Innovation apparently will be a buzz word also in 2018 and although we are still at the beginning of the year, three important publications have already published their chosen ones for 2018.
Boston Consulting Group and Fast Company have published a top with 50 innovative companies while Forbes has extended the list to 100.
You can check the complete lists here:
Boston Consulting Group – The Most Innovative Companies of 2018
Fast Company – The World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies – 2018
Forbes – The World’s Most Innovative Companies
Of course there are different criteria in evaluating how innovative each company is and I will not comment on these, I will instead focus only on the first 10 most innovative companies:
| BCG | Forbes | Fast Company | |
| 1. | Apple | Salesforce | Apple |
| 2. | Tesla | Netflix | |
| 3. | Microsoft | Amazon | Square |
| 4. | Amazon | RAAS | Tencent |
| 5. | Samsung | Netflix | Amazon |
| 6. | Tesla | Incite | Patagonia |
| 7. | Hindustan Unilever | CVS Health | |
| 8. | IBM | Asian Paints | The Washington Post |
| 9. | Uber | Naver | Spotify |
| 10. | Alibaba | Regeneron Pharma. | NBA |
In the BCG top there are well known companies and no surprises, instead in the other 2 tops there are some companies less known, at least in Europe.
What is surprising, at least to me, is that only Amazon scores in Top 10 in all three tops.
Apple is the leader in two lists but is missing from Top 100 Forbes.
There appear to be a big push on technology and digital innovation, most of the winners being service and not industrial companies.
The battle is on and is becoming very hard to access the top 10 most innovative companies and remain there for too long. But it is clearer that without big investments in technology and a focus on the clients needs, it is and it will be much more difficult to survive.
Innovation is a nice word, but without action and investments it is not enough by itself. And the companies in Top 10 are knowing and practicing it.
RO Innovation blog - Innovating in Romania 