In this piece, we will take a look at the fifteen most creative companies in the world. For more companies, head on over to 5 Most Creative Companies In The World.
While creativity is generally thought to lie in the domain of the arts, it plays a central role in the business world as well. Competition is tough in nearly every industry, even if they are oligopolies like the memory industry since companies have to always stay on the edge and create unique solutions to deliver value to customers and improve their business processes.
At an individual level, creativity is measured by psychologists through what are called ‘divergence tests’. These tests provide respondents with a variety of questions and then determine how unique the provided answers are. Another tool to measure creativity is the Biographical Inventory of Creative Behaviors (BICB). This tool consists of 34 questions that ask users whether they have carried out different activities over the course of the past twelve months.
Shifting towards measuring creativity in the corporate world, Deloitte has some insight into the matter. It refers to a list of subjective assessments that are called consensual assessments. One of these is the Creative Product Semantic Scale (CPSS) which first involves determining the different facets of creativity in products by employing principle components analysis (PCA). This tool, which is also used in artificial intelligence and machine learning, reduces a data set to the set of variables that explain the largest amount of differences. Then, multivariate analysis is used to determine how accurate the CPSS is in determining the levels of, and the differences between, Novelty, Resolution, and Elaboration and Synthesis in the products that are being studied.
On the philosophical side, especially when it comes to industries, one of the most popular concepts of creativity is what is termed as Creative Destruction. This concept was introduced by the Austrian philosopher Joseph Schumpeter in 1942 through his book Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy. Schumpeter elaborated on Karl Marx’s thoughts that were introduced in 1848, and stated that this process is eternal in the business world and is a natural force that caused old industries to die out and become replaced by new ones.
In his own words:
The opening up of new markets and the organizational development from the craft shop and factory to such concerns as US Steel illustrate the process of industrial mutation that incessantly revolutionizes the economic structure from within, incessantly destroying the old one, incessantly creating a new one … [The process] must be seen in its role in the perennial gale of creative destruction; it cannot be understood on the hypothesis that there is a perennial lull.
A popular evolution of this concept, particularly in the modern age, comes from the late Harvard University professor Dr. Clayton Magleby Christensen. Dr. Christensen’s concept outlines that disruptive innovation is when a company or a product enters a market at the bottom run and then ends up displacing the top performers. He uses the iPhone to explain that when the revolutionary product was launched in 2007, it entered the communications device market. However, the iPhone’s true disruption was not because it was a superior product (which Dr. Christensen believes only contributed to its initial popularity) but because it ended up replacing the laptop as the primary means of connecting to the Internet.
Today we will look at the companies that are leading on the creative front today, and some of the top picks are Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), and Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM).
Our Methodology
We consulted Forbes Magazine’s list of The World’s Most Innovative Companies to sift out the top firms that are leading on the innovation front. As a side note, while innovation and creativity are often thought of as synonymously, they are slightly different. While creativity is the idea generation process, innovation calls for putting this idea into practice. In essence, while all creativity is not innovation, all innovation is indeed creativity.
Most Creative Companies In The World
15. Infosys Limited (NYSE:INFY)
Innovation Premium: 37.1
Infosys Limited (NYSE:INFY) is an Indian technology firm that provides different services in North America, Europe, and other countries. It is headquartered in Bengaluru, India.
Infosys Limited (NYSE:INFY) primarily caters to the software side of enterprise services. Its products include banking solutions, artificial intelligence platforms, insurance, learning, and electronic commerce platforms. The company announced in December 2022 that it was opening a new center in Sweden to expand its presence in the Nordics.
22 out of the 920 hedge funds part of Insider Monkey’s Q3 2022 survey had bought a stake in Infosys Limited (NYSE:INFY).
Infosys Limited (NYSE:INFY)’s largest investor is Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management which owns 16.9 million shares that are worth $287 million.
Infosys Limited (NYSE:INFY) meets Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), and Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) in our list of the world’s most creative companies.
14. Terumo Corporation (OTCMKTS:TRUMF)
Innovation Premium: 38.0
Terumo Corporation (OTCMKTS:TRUMF) is a Japanese healthcare firm that sells medical devices and products for different body parts and diseases. The firm is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.
Terumo Corporation (OTCMKTS:TRUMF) operates through cardiovascular, medical care, and blood cell divisions. These sell products such as catheters, valve closing devices, stents, and embolization systems. Additionally, the firm also provides blood bags, infusion systems, syringe pumps, pathogen reduction systems, and cell expansion systems. Terumo Corporation (OTCMKTS:TRUMF) is also investing $102 million to expand its production of prefilled syringes.
13. Nidec Corporation (OTCMKTS:NJDCY)
Innovation Premium: 40.0
Nidec Corporation (OTCMKTS:NJDCY) is a Japanese industrial equipment and machinery provider that serves the needs of several different industries. The firm is headquartered in Kyoto, Japan.
