2018 Thunderbird Opinions Most Admired Companies in the Global 500

Where Business Is Admired: Russia, China, India, and America— Europe Not So Much

Geography is destiny: an analysis of GDP and entrepreneurial fervor shows that when business is admired, it thrives.

Jeff Cunningham
Sep 8, 2018 · 2 min read

THE THUNDERBIRD COUNTRYWIDE GLOBALRANK™

  • The GlobalRank™ score is the percentage of admiration for a Global 500 company (vs. non-admire and undecided).
  • The countrywide score is the average of admiration within the country.

KEY FINDINGS

  • GlobalRank™ business admiration across the world is 37%.
  • India (57%) admires business the most of any country
  • Russia at 54% is second
  • Scandinavia is third with 48%
  • Far East Asia (41%) and China (40%) are fourth and fifth in the world
  • The United States (39%) is seventh

WHERE BUSINESS IS ADMIRED, ECONOMIES GROW*

The bars represent the average of admiration for all Global 500 companies in the country.

*According to the IMF, fastest growing G20 economies are India (7.87%), China (6/25%), and Far East Asia / Indonesia (5.50%).


Most Admired Qualities by Country

There are nine qualities which people admire. Every business leader must choose the right proportion according to the tastes of the country, sector, and demographics of the company’s market.

KEY HIGHLIGHTS:

  • Every country has uneven rates of technological advancement and business development, which can result in pro (entrepreneurial) or anti (skeptical) attitude towards business.
  • Innovation can be another source of bias in regional admiration. It raises the standard of living for some and comes at the expense of others.
The nine leadership qualities people admire most

What Qualities People Admire — by Geography

The colors on the map (which correspond to the icons above) represent the top admired quality within each geography ranked as #1.
    Jeff Cunningham

    Written by

    Transformational leadership and crisis resolution. Professor @ASU @Thunderbird; columnist @ChiefExecGrp

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