THE MOST INNOVATIVE COMPANIES 2009

1. THE MOST INNOVATIVE COMPANIES 2009

2. The State of Innovation • Not so long ago, innovation was a must-do priority for business. Now research and development might seem more like vacation homes and new cars—luxuries that will have to wait for better times. In an annual survey of top executives by Boston Consulting Group, which provides the foundation of BusinessWeek's Most Innovative Companies list, more respondents said that innovation spending will be flat or down than since the ranking began in 2005. But recession and market meltdown aside, many on the 2009 ranking are finding ways to forge ahead.

3. No. 50: ROYAL DUTCH SHELL With revenue of $458.4 billion in 2008, Royal Dutch Shell might behave as if money were no object. But it is a big believer in cost-cutting from new technology. At offshore sites, for instance, Shell uses unmanned platforms powered by wind and solar energy.

4. No. 49: TARGET As consumers go back to basics, Target has struggled. To adjust to the times, the discount retailer is testing a prototype store with more grocery and drugstore items. Meanwhile, Target is protecting its cheap-chic cachet with limited-run offerings.

5. No. 48: FIAT Stylish, fuel-efficient models such as the Bravo and Punto could soon appear in U.S. showrooms, thanks to Fiat's new partnership with Chrysler. Forget the "Fix It Again, Tony" jokes: Quality has dramatically improved.

6. No. 47: JPMORGAN CHASE CEO Jamie Dimon has a big thing for technology. After whipping the bank's IT system into shape, Dimon has been moving more money toward paperless products and services. One example: envelope-free deposits at all the bank's ATMs.

7. No. 46: LENOVO Sleek and functional, Lenovo computers stand out among the rest from China. And by understanding the needs of China's vastly diverse consumers, Lenovo has become a leading seller to Net-savvy urban youth as well as penny-pinching farmers.

8. No. 45: SOUTHWESTERN The carrier made flying affordable for the masses, thanks to a hyper-efficient ability to squeeze more flights out of each plane every day. Southwest is now redesigning airport gates to streamline boarding.

9. No. 44: JOHNSON & JOHNSON Johnson & Johnson is as innovative in how its runs its businesses as it is in product development. The health-care conglomerate buys operating companies and then gives them considerable independence.

10. No. 43: NIKE Known for design, the athletic shoe and apparel maker is now refashioning its supply chain and stores. CEO Mark Parker says the restructuring could reduce Nike's 35,000-person workforce by 4%. But will jocks still pay three figures for a pair of sneaks?

11. No. 42: BANCO SANTANDER The Spanish bank, which has made an art form from cross-selling financial products to its huge base of retail customers worldwide, now has its sights on U.S. expansion, through its acquisition of S&L Sovereign Bank.

12. No. 41: 3M The creator of Post-it Notes and Scotch Tape has been scoring more recently in industrial markets. Its expertise in adhesives, films, and weatherproofing came together in a new product that protects the backside of solar panels.

13. No. 40: FACEBOOK With over 200 million users, the world's largest social networking site continues to focus on growing its population, not its profits, and that means new features and new partners like CNN and Hulu.

14. No. 39: IBERDROLA Through a string of acquisitions, this Spanish utility has become the world's biggest wind-power company, operating turbine farms from the U.S. Pacific Northwest to the Baltics and the Greek islands. Next up are projects in Mexico and Hungary.

15. No. 38: NESTLÉ The world's biggest food company keeps rolling out new products, such as Nespresso coffee pods, thanks to a double-digit increase in R&D spending. It's also feasting on healthier profit margins after a top-to-bottom global reorganization.

16. No. 37: EXXON MOBIL Exxon Mobil is famously tight-lipped about what's going on in the lab, but CEO Rex Tillerson says projects include work on carbon sequestration that could reduce greenhouse gas emissions from burning coal and a technology for much-improved car mileage.

