World’s Most Admired Companies 2009: No. 1

This isn’t much beyond a high school prom queen contest. Where is ROI comparisons, GM was big, but now they are big and dead. Where are the employee satisfaction surveys. Are any of these Deming Prize candidates, other than Toyota…

A perfect example of American Sellout!
Soon America will be third world, and there will be no place to run to for a better life. Thanks Mr.President!!

Isn’t this a bit like the World Series played in one country?

I wonder how many people in, say, Africa were asked? Or India and China, accounting for a third of the world population? There’s a definite selection bias in the sample here.

Fortune Most Admired List:

General Electric, 2007 ranking #1
General Electric, 2008 ranking #3
General Electric, 2009 ranking #9

Needless to say, investors are not happy with the company’s stock performance, which has dropped from around $35 a year ago to the current $12. In a short span of a few weeks, GE lost its prestigious AAA credit rating and cut its dividend for the first time since 1938.

Not only many investors lost faith in GE’s management, but also employees are losing morale as massive layoffs are happening in its Capital division. It’s time for GE’s board to shorten the leash on Jeff Immelt and his yes-men.

Did I mention two of my GE appliances (fairly new) failed just in the last month?

Not all the companies listed are American based.. but think what you want. They were probably chosen by an American, but I know for a fact that Toyota… is not American. Neither is Weyerhaeuser or Stora Enso for that matter. Being that I merely looked on this to see where Internation Paper stood the fact that Weyerhaeuser and Stora Enso were listed that means that they are looking at a global perspective. Before making a comment find some truth in your comments.

Its really happy to know that Cognizant is at Third position. Great investment strategy and the workaround, comparable with the peers are amazing.

Greetings from the Old Continent.

The list at hand seems very american ie. not very interesting in a global perspective.

for example Nokia being the clear market leader in mobile terminal business and on this list #42?? i see that as a very good example since Nokia’s market share in US is smaller than everywhere else and hence the far back position on the list.

so basically this list is made from a survey targeted for American directors picking their favorite fellow american directors.

I believe reading the comments section was better than reading the article. (Total waste of time and effort!) There are other thousands of companies in the world which are definitely better than 10 ten stated here. Also, if the article states WORLD’S BEST COMPANIES, how come all the companies listed here are from ONLY United States. Totally, ridiculous and I will to add SHAMEFUL article.

I’m shocked that AT&T made the list at all judging by their complete and total disdain for customers and employees.

I agree with Aflac being number 1 on the list without a doubt. They have over $65 billion in assets and only $500 million of that is at risk of being affected by the current state of the economy. They are a smart company and one of the only if not the only insurance company that is financially stable enough to fund their own life insurance policies. Most others finance through banks which given recent happenings of events should give a hint to how reliable that is. Aflac definitley has made a name for itslef worldwide being the number 1 insurer in Japan. I think they are the only company left with integrity right now. How many other CEOs let their shareholders determine their annual salary? Did I mention he recently turned down his bonus? The company is still family owned and is a role model for other corporations around the world.

Bank of America and Goldman Sachs? You’ve got to be kidding!

Good to see all these investment bankers…..

You really require skills to screw things royally (financial crisis) and hence getting admired

Apple #1? This has to be a joke. I guess that’s what happens when everyone’s an Apple fanboy.

Are they more innovative than Intel? No way. Are they more financially sound than a cash rich oil company? No way. Their quality of products has always been inconsistent at best. Just ask iPod users who are forced to replace their mp3 player every 2 years.

I find several of these companies utterly disgusting and unethical in most of their corporate “values”…or should I say they lack any values other than their worship of the dollar? What’s that smell??? Oh, it’s paid advertising thrown at the public like NEWS.

How about Cybergolf? They are the leaders in Internet Marketing tools and have signed up 90 new customers just in the last 4-months to go over 1,000 golf courses. They are hot!

RBS is number 14 in Megabanks? You have to be kidding! They are a basket case.

So, explain to me:
#1 Apple score 7.07
and not in top 50
Xerox score 7.28

Is it possible to know the number of votes that each Top 50 received ? And for the for the 363 Most Admired Companies List ?

Perhaps the list reflects the companies most admired by Americans…

Mr. Traska…neither GS, JPM nor BAC wanted the TARP funds. All three were profitable last year. They were not bailed out. The country made these and others take the funds. Do a little more digging before throwing out your comments.

The only ‘innovation’ coming from Apple is from their marketing/ad team convincing this country’s indigenous jackassery how great their products are. They could teach a seminar how to really tap into the ’stupid’ demographic. If grown men weren’t too busy butt slapping one another after buying the overpriced IPhone, they could have done a little product research and figured out there were much better options in the marketplace.

First off, you might want to check your facts about GS, JPM, and BAC. While I agree that their reps are a bit tarnished right now, I am pretty sure that neither of them “asked” for Government money and now they all are getting hammered because they did what was in the better interest of the country. Next, it is funny how majority of the posts here seem to be from former employees of these companies —hummm… maybe thats why you are no longer an employee??? Start looking in the mirror people!!!

How can you make it to the overall top 10 and not be listed in the top 10 of any of the 9 sub categories? Sounds a bit like Enron accounting.

You want us to click through FIFTY PAGES to see this list?

