BusinessWeek released its list of the top 50 most innovative companies over the weekend, and, as usual, Apple won. This is the third time in a row. Now, far be it for me to knock any effort that names Apple the winner of anything, but I’m not terribly convinced by the methodology used to put the ranking together by BW and Boston Consulting Group. Surveying senior executives just seems so 1980s, and it inevitably means that quite shallow measurements are advantaged — flashiest product intros, most profitability attributable to new products, etc.
I mean, how honored can you be as most innovative in the world when Microsoft is No. 5? Or Sony moving up three slots to No. 10 in the year that they introduced the PS3 while Nintendo is at No. 39? Or Wal-Mart at No. 11 when Target’s down at No. 15? The entire index is suspect. Except for the part where Apple wins, of course.
Note to the senior executives of America: “Most Innovative” does not mean “hottest on the stock market.”
The 50 Most Innovative Companies [BusinessWeek]
Technorati Tags: apple, innovation
Pete Mortensen is a design strategist for consulting firm Jump Associates and the co-author of Wired to Care: How Companies Prosper When They Create Widespread Empathy, a book and blog that are significantly more interesting than you might initially think. Pete’s particular Apple avocations are both around design–interface and industrial. Follow him on Twitter!
3 responses to “Apple Most Innovative Company for Third Year Running”
Well said. Apparently (though I don’t read it and thus don’t know it), BusinessWeek not only reflects the executives’ opinions, but it’s also directed at those same people. Who probably agree with the article.
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