Belfast Telegraph (Northern Ireland): Shell shock as Fortune poll reports: “Fortune magazine's latest annual poll to find the world's most admired companies shows several high-profile companies have fallen from grace. The All-Star list no longer includes Royal Dutch/Shell, which significantly overstated its oil and gas reserves, or Merck, which recalled its US$$2.5bn blockbuster painkiller Vioxx. (ShellNews.net) 14 March 05
By Paul Dykes
14 March 2005
Fortune magazine's latest annual poll to find the world's most admired companies shows several high-profile companies have fallen from grace.
The All-Star list no longer includes Royal Dutch/Shell, which significantly overstated its oil and gas reserves, or Merck, which recalled its US$$2.5bn blockbuster painkiller Vioxx.
Also absent this time round are market leaders such as Unilever, Eli Lilly and GlaxoSmithKline, and such perennials as Disney and Coca-Cola, which both had highly public management disputes.
General Electric holds the No 1 spot on the annual list of the World's Most Admired Companies, knocking Wal-Mart to No 2 from the top spot last year.
Wal-Mart owns supermarket chain Asda in Britain, which has been linked to a move into Northern Ireland soon, possibly via the former Safeway stores now owned by Wm Morrision, or through Dunnes.
The list is based on a survey of 10,000 corporate directors, executives and analysts at more than 350 companies in 30 industry groups. Respondents rank the companies in their industry based on nine criteria, such as innovation, financial soundness and social responsibility.
The other companies ranked in the top 10, in descending order from Dell at No 3, are Microsoft, Toyota Motor, Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, FedEx, IBM and Berkshire Hathaway.
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