LEAD STORY:
Which companies are the smartest? Using public financial data companies have reported over the past three years,
Baseline contributor Paul A. Strassmann has developed a formula that can be used to rank companies by how smart they are. The formula is another way to evaluate how well an information-technology department is supporting an organization.
THE LIST: Real estate, technology, financial services, biotech and pharmaceutical, oil and gas, and media corporations top the list of the smartest companies.
DOWNLOAD THE RANKINGS: Download the list of the 100 smartest companies, available as a PDF.
DO IT YOURSELF: How smart is your company? Figure it out using this step-by-step interactive worksheet.
SMART COMPANY PROFILES
EBAY: Portable applications propel the online auctioneer.
MARVEL ENTERTAINMENT: Tracking the appeal of Spider-Man and other characters through business analytics powers the bottom line.
INDUSTRY RANKINGS
The Smartest Biotech Companies
The Smartest Financial Companies
The Smartest Media Companies
The Smartest Oil Companies
The Smartest Real Estate Companies
The Smartest Technology Companies
QUESTION: Which metrics do you think are indicators of a company's brains? Write to: baseline@ziffdavis.com.
Projects: Management 
