The 50 Most Innovative Companies

*With the sudden reversal of the global economy, businesses are struggling not only with shrinking income and budgets, but also with seismic shifts that are upending entire industries,from autos and retail to banking&entertainment.These same forces are apparent in our latest ranking of the Most Innovative Companies.While the 2009 list includes some stalwarts in their usual top positions—namely Apple and Google—15 newcomers have joined the lineup, the biggest change since BusinessWeek and Boston Consulting Group first partnered on this proprietary survey in 2005. These include more companies headquartered outside the U.S. than in the past, such as Volkswagen, Infosys, and Telefónica. See a full explanation of our methodology as well as the footnotes at the bottom of the table.

2009 Rank	2008 Rank	Company	HQ Country	HQ Continent	Stock Returns 2005-08 * (in %)	Revenue Growth 2005-08 ** (in %)	Margin Growth 2005-08 *** (in %)	Known for its Most Innovative (% who think so)
1	1	Apple	U.S.	North America	5.9	30.4	15.8	Product (47%)
2	2	Google	U.S.	North America	-9.5	52.6	-8.2	Customer Experience (26%)
3	3	Toyota Motor	Japan	Asia	-20.7	4.2	-35.9	Process (35%)
4	5	Microsoft	U.S.	North America	-8.0	13.5	-1.3	Process (26%)
5	7	Nintendo	Japan	Asia	36.7	61.1	20.6	Product (48%)
6	12	IBM	U.S.	North America	2.3	4.4	14.3	Process (31%)
7	15	Hewlett-Packard	U.S.	North America	9.1	10.9	31.6	Process (39%)
8	13	Research In Motion	Canada	North America	24.6	74.1	11.2	Product (53%)
9	10	Nokia	Finland	Europe	-8.3	14.0	-10.3	Product (38%)
10	23	Wal-Mart Stores	U.S.	North America	8.0	9.1	-2.1	Process (49%)
11	11	Amazon.com	U.S.	North America	2.8	31.2	-4.8	Customer Experience (41%)
12	8	Procter & Gamble	U.S.	North America	4.5	11.7	2.4	Process (27%)
13	6	Tata Group	India	Asia	Private	Private	Private	Product (44%)
14	9	Sony	Japan	Asia	-25.8	3.1	-41.1	Product (40%)
15	19	Reliance Industries	India	Asia	22.6	28.5	11.9	Business Model (35%)
16	26	Samsung Electronics	South Korea	Asia	-10.8	10.5	-1.5	Product (41%)
17	4	General Electric	U.S.	North America	-19.7	10.1	-12.2	Process (36%)
18	NR	Volkswagen	Germany	Europe	-14.4	7.1	33.6	Customer Experience (38%)
19	30	McDonalds	U.S.	North America	25.8	7.2	9.5	Customer Experience (55%)
20	14	BMW	Germany	Europe	-14.8	6.9	-14.6	Customer Experience (37%)
21	17	Walt Disney	U.S.	North America	-0.2	6.4	17.2	Customer Experience (68%)
22	16	Honda Motor	Japan	Asia	-15.4	4.8	-14.6	Product (47%)
23	27	AT&T	U.S.	North America	9.9	41.5	9.7	Product (33%)
24	NR	Coca-Cola	U.S.	North America	6.8	11.4	0.1	Customer Experience (38%)
25	47	Vodafone	Britain	Europe	8.6	10.2	N/A	Product (25%)
26	NR	Infosys	India	Asia	-8.1	32.4	2.0	Process (40%)
27	NR	LG Electronics	South Korea	Asia	-5.0	9.6	17.0	Product (46%)
28	NR	Telefónica	Spain	Europe	12.2	17.0	-2.0	Business Model (40%)
29	31	Daimler	Germany	Europe	-11.9	1.5	39.0	Product (40%)
30	34	Verizon Communications	U.S.	North America	10.4	11.9	-1.0	Customer Experience (38%)
31	NR	Ford Motor	U.S.	North America	-32.6	-3.3	N/A	Product (36%)
32	35	Cisco Systems	U.S.	North America	-1.6	14.3	-8.0	Process (27%)
33	48	Intel	U.S.	North America	-14.3	-1.1	-8.0	Process (35%)
34	28	Virgin Group	Britain	Europe	Private	Private	Private	Customer Experience (45%)
35	NR	ArcelorMittal	Luxembourg	Europe	-6.7	64.4	-18.0	Business Model (63%)
36	40	HSBC Holdings	Britain	Europe	-6.1	20.3	-18.0	Process (32%)
37	42	ExxonMobil	U.S.	North America	14.5	8.8	2.0	Process (47%)
38	NR	Nestlé	Switzerland	Europe	4.3	6.5	-14.0	Product (47%)
39	NR	Iberdrola	Spain	Europe	7.5	54.0	-14.0	Customer Experience (40%)
40	25	Facebook	U.S.	North America	Private	Private	Private	Customer Experience (51%)
41	22	3M	U.S.	North America	-7.2	6.1	-3.0	Product (44%)
42	NR	Banco Santander	Spain	Europe	-9.3	11.8	2.0	Business Model (37%)
43	45	Nike	U.S.	North America	7.1	11.5	-4.0	Customer Experience and Product (36% each)
44	NR	Johnson & Johnson	U.S.	North America	2.4	8.1	1.0	Customer Experience (42%)
45	49	Southwest Airlines	U.S.	North America	-19.2	13.3	-25.0	Customer Experience (45%)
46	NR	Lenovo	China	Asia	-14.2	6.6	4.0	Business Model (35%)
47	NR	JPMorgan Chase	U.S.	North America	-4.4	-2.6	N/A	Process (62%)
48	NR	Fiat	Italy	Europe	-13.5	8.5	2.0	Product (30%)
49	24	Target	U.S.	North America	-13.5	8.1	2.0	Customer Experience (60%)
50	NR	Royal Dutch Shell	Netherlands	Europe	4.7	14.3	-8.0	Process (45%)

FOOTNOTES

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

* Stock returns are annualized, Dec. 31, 2005, to Dec. 31, 2008, and account for price appreciation and dividends.

** Revenue and operating margin growth are annualized based on 2005-08 fiscal years. Margin growth is earnings before interest and taxes as a percentage of revenues reported in most recent statements or filings. Where possible, quarterly and semiannual data were used to bring performance for pre-June yearends closer to December 2008. Financial figures were calculated in local currency.

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

*Sources:-“Business Week”