US giant General Electric (GE) is the world's most respected company, according to an annual survey of chief executives compiled by the Financial Timesand accountants PriceWaterhouseCoopers.
GE remained in top spot for the third successive year, the report published today said. Microsoft, IBM, Sony and Coca-Cola occupied the next four positions, as they did last year.
Further down the top 50 list, which is based on the votes of 914 business chiefs, notable changes in the corporate pecking order highlight the convulsions in the Internet and telecoms sectors this year.
Internet kit supplier Cisco Systems fell from seventh spot to 27th, and online retailer Amazon.com was gone, as was British mobile giant Vodafone. Nonetheless, the IT sector still had seven top 50 companies despite the recent hi-tech rout.
Finnish mobile group Nokia climbed to seventh place from 11th, making it the only European company in the top 10. Sony, at four, and Toyota, at six, were the only Asian companies in the top 40.
Among individual sectors, carmarkers scored well, with Toyota, General Motors, Ford and DaimlerChrysler all in the top 20. BP, Exxon and Royal Dutch/Shell were all energy companies in the top 30. AFP