Some of the industries that use Nidec Corporation (OTCMKTS:NJDCY)’s products include healthcare, housing, manufacturing, agriculture, automotive manufacturing, and robotics. Its products are motors, mechanical equipment, inspection equipment, automotive components, devices, and sensors. The firm entered into a $265 million joint venture in December 2022 to develop electrical storage systems.
12. Celgene Corporation
Innovation Premium: 40.5
Celgene Corporation is an American pharmaceutical company that develops a treatment for plasma cell cancer (called myeloma) and anemia. The firm is based in Summit, New Jersey.
Celgene Corporation had five different drugs in its portfolio as of 2019. These covered treatments for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), ovarian cancer, and leukemia in addition to myeloma and anemia. It was acquired by the pharmaceutical giant Bristol Myers for a whopping $79 billion in 2019, in what is the largest deal in the pharma industry’s history. The deal also saw Bristol take $21 million of Celgene Corporation’s debt on its balance sheet.
11. Reckitt Benckiser Group plc (OTCMKTS:RBGLY)
Innovation Premium: 40.6
Reckitt Benckiser Group plc (OTCMKTS:RBGLY) is a British multinational behemoth that is also one of the oldest companies in the world since it was set up in 1819. The company is headquartered in Slough, United Kingdom.
Reckitt Benckiser Group plc (OTCMKTS:RBGLY) has a huge brand portfolio that sees it sell all kinds of products such as first aid products, facial washes, carpet cleaning products, septic tank treatments, pest control, toilet cleaning, fragrances, and even cough medicine. The company is currently battling with an infant formula shortage, which it fears will not be resolved until Spring next year.
10. Monsanto Company
Innovation Premium: 42.6
Monsanto Company is a subsidiary of the German chemical giant Bayer and it is headquartered in Missouri. The firm is known to have pioneered the genetically modified crop industry and it is also an early mover into the biotechnology sector.
The Monsanto Company was the world’s largest supplier of seeds in 2015, and at the time it was the U.S. military’s sole supplier of the deadly chemical White Phosphorus. Bayer bought the firm in 2016 for a $66 billion price tag that saw the German firm divest several of its businesses to receive regulatory clearance. The two companies announced at the time that they plan to spend $16 billion in research and development over the next six years.
9. Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (NSE:BHEL.NS)
Innovation Premium: 43.6
Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (NSE:BHEL.NS) is an Indian company that is headquartered in New Delhi. The firm provides industrial products to the power industry and other segments.
Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (NSE:BHEL.NS)’s products for the power sector include thermal, nuclear, hydroelectric, gas, and solar power plants. These are supplemented by refurbishment equipment such as valves, piping systems, and steam turbines. Additionally, Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (NSE:BHEL.NS) also sells gears, electrical machines, defense and aerospace products, and transformers.
8. Natura &Co Holding S.A. (NYSE:NTCO)
Innovation Premium: 44.5
Natura &Co Holding S.A. (NYSE:NTCO) is a Brazilian company that was founded in 1969 and is headquartered in Sao Paulo, The firm sells perfumes, cosmetics, and hygiene products.
Natura &Co Holding S.A. (NYSE:NTCO) is a global company that is most well known for its The Body Shop brand lineup. Other brands include Avon, Aesop, and Natura. The firm is also a leading player opposing the testing of cosmetics on animals, and it has thousands of stores all over the world.
Three out of the 920 hedge funds polled by Insider Monkey for their Q3 2022 investments had bought a stake in Natura &Co Holding S.A. (NYSE:NTCO).
Paul Marshall and Ian Wace’s Marshall Wace LLP is Natura &Co Holding S.A. (NYSE:NTCO)’s largest investor through a $5.7 million stake.
7. Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)
Innovation Premium: 44.9
Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) is one of the world’s largest technology companies that is headquartered in Mountain View, California.
Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) has a wide variety of products under its belt, including a search engine, an email service, a video streaming platform, consumer electronics, and even cloud computing. The company’s active research division is at the forefront of publishing papers in advanced fields such as machine learning.
By the end of this year’s third quarter, 156 out of the 920 hedge funds polled by Insider Monkey had invested in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG).
Out of these, Chris Hohn’s TCI Fund Management is Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s largest shareholder through a $5 billion stake that comes via 52 million shares.
6. Hindustan Unilever Limited (NSE:HINDUNILVR.NS)
Innovation Premium: 47.7
Hindustan Unilever Limited (NSE:HINDUNILVR.NS) is a subsidiary of Unilever plc and was set up in 1888. The firm is based in Mumbai, India.
Like its parent, Hindustan Unilever Limited (NSE:HINDUNILVR.NS) also sells consumer goods such as cosmetics, food products, tea, coffee, detergents, and soups. The firm also bought GSK’s India business for $3.8 billion in 2020 and it raked in $6.6 billion in revenue in 2022.
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Hindustan Unilever Limited (NSE:HINDUNILVR.NS), and Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) are some of the most creative companies in the world.
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Disclosure: None. 15 Most Creative Companies In The World is originally published on Insider Monkey.