M.R. – JP Morgan had a profit last year, had little subprime debt on the books, and has been a leader through the credit crisis. What is not admirable about that?

ok, I’m confused. how can Apple be Number One overall but Number Two in its industry? why is Xerox “NA”? can somebody please explain this to me? because my head is hurting just thinking about it.

dt

That’s about the most asinine list of anything I have ever looked at! It’s worse than asinine! Anyone who would believe that list or put the first bit of confidence in it is severely lacking! btw Toyota DID go or is going to the bank of Japan for bailout money and it was Chrysler not Ford that went begging to Washington. This list is another example of what happens when you let people do jobs “they claim” they are experts in…..

Apple deserves to be #1, in my opinion. It’s not JUST the brand, the marketing, the profits, the products, the talent or the managers; it’s all of those things combined, and then some. The phrase ‘firing on all cylinders’ comes to mind when thinking about Apple (or Nintendo for that matter).

Personally, too often have CEOs thrown around buzz words and marketing speak and painted pictures of grandeur, which in the end usually amount to promises never kept, and in my opinion that’s why people(employees, customers, shareholders, etc) ‘loose interest’.

When compared to their competitors, Apple and Nintendo, seem to have been hit the least by the economic downturn. It’s reflected in their stock prices, they ability to move product (which turn profits), their balance sheets and their employee turnover.

Cheers

explain how apple is number 1 overall but only number 2 in computers, i dont see how u can b the best company without being the best in your own industry

Goldman Sachs, Morgan Chase, and Bank of America in the Top 50?? You’ve got to be kidding! This list must have been compiled before the bailout fiasco. Nothing else could account for such high rankings. It’s absurd. NO firm that needs a bailout should be on that list.

How about Genentech, 9 billion in sales with significant profit,while developing miracle drugs such as Avastin and rated one of the best companies in the world to work for.So great Roche want’s buy 100% at $86 per share. The US will loose one of it’s absolute jules, the one industry we are superior to all other countries and a foreign company will end up owning 100%and nobody cares!

AT&T most admired? Not by their rank and file employees. 12,000 laid off, wages frozen, benefits cut. The biggest joke was moving their headquarters from San Antonio to Dallas and forcing hundreds of employees to relocate here just because the new CEO likes Dallas better. What a waste of money!

Apparently, Taiwan is not on your map. How about Acer, Inc., with an Italian President and Taiwanese CEO, Number One in Europe?

“This compilation is at best a half hearted study.”

Steve Ballmer? Is that you?

Ridiculous. I admire Porsche, Mercedes and Roche way more than friggin Wal-Mart and Best Buy. Worlds most admired companies? Or Americas most admired?

Definitely not world’s most admired

Are you kidding me!…Dell at #6. I was one of their senior sales reps. While I was there, we had Dell Finance Goons come around everyday that would target the reps not hitting on the customers that were not financing enough!

I had to take a shower each evening because when you finance folks on their last dime at 29.9 percent you start to feel like a notch or two below a loan shark working for the mob!

always crazy americans that can not see outside any border line. I agree…
headlins must read americas most admired companies

I was reading “Industry: Computers – Most admired” and “Xerox is ranked number 1 with a score of 7.28″
Here is a question to the people…How can this company is rated number one, when their equipment is never working properly?, I mean.. do you have one on your office working without problem for a least 6 month?

How can you be #1 overall, but #2 in computers?

How much did Fortune charge the individual corporations to provide this marketing propaganda. Since when does the United States mean the World????

Yes, the title should say: “America’s most admired companies.” Even though the list includes a sprinkling of Japanese and Korean companies, I don’t think it is very representative of the global business environment. Don’t be ignorant.

The title should read as “America’s Most Admired Companies”. Of course the world in US of A means anything thats sits between CA and NY. Meh.

This compilation is at best a half hearted study. The journalist is making sure he/she has her job in place by just plugging in a story line.

I would not be surprised to find Lehman Bro’s or AIG in this list….

I will waste my time elsewhere..

Why a “5″ in social responsbility for Apple? Listen, the companies that say they’re socially repsonisble are the ones laying off thousands of people and opening up plants in China because the have no standards as far as the enviroment is concerned to speak of.

Kodak not on this list?

It should have scored better. ‘Financial Soundness’ a ‘2′? Surely that had to be a ‘1′..?

Apple has more cash than most banks, $30bn of it in fact.

It also has deferred earnings on all it’s iPhone and Apple TV sales worth billions, just waiting to hit the results over the coming years.

As an investor, I don’t like any company, not one in this market!
However, being an individual I do like certain companies:
- Apple (for leading edge);
- Hudson’s Bay Company (for their customer service, here in Canada)
- Google for their ‘coolness’
- Lexus, Infinit and Acura (reliable cars, luxury and decent price, this soon will include Hyundai)
etc….

I was laid off from IP several months ago. I am not disgruntled or upset in any way as it was a catalyst for a very positive transition in my life.

That being made clear, I feel that IP is riding its wave of admiration. The company today is very different than it was just a few years back. Many of the policies and general business methods that made them so admired are no longer in place. Most notably they sold off their forest land. You can listen to CEO speak that its secured with contracts in the leases to make sure its maintained well, but we all know thats just not possible to ensure. The proceeds of the sale were used to buy up the competition for a near monopolistic market advantage and then lay off half the employees who helped make it all happen. IP is one of the few companies out there right now making good money and the way they treated many of my coworkers during the recent merger process was awful considering that. I don’t intend to say that this is the worst company out there, but most admired in their industry and by such a large amount simply shows laziness on the part of fortune to thoroughly research these companies and provide accurate and current evaluations.

What do you think of the No. 1 company on Fortune’s World’s Most Admired Companies list?

Have you worked for the company, or bought its products or services?

Which – if any – companies do you admire in this economy?