HOW WE CONDUCT THE MOST ADMIRED SURVEY
As we have in the past, Fortune collaborated with our partner Korn Ferry on this survey of corporate reputations. We began with a universe of about 1,500 candidates: the 1,000 largest U.S. companies ranked by revenue, along with non-U.S. companies in Fortune’s Global 500 database that have revenues of $10 billion or more. We then winnowed the assortment to the highest-revenue companies in each industry, a total of 680 in 29 countries. The top-rated companies were picked from that pool of 680; the executives who voted work at the companies in that group.
To determine the best-regarded companies in 52 industries, Korn Ferry asked executives, directors, and analysts to rate enterprises in their own industry on nine criteria, from investment value and quality of management and products to social responsibility and ability to attract talent. A company’s score must rank in the top half of its industry survey to be listed.
Because of the weak distribution of responses, only the aggregate industry scores and ranks are published in Food Services, General Merchandisers, Construction and Farm Machinery, and Network and Other Communications Equipment.
Results were not published in the following categories owing to insufficient response rates: Cable and Satellite Providers, Petroleum Refining, Pipelines, and U.S. Energy.
To select our 50 All-Stars, Korn Ferry asked 3,900 executives, directors, and securities analysts who had responded to the industry surveys to select the 10 companies they admired most. They chose from a list made up of the companies that ranked in the top 25% in last year’s surveys, plus those that finished in the top 20% of their industry. Anyone could vote for any company in any industry.
The difference in the voting rolls explains why some results can seem at odds with each other. For example, Deere fell off the All-Star list but moved up one notch within the construction and farm machinery category when votes from only those in that industry were counted.
Korn Ferry, which has conducted the research for the World's Most Admired Companies list since 1997, is a global management consulting firm. For information about Korn Ferry's services, go to http://www.kornferry.com/haygroup.
Fortune is no longer publishing the list of World's Most Admired contenders online. If you are interested in obtaining your company’s industry score and ranking, please phone or e-mail your request to Douglas Elam of Fortune's List Department. Please call Douglas at 212-522-6841 or email him at: [email protected].
