Most innovative? Microsoft, Dell place ahead of Apple in new survey

A new survey by strategic consulting and research firm Cheskin and Fitch:Worldwide, an international brand and design firm has been released. The study surveyed over 500 senior business executives across the U.S. in a wide range of industry sectors, asking them in-depth questions on their companies’ innovation practices, including specific approaches, level of authority and leadership, spending trends, success metrics and the influence of major industry trends. The study’s top findings include:

“Microsoft was cited most frequently as one of today’s most innovative companies (137 mentions) in unaided open-ended responses, followed by Dell (47 mentions), Apple (40 mentions). The only non-tech companies to make it on the Top 10 List are Wal-Mart (38 mentions) and Daimler Chrysler (21 mentions).”

More information here.

38 Comments

  1. Given Windows market penetration the findings are not surprising – with over 90% of the worlds computer users using Windows what do you expect? The surprise is that Apple scores so highly when clearly most people have absolutely no experience of it and its products.

  2. They surveyed “500 senior business executives”. What do they know about innovation? Most probably think Microsoft is the only company that makes an OS and that Apple is just another clone maker. Many people think this way.

  3. NO WONDER OUR ECONOMY IS IN TROUBLE! These are the opinions of senior execs? Wal-Mart? Their only innovation is to use Standard Oil tactics to grow and crush everything in their way. Dell & MS, I won’t EVEN go there.

  4. It’s not surprising that people believe such bullslop when sources such as a recent BBC news bulletin descirbed Microsoft as “The world’s largest computer manufacturer”!

  5. senior execs are usually the dumbest at a company. Absolutely clueless and out of touch, they should have asked the peeps who really run the companies, like peeps in operations and lower end management who are actually in the trenches.

  6. I could not find (on a quick glance through of the report) who funded the study. This is very, very important as the funders often indirectly (and sometimes directly) end up influencing how the questions are worded, what order they are asked, and how they are presented.

    Anyone know who funded the study?

  7. To answer my own question, IBM are at #5 with 31 votes. So Dell innovate more than IBM, according to these people. Well, at least I now know why we’re not all living on the Moon yet, like the people 20 years ago thought we would be doing by now.

    Dell innovation. That’s funny.

  8. This explains why the TV show “Street Smarts” never has a problem finding complete idiots to answer questions.

    “What is the color of George Washington’s white horse?”

    “Brown”

  9. In any Philosophy 101 or General Science 101 class, it is taught on the very first day that “popular consensus” is NOT criteria for truth.

    The general population once thought that the Sun revolved around the Earth, and that if a person traveled faster than 60 mph, the air would be sucked from his lungs and he would suffocate.

    Even today, many people believe that green is the top color on a traffic light, Columbus discovered America to prove the Earth wasn’t flat (2 errors there), there are 52 states (don’t ask anyone east of the MIssissippi River to locate Idaho), and the White House or a pyramid is in the center on the back of a $1US bill (do you know what’s there?).

    If such simple common facts such as traffic lights and dollar bills, things they see a dozen times every day, have the general public stumped why would anyone survey a group of people about a topic they know very little about? You would probably get very similar results if you ask, “What is your favorite color?”

    People are silly. People that use these people as a source of information are even sillier. But, for the people that read these results and take them as fact… well, you know what they are.

  10. I read the report on the findings. I like this:


    Rebellion is out, relating is in. Twenty-six (26%) percent of companies define innovation as “a solution” that identifies and addresses the unmet needs of consumers. Very few associated innovation with a more likely term such as “discovery” or “revolution.”

    so over 500 senior business executives across the U.S. have no idea what the word “innovate” actually means.

    sheesh.

  11. monkeyking

    “interesting how everyone here disagrees with the article. Who’re really the idiots, the survey participants or the people who zealously feed Apple money?”

    it’s very simple. name innovations that came from Dell or MS for that matter. name them.

    then name innovations from Apple.

    Frankly, the only innovation from Dell is the way they sell computers.

  12. There must be a mistake here. I think they’re talking about Win-novation. Not innovation. That explains it.

    How many of these 500 “senior business executives” use Microsoft products exclusively and answered the survey on their Dell Laughitude laptop?

  13. “Frankly, the only innovation from Dell is the way they sell computers.”

    That’s a stretch. I wouldn’t call the concept of selling a product directly to consumers an innovation. Ever heard of Spiegel?

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