Google Inc., Apple Computer Inc., and SanDisk are examples of firms that spend less than their rivals in the area of research and development, yet they get more back from their investment. The concept of spending less and obtaining more is the most important finding to come from a study by Booz Allen Hamilton, a consulting firm. The report defined the research and development practices that provided the best revenue, profit, and stock price increases while keeping the money spent on research below the averages in a given industry. According to the study's author, Barry Jaruzelski, the important thing is how a company actually spends the amount it decides to invest. Companies that received the best returns from the research and development outlays shared several characteristics. These included having processes for generating and tracking ideas, systems for choosing the projects to be funded, and methods for taking projects from product development through to successful commercialization. During a six-month period in which consultants reviewed public records to determine the research and developing spending of over 1,000 of the largest companies the world, Booz Allen identified 94 companies that stood out from the rest in terms of sales and profit growth, while at the same time, spending less on research and development as a percentage of their sales. In addition to Google, Apple, and Sandisk, eBay, Yahoo!, Symantec, and Varian Medical Systems were among the top firms.