MEDIA RELEASE:
FORTUNE Magazine & Hay Group release their seminal study - the 14th Annual
World’s Most Admired Companies list
Hay Group, a global management consulting firm, and FORTUNE magazine have released their
fourteenth annual World’s Most Admired Companies list. Each year Hay Group and FORTUNE identify
and rank the World's Most Admired Companies (WMACs). The study, which involves a rating by 15 000
top executives, directors and financial analysts overall and relative to peer organisations, also reveals
how these companies win their strong reputations.
Real engagement with all employees, ingraining innovation in company culture, and addressing work-life
and generational needs are three key areas in which the World’s Most Admired Companies (WMACS)
have created an edge over their peer companies. In short, these companies both expect as well as give
more in the employment contract than their less successful peers.
According to Hay Group’s research, engagement, employee efficiency and effectiveness are priorities for
both the WMACS and peer companies alike. However, just focusing on engaging employees is not
sufficient to promote maximum individual and organisational performance. This is achieved by ensuring
employee skills keep up with changing job demands, aligned with the company’s culture, and most
importantly that support the company’s strategy. The best organisations build performance by
recognising that enthusiastic, enabled people deliver the best results, creating strong 'employer brands'
that foster a sense of pride and belonging. They are turning to compensation packages which reward
behaviours that drive performance and give everyone a chance to shine. And they create 'leadership
cultures' where leaders inspire and everyone is empowered to be a leader if they want. It's an approach
to performance that pays dividends – without the need for financial investment.
The research has highlighted that a focus on emerging markets, and supporting and managing fastgrowing units are top priorities for the WMACs. It's not just employees who will come from new
markets: so will customers, who will be more demanding than ever before. In the wake of the economic
and financial crisis, trust and transparency are their bywords.
Hay Group’s research also found that, amid greater performance and workload demands, responding to
work-life balance concerns is more likely to be seen as one of the top priorities for the WMACs, who also
see onboarding new employees as a significant priority. And with younger generations changing the
workplace dynamic, they are more likely to view responding to different generational needs as a very
important priority.
In addition to conducting the survey and analysing the results to identify the WMACs, Hay Group has
also performed supplemental research on how these organisations are sustaining performance.
According to Hay Group’s research, 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.
“Amid economic and organisational 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 Malcolm Pannell, managing director of Hay Group South Africa, “It’s not surprising that the WMACs
have superior brands that are reinforced by outstanding engagement with employees. They truly
understand branding, not only when it comes to product, but their employer brand as well, focusing on
a solid, effective corporate culture.”
“If you examine the differentiators, it’s interesting to note that all the WMACs focus on strategies into
emerging markets, real and effective employee engagement - not surrogate activity, - and they work
harder to achieve a better work-life balance. These companies understand that money is not always
what matters most to employees and, over the past year, they have focused on fostering work-life
balance for employees, while increasing productivity and decreasing the likelihood that work tasks will
crowd out personal time.”
Ends.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
The top 50 companies:
For the 50 most admired companies overall, FORTUNE's survey asked businesspeople to vote for the
companies that they admired most, from any industry.
Rank
Company
1
Apple
2
Google
3
Berkshire Hathaway
4
Southwest Airlines
5
Procter & Gamble
6
Coca-Cola
7
Amazon.com
8
FedEx
9
Microsoft
10
McDonald's
11
Wal-Mart Stores
12
IBM
13
General Electric
14
Walt Disney
15
3M
16
Starbucks
17
Johnson & Johnson
18
Singapore Airlines
19
BMW
20
American Express
21
Nordstrom
22
Target
23
J.P. Morgan Chase
24
Nike
25
Goldman Sachs Group
26
PepsiCo
27
Caterpillar
28
Cisco Systems
29
Costco Wholesale
30
UPS
31
Nestlé
32
Intel
33
Toyota Motor
34
Exxon Mobil
35
Volkswagen
36
Best Buy
37
Marriott International
38
Samsung Electronics
39
Deere
40
Netflix
41
Wells Fargo
42
Honda Motor
43
DuPont
44
Yum Brands
45
eBay
46
Sony
47
General Mills
48
Oracle
49*
Accenture
49*
Lowe's
* tied
About Hay Group
Hay Group is a global consulting firm that works with leaders to transform strategy into reality. We
develop talent, organise people to be more effective, and motivate them to perform at their best. With
85 offices in 49 countries, we work with over 9 000 clients across the world. Our clients are from the
private, public, and not-for-profit sectors, across every major industry and represent diverse business
challenges. Our focus is on making change happen and helping people and organisations realize their
potential.
About Hay Group Insight
For over 35 years Hay Group Insight – the survey research division of Hay Group – has partnered with
the world’s largest and most complex organisations to create value through the strategic use of
employee survey research. Our mission is to help senior leaders identify the barriers to individual and
organisational effectiveness, and remove them to improve the performance of people, teams and entire
organisations. By providing employee feedback and supporting strategy, our surveys help organizations
achieve high levels of performance and lasting change.
About FORTUNE
FORTUNE magazine is a global leader in business journalism with a domestic circulation of over 850 000
and a global readership of nearly 5 million, which include major franchises such as the FORTUNE 500 and
the FORTUNE 100 Best Companies to Work For. FORTUNE Live Media extends the brand's mission into
live events, hosting a wide range of annual conferences, including FORTUNE’s Most Powerful Women
and the FORTUNE Global Forum. FORTUNE publishes English-language editions in Europe and Asia, and
local-language editions in China, Turkey, South Korea, Indonesia, India and Greece. CNNMoney.com, is
the online home of FORTUNE.com, which draws 5.7 million readers a month.