17. No. 36: HSBC HOLDINGS Thanks to its wide reach in emerging markets—HSBC does business in 83 countries—the London-based bank soared in 2008. Its foray into subprime loans in the U.S., though, showed the peril of pushing too far.

18. No. 35: ARCELORMITTAL CEO Lakshmi Mittal blazed a trail as he assembled the first truly global steelmaker. But even a lean structure and low-cost mills aren't enough to offset a plunge in industrial output and steel prices.

19. No. 34: VIRGIN Its roots may be planes, trains, and music, but Virgin's future encompasses everything from biofuel to space tourism. Virgin's edge across its businesses is a relentless focus on wowing customers and its marketing panache.

20. No. 33: INTEL The chipmaker set the computer industry on its ear with its low-cost, low-power Atom processor for discount-priced, Web-centric machines called netbooks. Now Intel is taking aim at consumer electronics and mobile devices.

21. No. 32: CISCO SYSTEMS Cisco came to its networking industry dominance mostly by grabbing market share during downturns. It is poised to score again: The company has more than $30 billion in cash for acquisitions.

22. No. 31: FORD MOTOR Ford is swiftly bringing new electric and hybrid vehicles to market, while also delivering a new generation of smaller engines that save big on gas while not sacrificing horsepower.

23. No. 30: VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS Customers rank Verizon as the best wireless network in the U.S. To offer faster service, the company is rolling out Internet broadband and TV services, followed by a fourth-generation wireless network in 2010.

24. No. 29: DAIMLER The German carmaker was caught off guard by a shift to smaller SUVs. But in a display of design and engineering prowess, Daimler used components from the Mercedes C-Class sedan to produce the elegant new GLK sport-ute in record time.

25. No. 28: TELEFÓNICA The Spanish phone company is reaping rewards from smart and timely dealmaking, including acquisitions in Latin America and an agreement to distribute Apple's iPhone in 16 countries in Europe.

26. No. 27: LG To turn itself into a trendsetter, LG has poached top talent from the likes of IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Pfizer, and Procter & Gamble. High on the new team's agenda: standardizing the hodgepodge of processes and systems that LG has developed around the world.

27. No. 26: INFOSYS TECHNOLOGIES Of all of India's IT giants, the tech-services outsourcer has been the most conservative when it comes to acquisitions, giving it plenty of cash to spend now if it chooses.

28. No. 25: VODAFONE Spurred by the rapid growth of Internet apps for mobile devices, the world's largest wireless company is reaching out to new partners and finding that open innovation can help it create services and markets faster than it could on its own.

29. No. 24: COCA-COLA Once criticized as dull, Coca-Cola now sells more than 2,800 products globally, with such additions as ready-to-drink canned coffee and a pomegranate/passion fruit tea. Diet soda Coca-Cola Zero had 36% volume growth in 2008.

30. No. 23: AT&T With its Apple iPhone deal, AT&T is the envy of wireless telecom. A Starbucks venture makes it the biggest U.S. provider of Wi-Fi hotspots. Its focus now: smartphones, digital cameras, and netbooks to link the Web to mobile users anywhere.

31. No. 22: HONDA MOTOR Like all carmakers, Honda is hurting, but its commitment to eco-tech remains. The battery for its Insight is now more efficient, cutting the cost of the gas-electric system by 40% and allowing Honda to offer an affordable Prius rival.

32. No. 21: WALT DISNEY Under tech-savvy CEO Bob Iger, Disney has become a first mover, streamlining its studio and using iTunes to show its movies. Disney.com now features a Fairies avatar game, a favorite of girls. Next up: an XD channel for teen boys.

33. No. 20: BMW Innovation is easier if you still have cash for R&D. CEO Norbert Reithofer began slashing costs well before the recession fully hit. Now the Munich-based carmaker has the luxury to invest in new technologies such as electric vehicles.

34. No. 19: McDONALD'S A half-century after Ray Kroc opened his first McDonald's, you can still order a cheeseburger and fries for a buck each. Yet as tastes change, Mickey D's updates everything from its interiors to its menu. Premium coffee, anyone?

