Innovation is important for companies because it is what separates them from their competition. Without innovation, companies would be stuck in the same place as everyone else. In order to stay ahead of the competition, companies need to continue innovating and coming up with new ideas.
So what is more important for a company, innovation or execution? The answer is both. Execution pays your salary innovation pays your pension. This means that without innovation, eventually the execution will catch up to you and you will become obsolete. However, without execution, innovation is just an idea.