BOSTON, March 21, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- For the first
time, there's a shakeup at the top of BCG's annual list of the most
innovative companies. In this year's global survey of more than
2,500 senior innovation leaders, longtime leader Apple ranks third,
and Google (or its parent company, Alphabet) and Amazon move up to
first and second place, respectively. Microsoft and Samsung round
out the top five.
Although tech companies hold nine of the top ten places,
traditional industries are account for more than half of the top 50
list. Adidas (#10), Boeing (#11), BASF (#12), Johnson & Johnson
(#14), and DowDuPont (#15) rank in the top 15. T-Mobile (#13),
DowDuPont, Vale (#19), Stryker (#35), and Rio Tinto (#49) join the
list for the first time.
The rising importance of digital technology continues to be an
overarching megatrend for innovators. In particular, BCG's new
report, The Most Innovative Companies 2019: The Rise of AI,
Platforms, and Ecosystems, finds that innovators are
increasingly embracing AI as a way to develop new products and
services and improve internal innovation. In addition, innovators
are embracing technology platforms and their cousin, ecosystems, to
tap into sources of external innovation and differentiation.
"Digital technology and external innovation have become
watchwords," said Ramón Baeza, a BCG senior partner and report
coauthor. "All of the top ten companies—and many in the top 50—use
AI, platforms, and ecosystems to enable themselves and others to
pursue new products, services, and ways of working."
AI Gains Traction
Among survey respondents, 90%
reported that their companies are investing in AI. More than 30%
expect AI to be among the innovation areas with the highest impact
on their businesses in the next three to five years. Almost 30% are
actively targeting AI in their innovation programs.
A skills gap is evident with respect to AI. More than 65% of
self-described strong innovators rate themselves as above average
on AI, versus just 2% of weak innovators. Just under 20% of all
respondents see their organizations as both strong innovators and
above average on AI (a group the report calls AI leaders). Among AI
leaders, 94% see AI as important to their organizations' future
growth, versus 56% of AI laggards (respondents who rate their
organization's AI capabilities as below average).
"AI will have a significant impact on business processes, but
its biggest potential lies in developing new products and services
that can yield major revenue streams over time," said Michael Ringel, a BCG senior partner and report
coauthor. "AI leaders are already blazing a trail," he said, noting
that leaders reported much higher percentages of sales driven by
AI-enhanced products or services introduced in the past three
years.
Among AI leaders, 46% say AI-enhanced products and services
represented 16% or more of sales, versus 10% for laggards. And AI
leaders and laggards see AI playing a larger role in the future,
with 54% of leaders and 22% of laggards expecting more than 16% of
sales to come from AI-enhanced products and services in the next
five years.
Strong Innovators Access Outside Resources
Rising use
of AI is one factor driving increased interest in platforms and
ecosystems. AI leaders say they are more likely to use external
vendors for AI projects, with 36% relying entirely on external
vendors and another 48% using mostly external services or a mix or
internal and outside capabilities. This approach may be helping
leaders climb the AI curve quickly, since expertise is still in
short supply.
This year's report shows organizations increasingly
looking beyond their own walls for new ideas. Partnership
models are on the rise: from 2015 to 2018, more strong innovators
are using incubators (rising from 59% to 75%), academic
partnerships (rising from 60% to 81%), and company partnerships
(rising from 65% to 83%).
"Digital technologies enable collaboration platforms, and
collaboration platforms enable ecosystems that bring together a
group of organizations to build a new capability or product or
service offering, or to push forward a new field of science or
technology," said Florian Grassl, a
BCG partner and report coauthor. "Not all ecosystems are alike,
however. They have different types of glue that bind their
participants. Money is one type, of course, but knowledge, data,
skills, and community can be equally important."
Some ecosystems are expansions of traditional ways of organizing
and doing business. They tend to have an orchestrator at the
center, with which all the other participants interact, and
established hierarchies and structures. Other ecosystems, including
many of those that are involved in the early research phase of
research and development, tend to be more dynamic. They rely less
on a central orchestrator and more on multifaceted interactions
among participants.
BCG has surveyed senior innovation executives—across a wide
range of countries and industries—13 times since 2004 to cast light
on the state of innovation in business. A copy of the firm's latest
report can be downloaded here.
To arrange an interview with one of the authors, please contact
Eric Gregoire at +1 617 850
3783 or gregoire.eric@bcg.com.
About Boston Consulting Group
Boston Consulting Group
(BCG) is a global management consulting firm and the world's
leading advisor on business strategy. We partner with clients from
the private, public, and not-for-profit sectors in all regions to
identify their highest-value opportunities, address their most
critical challenges, and transform their enterprises. Our
customized approach combines deep insight into the dynamics of
companies and markets with close collaboration at all levels of the
client organization. This ensures that our clients achieve
sustainable competitive advantage, build more capable
organizations, and secure lasting results. Founded in 1963, BCG is
a private company with offices in more than 90 cities in 50
countries. For more information, please visit bcg.com.
View original content to download
multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/google-tops-bcgs-list-of-50-most-innovative-companies-for-first-time-300815995.html
SOURCE Boston Consulting Group (BCG)