Apple, Google, Toyota Motor, and General Electric top this year's list of the World's Most Innovative Companies, according to a new BusinessWeek survey prepared exclusively by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG). 

To determine the 2007 ranking, BCG asked nearly 2,500 executives worldwide to name the most pioneering companies doing business today. Not surprisingly, Apple and Google earned the most votes for the second year in a row. But a few new names broke in to the top 25: Walt Disney shot up to No. 8, aided by the Steve Jobs effect (the Mouse House acquired Pixar in early 2006), for instance, and Boeing rose to No. 21 behind its revolutionary new jet, the 787 Dreamliner.

A common theme in the research for this year's survey was that real innovation -- developing breakthrough products, revamping operational processes, and coming up with new business models -- doesn't happen overnight. It requires organizations that continuously innovate rather than relying on gimmicks or incremental line extensions.

Given all the media coverage of innovation as a management issue, a period of disillusionment appears to be setting in. Just 46% of respondents to the BusinessWeek-BCG survey said they were satisfied with their return on innovation spending, down from 52% last year. Perhaps due to their disappointments, executives are making innovation less of a priority: Just 23% of respondents called it their top concern in this year's survey, down significantly from 32% last year.

According to BCG senior partner James P. Andrew, who heads the firm's global Innovation practice, "When you talk with people who have been at this a while, they'll tell you it takes years. It's rewiring the company."

Harold L. Sirkin, another BCG senior partner and leader of the firm's global Operations practice, adds: "The biggest issue with innovation continues to have nothing to do with ideas--it is about making money and earning a return on your innovation spending. And the problem is getting worse, not better."

According to the study, the world’s 25 most innovative companies are:

1 Apple
2 Google
3 Toyota Motor
4 General Electric
5 Microsoft
6 Proctor & Gamble
7 3M
8 Walt Disney
9 IBM
10 Sony
11 Wal-Mart Stores
12 Honda Motor
13 Nokia
14 Starbucks
15 Target
16 BMW
17 Samsung Electronics
18 Virgin Group
19 Intel
20 Amazon
21 Boeing
22 Dell
23 Genentech
24 eBay
25 Cisco Systems

To read more about the results of this study and why these companies are currently leading the pack, go to www.businessweek.com.