Tesla Motors ranked most innovative auto company; Tata Motors is 26th

Innovation continues to rise in importance. In The Boston Consulting Group’s (BCG) 10th annual global survey of the state of innovation, 79% of respondents ranked innovation as either the top-most priority or a top-three priority at their company, the highest percentage since the survey began in 2005, when 66% said innovation was their top or among their three top priorities.

The BCG perspectives researching the most innovative companies evaluated the state of innovation over the past 10 years ― which also includes the market downturn at the end of the last decade. The results are tabulated from BCG's survey of thousands of senior-level executives around the world, identifying the 50 most innovative companies each year.

Apple and Google continued to hold the top two spots in the list followed by Tesla Motors, which has been moving up the list at the speed of one of its Model S sedans. Fast-tech companies, tech-savvy automakers, and a company that exemplifies scientific expertise combined with lean R&D in the pharmaceutical industry complete the top 10.

Toyota at No 6, BMW at No 7 and Daimler at No 10 rounded up the automotive companies in the top 10. Domestic carmaker Tata Motors was a first-time entrant at the 26th spot, the highest for an automotive company outside the top 10. French carmaker Renault at No 33 and Wolfsburg-based Volkswagen 35 were the other automakers in the Top 50 list.

Toyota is slated as the most innovative of traditional automotive companies as it maintained its position in the top 10 eight times in the last 10 years.

The Top 50

Given the strong impact of technological developments such as mobile technology and social media in the last decade, one might expect technology companies to have shoved aside their more traditional counterparts. Yet there are plenty of traditional companies on the list. They, too, have used technological advances to their own innovative ends. Five of the top 10 companies in 2015 are non-tech companies (although one, Tesla Motors, bridges a couple of sectors). On the larger list of the 50 most innovative companies, 38 (76%) are non-tech companies.

The top 50 list comprises 29 companies from the US, 11 from Europe, and 10 from Asia. Emerging markets also make their presence felt with three companies from China and one from India.

High-Impact Factors

The four attributes that fuel innovation are interrelated, so it’s hard to examine one in any depth without running into another. Speed has long been a priority and is one of the major sources of differentiation for true breakthrough innovators. In fact, the percentage of respondents in 2015 citing the importance of quickly adopting new technologies jumped 22% over 2014.

Lean R&D processes have a major effect on speed — as well as on multiple other areas. Hence, the percentage of respondents citing improvements in operating processes as crucial to innovation increased this year. Lean methodologies that were originally developed for manufacturing are now being applied in a sophisticated manner to R&D and new-product development, and they are having a big and growing impact in such industries as industrial goods, health care, and high tech.

In most companies, technology used to live in its own silo — the IT department. Today, digital, mobile, big data, and other technologies are used to support and enable innovation across the organization, from new-product development to manufacturing to go-to-market strategies in multiple industries.

Finally, many companies facing slow growth in their core businesses are looking to expand into adjacent markets. To do so, they frequently leverage existing capabilities in lean, speed, and technology platforms to enable innovations, whether next door or further afield.