According to a new report from the Boston Consulting Group’s (BCG), Apple has retained the crowned as the most innovative company in the world in 2013.
In its new report, The Most Innovative Companies 2013: Lessons from Leaders, BCG reveals the 50 companies that this year’s sample of over 1,500 international executives ranked as the most innovative.
According to BCG findings:
• Apple has been number one every year since 2005.
• Google, which ranked number two from 2006 to 2012, placed third this year.
• Samsung has been rising rapidly since 2008 and ranked number two in 2013, up from number 26 in 2008.
• Microsoft and IBM have been in the top ten nearly every year since 2005.
“Tech and telecom still rule a big part of the innovation roost,” said Kim Wagner, a BCG senior partner and coauthor of the report. “But we are also seeing a resurgence in recognition for the ability of traditional manufacturers to innovate in product, process, and technology. Auto companies are leading the way.”
The report also singles out five factors that lead to strength in innovation:
• Senior-management commitment
• The ability to leverage intellectual property
• Customer focus
• Innovation portfolio management
• Well-defined and governed processes
“Companies that continually create value over the long term—meaning decades or more—learn how to ingrain the ability into their corporate makeup; it becomes part of their culture and DNA,” said Andrew Taylor, BCG partner and a coauthor of the report. “They create value, jobs, and growth because of their ability to institutionalize innovation.”