Forbes 100 World’s Most Innovative Companies: Hindustan Unilever Beats Google…WoW!

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Forbes released its list of Most Innovative Companies in the World – and I am really surprised at these rankings, especially because I am sure any list coming from Forbes has to be taken seriously.

Would anyone believe if they said that FMCG giant Hindustan Unilever was more innovative than Google or for that matter Indian PSU Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) is more innovative than Infosys ?

But that’s exactly what Forbes list has to say!

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The Forbes Most Innovative company list puts Salesforce.com at top of the list, followed by Amazon.com. Apple, which many believe to be the pinnacle of innovation though is 5th best, just one rank above Hindustan Lever.

From Indian Perspective – Only 4 companies make the cut in Top 100 most innovative companies – Although there are 2 Indian companies in top 10 and 3 in Top 15.

Forbes 100 World’s Most Innovative Companies

Rank
Company
5-Year Ave. Sales Growth (%)
5-Year Avg. Net Income Growth (%)
Enterprise Value (USD Bln)
Innovation Premium
1 Salesforce.com 39.5 78.7 20.7 75.1
2 Amazon.com 32 37.6 92.7 58.9
3 Intuitive Surgical 43.4 36.4 13.4 57.6
4 Tencent Holdings 69 75.4 46.5 52.3
5 Apple 35.1 60.7 303.4 48.2
6 Hindustan Unilever 10 4 15.5 47.7
7 Google 35 37.1 138.1 44.9
8 Natura Cosméticos 17 13.5 10.2 44.5
9 Bharat Heavy Electricals 27.2 25 19.5 43.6
10 Monsanto 13.4 44.7 41.3 42.6
11 Reckitt Benckiser Group 15.1 18.6 43.4 40.6
12 Celgene 46.3 81.1 27.5 40.5
13 Nidec 5.1 5 15.2 40
14 Terumo 5.8 -0.1 10.7 38
15 Infosys 23.6 22.7 34.3 37.1
16 Pernod Ricard 14 14.9 38.5 36.6
17 Keyence 3.1 1.9 11.3 36.1
18 FMC Technologies 13.5 31.7 10.9 36
19 Starbucks 10.1 3.8 28.9 35.6
20 Nintendo 14.8 -4.6 14.3 35
21 Alcon** 10.4 17.9 34.9
22 Activision Blizzard 31.1 41.6 10.5 34.6
23 Beiersdorf 5.3 -0.7 12.7 34.5
24 Procter & Gamble 7.7 11 211.3 33.4
25 Essilor International 9.9 10 17.4 33.2
26 L’Oréal 6.1 2.6 74.7 33.1
27 Schlumberger 11.8 8.5 126.7 32.7
28 Ecolab 6.3 8.8 14.2 32.6
29 Alstom 9.3 21 19.3 32.5
30 ICL-Israel Chemicals 9.6 15 22 32.3
31 General Mills 5.1 10.2 30.2 32.3
32 CSL 10.1 14 17.8 32.1
33 Colgate-Palmolive 6.9 12.6 46.5 32
34 NetApp 17.3 12 15.8 31.6
35 Danone 5.5 5 57.1 31.5
36 Citrix Systems 14.7 7.5 14.7 30.4
37 Areva -2.1 -3.4 19.1 30.3
38 Rockwell Automation 2.3 -7.5 12.5 30.3
39 Kone 9 37.2 15.5 30.1
40 China Oilfield Services 29.7 38.1 14.5 30
41 Synthes 8 11.5 19.1 29.6
42 Juniper Networks 14.5 -0.1 14.7 29.6
43 Praxair 5.1 9.6 39.6 28.8
44 Estée Lauder Cos 4.6 -1 21.1 28.4
45 Fanuc 3.2 5.8 34.8 28.3
46 Hershey 3.1 -0.5 13.4 27.2
47 Avon Products 5.7 -1.5 14.4 25.9
48 Paccar -10 -30 21.8 25.7
49 SMC Corp 1.1 -2.2 10.9 25.5
50 PepsiCo 10.8 6.6 135.4 25.4
51 Fresenius Medical Care 10.8 15.1 29.2 25.1
52 Secom 3.2 2.8 9.4 25.1
53 Anheuser-Busch InBev 18.7 27.5 133.8 24.9
54 Adobe Systems 11.5 1.8 13.1 24.1
55 Agilent Technologies 1.4 14 15 23.9
56 HTC Corp 30.7 27.4 22.3 23.8
57 Kellogg 4.4 5.3 25.5 23.3
58 Sandvik 5.5 2 22.2 23.3
59 ASML Holding 12.3 26.8 13.2 22.7
60 Air Products & Chemicals 3.1 4.5 24 22.3
61 Qualcomm 13.8 2.1 80.4 22.3
62 Richemont (Compagnie Financière) 6.5 -3.1 30.9 22.2
63 SAP 7.9 3.9 69.1 22.1
64 Emerson Electric 3.2 4.6 44.9 22
65 Campbell Soup 2.2 3.6 13.4 22
66 Kao 4.1 -8.1 15 21.9
67 Atlas Copco 5.8 8.6 28.8 21.9
68 Danaher 9.7 11.2 37.1 21.7
69 Corning 5.9 33.7 21.9 21.4
70 Daikin Industries 7.9 -13.4 13 21.3
71 Thermo Fisher Scientific 33.3 46.6 25.5 21.2
72 Sany Heavy Industry 68.1 91.8 23.1 21.2
73 Johnson Controls 2.4 11.6 31.9 21.2
74 Unilever NV 2.2 2.4 102.9 21
75 Zoomlion Heavy Industry 58.1 71.9 11.4 20.9
76 Rolls-Royce Holdings 10.9 9 16.5 19.4
77 Oracle 17.9 17.8 147.1 19.3
78 Fresenius SE 15.2 22.9 34.7 19.2
79 Syngenta 3.5 13.2 32.4 19.1
80 LeGrand 3.7 32.8 11.7 18.9
81 Schindler Holding -1.3 12.4 11.3 18.8
82 Kraft Foods 7.1 -3.5 89.9 18.6
83 Henkel 4.7 8.1 27.2 18.6
84 Intuit 11.4 6.7 13.9 18.2
85 Cameron International 17.6 23.3 12 18.1
86 Microsoft 9.7 8.3 186 18
87 Automatic Data Processing 8.5 11 24.5 18
88 Maroc Telecom 9 10.4 16.9 17.7
89 Precision Castparts 9.1 21.1 22 17.5
90 Air Liquide 5.3 8.5 44.7 17.4
91 Boston Scientific 3.4 14.9 17
92 Tenaris 1.4 -3.7 26.3 16.8
93 ABB 3.3 23.8 49.2 16.7
94 Toshiba 0.2 12 36.9 16.6
95 Stryker 9.7 14.5 20.7 16.5
96 BAE Systems 13.9 12.6 16.2 16.5
97 Halliburton 10.3 -7.3 50.6 16.1
98 CA 2.8 49.3 9.5 16.1
99 Altera 7.8 14.1 11.1 16.1
100 ConAgra Foods 4.1 13.5 13 16

