â–¶ Shiny Apple: Last week we reported that Hershey’s Kisses was world’s the most popular brand, and now we can report that Apple is the world’s “most admired company.” Fortune partnered with Hay Group to assess U.S. and global firms with revenues of a least $10 billion. Other findings include:
• Google took second place, due to its dominance of the search market, the improving financial situation at YouTube and its growth in the mobile marketplace.
• Amazon, the online retailer, was not even in the top 50 last year, but claimed fifth position in the latest rankings, buoyed in particular by the popularity of the Kindle, its e-book reader.
• UPS, the delivery firm, was regarded as having made the most progress in the area of social responsibility. Starbucks, Marriott International and Disney similarly received praise for their activity in this field.
• Nike was perceived the best placed in business when looking at global competitiveness, with McDonald’s and Intel following in terms of their worldwide prospects.
Source: Fortune and Hay Group