2018 Thunderbird Opinions Most Admired Companies Survey

Think Global — Ask Local

If you are loved in one part of the world, you can be sure someone feels differently in another.

Jeff Cunningham
Sep 1, 2018 · 2 min read

“Russians love banks, the Dutch don’t. Capitalism is at a different stage in both countries and the reaction appears to be a parent to a newborn vs. a teenager.”

Ask not act is the key to global corporate reputation.

Thunderbird Opinions survey recognized the best sources of information about a company are investors, employees, customers, and vendors who mostly live or work in the home country. So we reasoned, why not ask people who know?

By qualifying our respondents by experience working or living in the countries of the Global 500, we were able to obtain any informed view of corporate reputation. What we discovered:

  1. Regional attitudes towards business are measurably different. Every country has its own peculiar and uneven rates of technological advancement, growth. This leads to either a pro (entrepreneurial) or anti (cynical) attitude towards business.
  2. For instance, Russians love banks, but the Dutch don’t, apparently. Capitalism is at a different stage in both countries and the reaction appears to be that of a parent to a newborn vs. a teenager.
  3. Innovation is another key factor in country admiration. It is praised in some countries and hated in others.
  4. Change in market dominance comes at the expense of some and benefits others. These all have an effect on corporate reputation.
  5. It means the reputation of the Dutch bank has to be interpreted differently than the Russian because both may be outstanding institutions.
  6. That is why top-ranked companies have GlobalRank™ ranges from 100%, down to 70%. In their respective countries and sectors, that may be the best number available.
  7. The Thunderbird GlobalRank™ method allows for regional bias by comparing companies within a country, then aligning them against similar companies in the sector from around the world.

Thunderbird Opinions

Thunderbird Opinions is an opinion poll and business trend researcher from the Thunderbird School of Global Management of Arizona State University. Our focus is on trends in global business and leadership.

Jeff Cunningham

Written by

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

Thunderbird Opinions

Thunderbird Opinions is an opinion poll and business trend researcher from the Thunderbird School of Global Management of Arizona State University. Our focus is on trends in global business and leadership.

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