 

Would love to know what are your views on this list – Do you think rankings are correct or do you think that there is some flaw in the data?

15 Comments
  1. Angel Joseph says

    h.u.l has beaten google! nw wat else cn be surprising than this!

  2. Angel Joseph says

    still…i feel the data must be genuine..

  3. Angel Joseph says

    hindustan unilever should have been at a much higher rank as per its financial staements and overall annual report n history of H.U.L…IN THE FORBES…LIST..COZ inventions of h.u.l continues..n the changes are conspicuous.

  4. Aalok Pandey says

    I think, data authenticity could be genuine.

  5. Aynampudi Subbarao says

    Surprise indeed.

    1. Ajmal Hussain says

      unable to view

  6. InvestorNRI says

    I second Pooja’s comment. When I read the article last month .. was surprised to see that their reason for including HUL (if I remember right) – the introduction of small packaging so that people with low incomes can buy the products too. This has been practiced in India for a few years by a number of companies now .. so not sure why they singled HUL out.
    Pleasantly surprised by the inclusion of BHEL though. Its a tremendous company and is run very professionally. (I’m a shareholder too).

  7. POH says

    I am unclear why you have listed Agilent Technologies as an “Indian” company. Wasn’t it spun off of HP in 1999?

    1. Arun Prabhudesai says

      You are right PH – Agilent is actually not an Indian Company… Just that they have a major presence in India…

  8. Pooja Gupta says

    It would be interesting to know how did Forbes calcualte the Innovation Premium and what all parameters did it take into account.

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