ITC most admired Indian company: Fortune-Hay Group study

FMCG giant ITC is the most admired Indian company, followed by L&T and Hindustan Unilever (HUL). Fortune India, in association with global management consultancy, Hay Group, released the findings of the third edition of Fortune India's Most Admired Companies (IMAC) research.

ITC scored the highest on parameters such as corporate governance, endurance, social impact, product quality and employee empowerment. Second-ranked L&T has been rated highest on leadership while HUL has been rated highest on investment, talent development, product quality, leadership, innovativeness and global footprint. Maruti Suzuki, State Bank of India, TCS, Coca Cola, Samsung, Tata Motors and ONGC also feature in the top ten.

The research is based on a unique peer ranking methodology, which in its first phase covered 523 companies across the economy's 15 key sectors. 443 respondents participated to rank their peers across a scale of ten parameters. These parameters included corporate governance, endurance, impact on society, investment value, product/service quality, innovation, quality of leadership, talent development, employee empowerment and business footprint.

In Phase 2, 84 respondents evaluated the top 45 companies on the basis of the same parameters. Using a similar methodology, Fortune also partners with Hay Group globally to identify and rank Fortune World's Most Admired Companies.

Sridhar Ganesan, Country Head, Hay Group India, comments, "This year, two criteria in particular, corporate governance and social impact, separated the Top 10 from the rest of the winners. ITC has topped the list by displacing group company TCS in 2014."