######################################## #Written by David Tam, 1999. # #davidkftam@netscape.net Copyright 1999# ######################################## From tamda@ecf.toronto.edu Mon Jul 12 18:33:08 1999 Date: Sat, 27 Mar 1999 02:58:09 -0500 (EST) From: David Kar Fai Tam To: APS 424S Subject: #23-03/30/99-"Canada's Most Respected Corporations" The Globe and Mail Report on Business Magazine, April 1999. This magazine article reports on the results of the annual Angus Reid poll concerning the most respected Canadian corporations. It is an annual poll that began five years ago and asks industry peers to rank each other. In other words, 1200 CEOs from major Canadian corporations were asked to vote on the company they admired the most. However, only 272 (23 %) replied. As well, 1500 members of the general Canadian public were surveyed. Ranked first place both by the general public and CEOs was Bombardier Inc. Among the CEOs surveyed here are the remaining rankings: (2) Royal Bank, (3) Northern Telecom, (4) BCE, (5) Magna, (6) CIBC, (6) TD, (8) Barrick Gold, (9) Imperial Oil, (10) IBM. I believe this survey gives us a good reading of how Canadian business leaders perceive each other, the economy, the government, and of themselves. As for public perception, which is quite important as well, the survey asked ordinary Canadians about several issues. According to the general public, they ranked the corporations as follows: (1) Bombardier, (2) Bell Canada, (3) Hydro-Quebec, (4) GM Canada, (5) Northern Telecom. Interestingly, the survey compared general public and CEO answers on questions regarding who benefited the most from recent good times, important issues for business, and business prospects in 1999. There is a significant contrast in who had benefited the most. While CEOs placed a heavy emphasis that everyone (employees, shareholder, management) benefited, the general public mostly believed that shareholders and management received a lot of benefits. Another interesting note is in important issues facing business. Among the general public, the top five issues include lack of skilled workers and free trade. Among the CEOs, the top five included productivity and government regulations. By reading this article, you get an excellent summary of the major events that have hit Canada's major corporations. Reasoning for the rankings is partially explained by referring to business and economic events that have occurred over the past year. I believe these rankings serve as important information to many corporations, especially those who are on the list. For those fortunate top rankers, they have something to boast about in their next marketing campaign. As well, these rankings serve as important peer evaluations which will lead to future improvements. To the small business entrepreneur, this article serves as a good general reference to corporations that should be researched. Entrepreneurs should make note of the top 10 most respected corporations and look into their strategies to success. There may be many general business operational and strategical decisions that these corporation have made, leading them to rank so highly among their peers.