By now it is almost gospel that investing in innovative new products and services helps a company's long-term success. That doesn't mean it's easy. A new study from Accenture, "Why 'Low Risk' Innovation Is Costly," found that fewer than one in five chief executives believes his strategic investments in innovation are paying off, and that this poor track record is starting to discourage companies from taking risks.

The payoff from joining the big-data and advanced-analytics management revolution is no longer in doubt. The tally of successful case studies continues to build, reinforcing broader research suggesting that when companies inject data and analytics deep into their operations, they can deliver productivity and profit gains that are 5 percent to 6 percent higher than those of the competition.

Despite all the hype surrounding America's supposed Manufacturing Renaissance, the data has painted a starker picture for some time. Hardly a renaissance, U.S. manufacturing has seemed to be closer to a recession.