5 years of most innovative companies.pdf

8/14/2019 5 years of most innovative companies.pdf

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Y E I R S O F T H E H O R L D S O SI N N O V A T I V E

8/14/2019 5 years of most innovative companies.pdf

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M A S T E R S O F I N N O V A T IO Nin2008whenFast Company irsf publishedalistof theWorld's 5 0 Most InnovativeCompanies-Google's Chenchiefinformationofficer,DouglasMerrill,appeared o n thecover. Innovation i s superfragile, Menillwarned. It'svery easy t okill.W eneed a stubborn,rebelliousattitude. Gaze backn owover t h e first fiveyearsof thelist,a ndMerrill's wordssnapintofocus: T h e racetoInnovatehasconfrontedcompanieswith anever-ending serieso f challenges.

There'scom petition, sure. B ut there'salso P R :Does t h e publicunderstandyour message? A n dlongevity: C a n y o u innovate oftenenough to remainrelevant? And finance: D o y o u gopublic o r stayprivate?And the ever-present fear of disruption:Technology evolves untily o u discoverthat yourswas transitional.

MostInnovative Companiesis not alegacy;of the

50 honores o n the firstlist,only fourhavem ade ital liveyears. In all,1 9 4 companieshaveappeared,representing diverseindustries, fromappareltobiotechto consumer electronics, and regions, fromSilicon Valley t o Madagascar t o theBRICcountries.

That enormous range has helped usidentify fivecompellingtrend s from the firsthalf-decadeof MostInnovativeCompanies.These currentstake themeasure of innovation's stalwarts and itslashesnthe p a n ; of companies thathave stoodout in theglobalcenterso finnovationan dthosethathaveflourished in theworld's developingeconomies;o ffirms that w o n ou rnotice n o t f o r their innovativeproducts b u t f o r findingnovel waystoconservescarce resourcesinshort,of the companies thathaveshowntheir creativity i n whatthey d o and howthey d o i t Dan Slater

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H L L O F F M EMany companies,evenvery good ones, get streaky,h itting home runs one yearand going silent thenext.A veryfewcallit the triple crown club o f innovationnever stophitting it out ofthe park.

Apple, Google,Facebook Amazontheonly companiesto make the list eacho f the firstive yearshaverefused to get comfortable. Ratherthan crouching into defensivemode, theyo pened their platforms and alliedwith outside developers. Instead ofstickingwith what works, theyexpanded into new markets, often com petingdirectly withrivals.Facebook which is not onthe 2012list has shownsome weaknesses lately. What definesaHallofFamer is constantlyupping your game, morphing and evolving intosomething new and unexpected.

It s easy to forgetthat Apple usedtobe a merecon-sumerelectronicscompany.Indeedfor2008 slist wepraised it forjustthat.Apple stillleads the way in thecategory,but nowit s also a seller ofapps, music,andcameratechnology.

The movesweren tobvious forane-commercehub,bu twhenAmazonbe tbig one-readersan dbranchedintobookpublishing itshowedth e sorto finnovative braver}thatkeeps a greatcompanygreat.

Fcicebook wasastraightfonvardso -cial network (albeitone serving nearlya sixthoftheworld s population)untilit widenedi tsplatform to includemusic, news,andmore.

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As ifitwasn tenoughtobe theInternet s homepage,Googlehasevolved fromanad-supportedsearch engine toadominantplayer in

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G R N O V T IO NWhen we think ofgreen companies, we think of solarpower,windenergy, biofuels,an delectriccars. Butth

a r e other waysto b e green.Companies suchasFrito-Lay,Timberland,and W almart may not b e knowenvironmentaladvocates,yettheyandother surprisingly eco-friendlyfirmshave made t h e Most Innova

Companieslist for greening someaspectoftheirbusine

lRedesignsplants tomeet zerolandfillstatus.

Greensthesupply chainb y cutting imports a n doffeng fair-tradeproducts;becomes firstU K retailerof 100Britishbacon.

Recycles plastics intopolyester jerseys.

Organizes coalitiono fsustainableapparelcompanies (joinedb yNike andW almart).

Recyclesbillboardsintotote bags,goes carbonneutral,an dusessus-tainablematenals.

8 :DoublesU.S.market fo r energy-saving bulbs;tracksh o w suppliers reducepackaging;teachesem -ployees aboutsustain-ability;installs solarpanels o n stores.2009:Eliminatesu n-necessary packaging ;reduces energy u s e a n dmaterial sent to landfill.2010:Saves energyin stores withhigh-efficiencylightbulbs;continues greeningthesupplychain.

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C S U L T I E S O F I N N O V T I O NAdecadeago , thebusiness woridbegan t o fretovertheprospecto fe-commercecutting out brick-and-monarstoresa nd digitally deliverednews andbookssetting fire o print.Business andtechgeekshavea wonky termfor the phenomenon: disintermediation. B asically, it means that someone, o r something,gets cut out of atransaction: a sidestepping, a stomping out, a preemption of one kind o r another.Consumerelectronics, m oviedistribution, advertising,content creation, games,musicthe rapid evolutionof online media has up endedindustries,renderingmany o l d modelseither defunct o r struggling to keep up. But justbecausea disruptermakes thelistdoesn t mean i twillstay the re; most fell off quickly.

A P P L E S T A R G E T SEver the disrupter, Apple h as stayed aloft by ridingsuccessive waves ofinnovation, moving firom...

No. 2 :Consumerelec-tror\ics Phone.iPod Touch)...S o . 4: Toapps f o r t h eiPhone)...

No .3 : T o muskretail v ia theiTunes store). ..

No. I: T o a tabletap pecosystem(brtheiPad)... NosmteiPca

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