Haier tops list of admired brands

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Shanghai: Already one of the country's most famous brands, Haier Group was Tuesday awarded the title of "China's Most Admired Company" for 2006, based on the findings of a survey conducted by Fortune China and Chinese firm Hay Group.
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This is the first time a Chinese company has been involved in compiling the list, which this year ranked Lenovo Group and Baosteel in second and third place.

' P, T. ?% D+ S! W# f"We conducted the survey to introduce the achievements of top Chinese companies to the world," said Chen Wei, general manager of Hay Group.
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/ V% I# n- m) F; \$ ^! }"It is also a good opportunity for Chinese companies to learn from domestic and world-famous companies," he added.
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Haier Group, which was founded in 1984 and has headquarters in Qingdao, East China's Shandong Province, is now one of the world's leading domestic appliance manufacturers.
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"Haier has succeeded because of its endless pursuit of innovation," said Zhang Ruimin, president of Haier Group.
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Haier's earnings totalled 150 billion yuan (US$18.75 billion) in 2005.

9 Y! j: Y7 d, {% ~& p, K7 Q& V' lHay Group, a global management consulting firm, worked with Fortune Magazine to conduct research to determine the world's most admired companies since 1997.
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; i# k" q# m( v, q. w  C* C" e  e"So far, Chinese companies have lacked international scope," Chen said.
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"Most Chinese companies are small-scale and limited to the domestic market...But all of those listed among China's most admired companies have undergone great development in recent years."

9 D& j/ }/ |( ?% e/ xThe study surveyed about 25,000 directors and executives from local eligible companies, as well as financial analysts, to identify the companies that enjoy the strongest reputations.
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% ]* I1 I0 J5 W) z+ v% U5 ^"Successful businesspeople have the right to evaluate a company's reputation, rather than consumers and media, because they have a feeling for the business world," Chen said.
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About 418 eligible companies were ranked based on nine criteria.
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8 m* A; o# |4 S; b' v& OThese included innovation, employee liquidity, financial performance, management, use of corporate assets, social responsibility, long-term investment value, products or services and effectiveness in doing business globally.
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; d; j& B4 `) A. P2 C, I& NAmong the 1,576 valid responses, the 25 companies which earned the highest scores were named on China's most admired companies all-star list.
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There are no hotels on the top 25 list, although both Jinjiang Group and China Travel Service Group were included in the research.
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8 F" ]9 _4 g, K! ~* z  C: A/ U& eAccording to Hay Group, companies listed as the world's most admired companies in past years performed better than those listed on the Fortune 500 and Standard & Poors 500.
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"Most of world's most admired companies spent a lot of time and energy in leadership development, talent training and company culture construction," Chen said.
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0 G" d% U# C* @/ W. z/ E* z3 L9 x: \According to the worldwide survey, Toyota, the Japanese manufacturer of the world's best-selling hybrid car, jumped up three places to the No 2 spot, becoming the highest-ranked company outside of the United States.
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"Chinese companies can learn from Toyota's continuous improvement," Chen said.
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& A1 g7 _+ q6 I5 c) X3 G6 C/ vThe week-long study began on August 12. Eligible companies must have earned at least 5 billion yuan (US$625 million) in annual revenue in 2005.