Toyota tops Fortune's list of World's Most Admired Companies

By JAY WONG | 22 January 2018


AUSTIN (Texas): Toyota has again been named by Fortune magazine for the fourth consecutive year as one of the World’s Most Admired Companies.

The magazine also recognized the Japanese carmaker as one of the Top 50 “All-Star” companies surveyed, which moved up five spots from last year.

The list is widely acknowledged as the definitive report card on corporate reputation and is based on company surveys and industry peer ratings from senior executives, directors and industry analysts.

For each company, the survey measures nine attributes considered critical to a company’s global success, including quality of products and services, social and environmental responsibility, global competitiveness, and value as an investment, among others.

"Toyota is honored to be listed among the world’s most admired companies once again, and to be recognized as the most admired auto company in the world for the fourth year in a row,” said Toyota Motor North America (TMNA) CEO Jim Lentz.

“This ranking acknowledges the many successes of our global team who are committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility for our customers,” he added.

The full list appears in the magazine’s February issue and can be viewed online (http://fortune.com/worlds-most-admired-companies).

Fortune collaborated with Korn Ferry on this survey of corporate reputation, beginning with 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 US$10bil (RM40bil) or more.

They 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.

To select the 50 All-Stars, Korn Ferry asked 3,900 executives, directors, and securities analysts who had responded to the industry surveys to identify 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.

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