose last year by $40 billion to $447 billion, a 10 percent increase, matching sales growth of 10 percent.

* North American companies...