The World's 50 Most Innovative Companies


Special Report: Inside Innovation

Slide Show: The World's 50 Most innovative Companies

In a climate when innovation efforts and research and development budgets are likely to see more scrutiny than ever, our 2008 list of the World's Most Innovative Companies adds three financial measures to the mix to determine the rankings. For this year's list, votes cast in the proprietary BusinessWeek-BCG survey received 80% of the overall weighting, stock returns were weighted 10%, while three-year revenue and margin growth each got 5%. While these changes -- only votes from our survey counted in the past -- marked the biggest shift yet in our rankings of the World's Most Innovative Companies, there are some similarities to previous years. Once again, Apple's design whizzes lead our list, followed by Google’s search geniuses and Toyota's hybrid car mavens. But the added financial metrics and the greater diversity of our survey, which polled more global and C-suite respondents than ever also helped to produce a few big changes. Global names such as Tata Group and Nintendo, both making their first appearance, landed in the top 10. Traditional innovation icon 3M plummeted from No. 7 to No. 22. And dark horses such as No. 18 General Motors, which has suffered through a tumultuous year financially, received a surprising number of votes thanks to concept cars like the electric Chevrolet Volt and the Detroit automaker's renewed focus on design. For a full explanation of our methodology, click here -- and see the footnotes at the bottom of the table.


Click column heading once to reorder from highest to lowest. Click twice to reorder from lowest to highest.
Rank
Company
HQ Country
HQ Continent
Revenue Growth
2004-07*
(in %)
Margin Growth
2004-07*
(in %)
Stock Returns
2004-07**
(in %)
Most Known for its
Innovative...
(% who think so)
1 APPLE  USANorth America47 69 83 Products (52%)
2 GOOGLE  USANorth America73 5 53 Customer Experience (26%)
3 TOYOTA MOTOR   JapanAsia12 1 15 Processes (36%)
4 GENERAL ELECTRIC   USANorth America9 1 3 Processes (43%)
5 MICROSOFT   USANorth America16 8 12 Products (26%)
6 TATA GROUP   IndiaAsiaPrivatePrivatePrivateProducts (58%)
7 NINTENDO   JapanAsia37 4 77 Products (63%)
8 PROCTER & GAMBLE   USANorth America16 4 12 Processes (30%)
9 SONY   JapanAsia8 13 17 Products (56%)
10 NOKIA   FinlandEurope20 2 35 Products (36%)
11 AMAZON.COM   USANorth America29 -11 28 Customer Experience (33%)
12 IBM   USANorth America1 11 4 Processes (31%)
13 RESEARCH IN MOTION   CanadaNorth America56 -1 51 Products (37%)
14 BMW   GermanyEurope6 -5 11 Customer Experience (40%)
15 HEWLETT-PACKARD   USANorth America10 17 35 Processes, Business Models, and Customer Experience (27% each)
16 HONDA MOTOR   JapanAsia12 6 14 Products (40%)
17 WALT DISNEY   USANorth America6 14 7 Customer Experience (63%)
18 GENERAL MOTORS   USANorth America-2 NA***-11 Products (55%)
19 RELIANCE INDUSTRIES   IndiaAsia31 -7 94 Business Models (31%)
20 BOEING   USANorth America9 32 21 Products (63%)
21 GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP   USANorth America30 6 28 Processes and Business Models (33% each)
22 3M   USANorth America7 5 3 Products (45%)
23 WAL-MART STORES   USANorth America10 -2 -2 Processes (48%)
24 TARGET   USANorth America11 3 0 Customer Experience (67%)
25 FACEBOOK   USANorth AmericaPrivatePrivatePrivateCustomer Experience (51%)
26 SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS   South KoreaAsia2 -14 8 Products (42%)
27 AT&T   USANorth America43 6 23 Customer Experience (33%)
28 VIRGIN GROUP   BritainEuropePrivatePrivatePrivateCustomer Experience (47%)
29 AUDI   GermanyEurope11 11 41 Products (50%)
30 MCDONALD'S   USANorth America7 -7 25 Customer Experience (42%)
31 DAIMLER   GermanyEurope-11 37 28 Products (35%)
32 STARBUCKS   USANorth America23 -2 -13 Customer Experience (60%)
33 EBAY   USANorth America33 -37 -17 Business Models (28%)
34 VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS   USANorth America12 0 9 Services (41%)
35 CISCO SYSTEMS   USANorth America20 -5 12 Products (35%)
36 ING GROEP   NetherlandsEurope7 4 11 Services (41%)
37 SINGAPORE AIRLINES   SingaporeAsia9 5 20 Customer Experience (55%)
38 SIEMENS   GermanyEurope1 21 22 Products (41%)
39 COSTCO WHOLESALE   USANorth America11 -5 14 Customer Experience (46%)
40 HSBC   BritainEurope12 -1 4 Services (39%)
41 BANK OF AMERICA   USANorth America12 0 0 Customer Experience and Services (23% each)
42 EXXON MOBIL   USANorth America11 7 25 Processes (50%)
43 NEWS CORP.   USANorth America4 4 4 Business Models (47%)
44 BP   BritainEurope14 -5 11 Processes (42%)
45 NIKE   USANorth America8 -1 14 Customer Experience (43%)
46 DELL   USANorth America7 -12 -17 Business Models (37%)
47 VODAFONE GROUP   BritainEurope7 -21 15 Business Models (33%)
48 INTEL   USANorth America4 -10 6 Products (53%)
49 SOUTHWEST AIRLINES   USANorth America15 9 -9 Customer Experience (50%)
50 AMERICAN EXPRESS   USANorth America3 1 3 Customer Experience (35%)


DATA: Analysis and data provided in collaboration with the innovation practice of the Boston Consulting Group and BCG-VaueScience. Reuters and Compustat were used for financial and industry data and Bloomberg for total shareholder returns.

*Compound growth rates for revenue and operating margins are based on 2004-07 fiscal year data as originally stated. Operating margin is earnings before interest and taxes, as a percentage of revenue. Where possible, quarterly and semiannual data were used to bring performance for pre-June yearends closer to December, 2007. Financial figures were calculated in local currency.

**Stock returns are annualized, 12/31/04 to 12/31/07, and account for price appreciation and dividends.

***Calculating three-year compound annual growth rate for operating margins was not possible when either figure was negative.