In Thursday’s #triviathursday I asked the question “BusinessWeek’s 2010 rankings for innovative companies were released in April. Number 7 on that list is who and why is it significant?”
The answer came once again from DeadMongoose (second week in a row) who answered:
DeadMongoose
In the article, BusinessWeek remarked that of the top 50 innovative companies, 15 on the list were asian (including Korean company LG). This number is up from 5 in 2006. Previous stalwarts, 3M, Starbucks and eBay were absent from the list in 2010.
This signifies a mind significant shift in the global marketplace. During the Industrial Revolution, countries in Asia, like China, Korea and Taiwan, thrived due to the outsourcing of manufacturing. Innovation wasn’t key to their growing economy. Hard work and long hours drove the culture. Innovation was led by North American companies. In fact, just five years ago only 6 of the top 20 were headquartered outside the US. This year, 12 of the top 25 were located outside the US.
This is a wake-up call for US companies. They cannot rely on what made them successful twenty years ago. They need new practices, new products and new services, made for a rapidly evolving economy.
Tomorrow, a case study on an old world US company committed to innovation in new world economy.