35. No. 18: VOLKSWAGEN Volkswagen has gained on other carmakers with affordable options such as electronic parking assistance for mid-priced vehicles. With eight other brands, including Audi, it's No. 1 in Europe but barely a blip in the U.S.

36. No. 17: GENERAL ELECTRIC The $183 billion conglomerate's financial unit has been battered, but GE is doubling down on R&D in emerging markets, with a new lab in Bangalore. GE also is "trickling up" products designed for the Third World to markets like the U.S.

37. No. 16: SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS Despite falling consumer electronics sales, Samsung spends billions of dollars on R&D to roll out ever-faster memory chips and head-turning flat-screen TVs. The rising star also runs one of the industry's best supply-chain systems.

38. No. 15: RELIANCE INDUSTRIES The $35 billion oil-and-gas company is known for executing world-scale projects frugally and on time. Reliance also enjoys huge profits: It refines the lowest-grade crude oil to earn fatter margins than rivals like Shell and Chevron.

39. No. 14: SONY After a management reorganization in February, Sony is directing its core consumer electronics divisions to model themselves on the PlayStation unit, which began with video games but now has movies, music, and social networking

40. No. 13: TATA Tata can still dazzle, even if its takeovers since 2007 of steelmaker Corus and Jaguar Land Rover look ill-timed now. After making Asia's fastest supercomputer, the $85 billion company just launched a $2,000 minicar, the Nano.

41. No. 12: PROCTER & GAMBLE P&G stresses what CEO A.G. Lafley calls game-changing innovation, investing more than $2.2 billion in 2008 in consumer-focused improvements—beyond that of any competitor. No wonder than most of P&G's brands are category leaders.

42. No. 11: AMAZON.COM Once chided for his R&D spending, CEO Jeff Bezos has turned Amazon into a hyperefficient online mall known for its discounts and service. It also leads in cloud computing and e-books, thanks to its Kindle reader.

43. No. 10: WAL-MART STORES Wal-Mart's supply-chain knowhow has helped it lower prices. Now the discounter is using technology to pioneer digital health-record systems, energy-efficient stores, and a social networking platform dubbed "elevenmoms."

44. No. 9: NOKIA After the iPhone stole share among high-end devices, Finnish mobile-handset maker Nokia quickly replied with a line of touchscreen products that's selling well in Europe and Asia, allowing it to remain the world leader in cell phones.

45. No. 8: RESEARCH IN MOTION With shipments of BlackBerrys up 85% in 2008, RIM is champs in wireless e-mail. Opening a new front in its rivalry with Apple, RIM just launched its own app store where thumbers can buy outside software for their devices.

46. No. 7: HEWLETT-PACKARD Tech's foremost cost-cutter, CEO Mark Hurd has helped focus HP's research labs. The printer, PC, and services units get more from R&D, as two-thirds of that budget goes to practical advances such as touchscreens.

47. No. 6: IBM Positioning itself for the future, IBM is focusing on the "Smart Planet"—how sensors, data analysis, computers, and networks can be joined to improve the performance of everything from transportation systems to electrical grids.

48. No. 5: NINTENDO Mario the plumber has been a fixture in Nintendo video games for decades. But the company regularly updates the franchise with new titles. Its Wii broadens video games' appeal by making them easy for people of all ages to play.

49. No. 4: MICROSOFT Despite powerful rivals, the software giant keeps on swinging. Although its plan to buy Yahoo! was scuttled, Microsoft unveiled a slew of "cloud" offerings so Windows operating system users can meld their PCs more easily with the Internet.

50. No. 3: TOYOTA MOTOR Priding itself as the green leader among carmakers, Toyota will roll out a roomier Prius this spring. Getting 50 mpg, the new model is more powerful and has solar-powered AC to keep the interior cool when the car is parked outside.