Time Inc.'s Fortune magazine released its fourteenth annual World's Most Admired Companies list.
Hay Group, a global management consulting firm, helped Fortune to identify the World's Most Admired Companies list, which includes conducting the survey and analyzing the results. In addition, Hay Group performed supplemental research on how these organizations are sustaining performance.
Companies at the top of the list are more adept at responding to changing markets and equipping employees with the opportunity and necessary skills to execute corporate strategies, according to Hay Group's research.
Hay Group has collaborated with FORTUNE magazine annually since 1997 to identify, select and rank the World's Most Admired Companies and uncover the business practices that make these companies both highly regarded and successful.
The World’s Most Admired Companies study examined nine attributes of reputation that have been determined to make a company worthy of admiration:
-- Ability to attract and retain talented people
-- Quality of management
-- Social responsibility to the community and the environment
-- Innovative
-- Quality of products or services
-- Wise use of corporate assets
-- Financial soundness
-- Long-term investment value
-- Effectiveness in doing business globally
Amid economic and organizational changes, the World’s Most Admired Companies have created an edge over their peer companies by leveraging the resources and opportunities they have at all levels, not just in the C-Suite, said Jeff Shiraki, Vice President at Hay Group.
These companies are committed to continuous improvement and innovation, even in areas of strength, and are enlisting the creativity of their employees to help stay competitive, said Shiraki.
Few findings from the survey are:
-- 88 percent of World’s Most Admired Companies prioritize innovation versus 79 percent of peers.
-- Emerging markets are key for 79 percent of World’s Most Admired Companies, while only 59 percent of peer firms think so.
-- 94 percent of World’s Most Admired Companies are prepared to take risks to increase effectiveness veruss 77 percent of peers.
-- Reward links effectively to performance at 89 percent of World’s Most Admired Companies compared to 77 percent of peer firms.
-- 91 percent of World’s Most Admired Companies ask employees for ideas on improving efficiency, compared to 76 percent of peers.
Candidate companies include the FORTUNE 1000, Global 500 and top non-US companies. To determine which companies have the strongest reputations, we ask 15,000 top executives, directors and financial analysts to rate companies overall and relative to peer organizations, Hay Group said in a statement.
The World's most admired companies by order are: Apple Inc., Google Inc., Berkshire Hathaway, Southwest Airlines, Procter & Gamble, Coca-Cola, Amazon.com, FedEx, Microsoft, and McDonald's.
Apple has been silent on the answers to these questions, even as outcry over the news about the location data logged by iPhones has spread. ReutersWith the +1 button on its search engine, besides adding a social element, Google continues warring against Facebook.ReutersMr Warren Buffet's corporate story-telling increased the levels of confidence among investors and staff accountability over the years.The Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire Hathaway maintains its third-place spot this year, with an overall score of 6.88, while it topped the Insurance, Property and Casualty industry."CEO Warren Buffett remains an admired champ, both for his judgments about stocks and for having built a huge operating company besides," the magazine noted."One recent stock-market judgment: Berkshire Hathaway increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson in 2010, from about 28 million shares to around 45 million, despite J&J's neverending product recalls during the year. In buying, Buffett followed his usual practice of picking up stocks when they're out-of-favor, betting on them to rise when trouble recedes," the magazine added.Berkshire Hathaway is a conglomerate holding company that oversees and manages a number of subsidiary companies. The company was founded in 1889. Through its subsidiaries, the firm primarily engages in the insurance and reinsurance of property and casualty risks business.Berkshire's class A shares sold for $130,015 as of March 3, 2011, making them the highest-priced shares on the New York Stock Exchange, in part as they have never had a stock split and never paid a dividend, retaining corporate earnings on its balance sheet in a manner that is impermissible for private investors and mutual funds.ReutersSouthwest Airlines announces its earnings on Thursday. ReutersCincinnati-based consumer products giant Procter & Gamble brings back a previous CEO who's now 65.
Derek Jensen (Tysto)The Atlanta, Georgia-based Coca-Cola comes sixth in the most admired companies list with overall score of 5.93, while topping the Beverages industry."When it comes to Coke, consumers still have a sweet tooth. The beverage beast has continued to expand across China, and has earned positive attention for its environmental efforts by conserving water. CEO Muhtar Kent said in its latest earnings report that Coke met or exceeded all of our long-term growth targets for both the quarter and the year," the magazine noted.Coca-Cola manufactures, distributes, and markets non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups worldwide. It principally offers sparkling and still beverages. The company's sparkling beverages include non-alcoholic ready-to-drink beverages with carbonation, such as energy drinks, and carbonated waters and flavored waters.Coca-Cola's still beverages consist of non-alcoholic beverages without carbonation, including noncarbonated waters, flavored waters and enhanced waters, non-carbonated energy drinks, juices and juice drinks, ready-to-drink teas and coffees, and sports drinks.Coca-Cola also offers fountain syrups, syrups, and concentrates, such as flavoring ingredients and sweeteners. It markets its nonalcoholic beverages primarily under the Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Fanta, and Sprite names. The company sells its finished beverage products primarily to distributors, and beverage concentrates and syrups to bottling and canning operators, distributors, fountain wholesalers, and fountain retailers.Reuters 'Excellent' rating: 50.4%ReutersExcellent Rating: 40.2%ReutersIndustry: Technology (Computers)
Headquarters: Redmond - Washington, USA
Employees: 89,000
2010 Revenues: $62 billion plus
Pros: Flexibility and mobility; benefits; diversity
ReutersThe Oak Brook, Illinois-based McDonald's comes tenth in the most admired companies list with an overall score of 7.97, while topping the Food Services industry."What makes McDonald's such an admired, recognizable brand, even amid an enduring fast-food backlash? New items on the menu have helped: salads (with Newman's Own low fat dressing!), wraps, oatmeal, and apple dippers. In addition, the chain constantly adds to its Dollar Menu, catering to those who have felt the recession's crunch," the magazine noted.McDonald's is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving more than 58 million customers daily.McDonald's operates as a worldwide foodservice retailer or hamburger fast food restaurants. It franchises and operates McDonald's restaurants that offer various food items, soft drinks, coffee, and other beverages.McDonald's primarily sells hamburgers, cheeseburgers, chicken products, french fries, breakfast items, soft drinks, shakes, and desserts. In response to obesity trends in Western nations and in the face of criticism over the healthiness of its products, the company has modified its menu to include alternatives considered healthier such as salads, wraps and fruit.Reuters
