Wal-Mart

[Guest guest]

" Wal-Mart Tops FORTUNE's List of America's Most Admired Companies

February 23, 2004

FORTUNE announced today that Wal-Mart is No. 1 on the magazine's

annual list of America's Most Admired Companies. Despite a year of

bad press and lagging stock price, " the 10,000 executives, directors,

and analysts whom FORTUNE polled in late 2003 weren't deterred: They

have named the retailing juggernaut America's Most Admired Company

for the second year in a row, " writes FORTUNE senior reporter Ann

Harrington.

FORTUNE's " America's Most Admired Companies " issue hits newsstands

March 1 and will be available at www.fortune.com Monday, February 23.

In addition to the list, the Most Admired package contains two

stories: Andy Serwer's look at Southwest Airlines, " The Hottest Thing

in the Sky, " and Jerry Useem's essay on Wal-Mart, " Should We Admire

Wal-Mart? "

In addition, the 2004 Top Ten list includes IBM - which rejoins at

the No. 10 spot after a 17-year absence. " Stock performance isn't the

only reason, " FORTUNE reports. " CEO Sam Palmisano credits his

predecessor Lou Gerstner, who led the company's turnaround, as well

as Big Blue's refusal to 'hunker down' during the recession. " IBM

knocks Procter & Gamble off the list, which had ranked No. 10 on the

2003 list. Technology now accounts for three out of the Top Ten

companies.

Following Wal-Mart on the top list are Berkshire Hathaway (No. 2);

Southwest Airlines (No. 3); General Electric (No. 4); Dell (No. 5);

Microsoft (No. 6); & (No. 7); Starbucks (No. 8);

FedEx (No. 9); and IBM (No. 10). In addition to ranking the Top Ten

Most Admired Companies, FORTUNE also ranks companies by industry. " If

last year set a low-water mark for corporate admiration, the results

of our latest survey of thousands of businesspeople may signal a

rebound, " reports FORTUNE. " Companies' median scores rose 5% over the

previous year. Three firms roared up the rankings: Xerox zoomed from

No. 9 to No. 3 in computers; Mc's super-sized from No. 7 to No.

2 in food services; Washington Mutual vaulted to first place in

mortgage services. And Calpine took its share of heat in the energy

industry meltdown, but it tops that embattled group this year. "

The less fortunate, reports Harrington, include Freddie Mac and Tenet

Healthcare, whose accounting troubles and federal investigations led

to lower rankings; Oracle, which fell from No. 2 to No. 7 in the

Computer Software category as it struggled to take over PeopleSoft;

and Anadarko Petroleum, which plunged from No. 2 to No. 9 in the

Mining-Crude Oil Production category due to slow growth.

To arrive at the industry category rankings, the Hay Group, a

management-consulting firm, took the ten largest companies by revenue

in 64 industries, including foreign firms with large U.S. operations.

Then it asked 10,000 executives, directors, and securities analysts

to rate the companies in their own industries according to eight

criteria, using a scale of one to ten. The Top Ten list is the result

of another poll which asked respondents to select the ten companies

they admire most in any industry, choosing from a list of

corporations that ranked in the top 25% overall last year, plus any

that finished in the top 20% of their category. Because insiders may

grade differently from the business world as a whole, high scorers on

the industry lists don't always make the overall top ten. "

Rodney.

[Guest guest]

Here's the beginning of an article that seems to list pros and cons.

Unfortunately they don't seem to print the entire article online:

http://www.fortune.com/fortune/articles/0,15114,369544,00.html

on 3/31/2004 1:37 PM, Rodney at perspect1111@... wrote:

> " Wal-Mart Tops FORTUNE's List of America's Most Admired Companies

>

> February 23, 2004

>

> FORTUNE announced today that Wal-Mart is No. 1 on the magazine's

> annual list of America's Most Admired Companies. Despite a year of

> bad press and lagging stock price, " the 10,000 executives, directors,

> and analysts whom FORTUNE polled in late 2003 weren't deterred: They

> have named the retailing juggernaut America's Most Admired Company

> for the second year in a row, " writes FORTUNE senior reporter Ann

> Harrington.

[Guest guest]

Just because something is admired, it isn't necessarily right. Think on some of the admired in history! - Ruth P.

From: " Rodney " <perspect1111@...>

Reply-

Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2004 18:37:09 -0000

Subject: [ ] Wal-Mart

" Wal-Mart Tops FORTUNE's List of America's Most Admired Companies

February 23, 2004

FORTUNE announced today that Wal-Mart is No. 1 on the magazine's

annual list of America's Most Admired Companies. Despite a year of

bad press and lagging stock price, " the 10,000 executives, directors,

and analysts whom FORTUNE polled in late 2003 weren't deterred: They

have named the retailing juggernaut America's Most Admired Company

for the second year in a row, " writes FORTUNE senior reporter Ann

Harrington.

FORTUNE's " America's Most Admired Companies " issue hits newsstands

March 1 and will be available at www.fortune.com Monday, February 23.

In addition to the list, the Most Admired package contains two

stories: Andy Serwer's look at Southwest Airlines, " The Hottest Thing

in the Sky, " and Jerry Useem's essay on Wal-Mart, " Should We Admire

Wal-Mart? "

In addition, the 2004 Top Ten list includes IBM - which rejoins at

the No. 10 spot after a 17-year absence. " Stock performance isn't the

only reason, " FORTUNE reports. " CEO Sam Palmisano credits his

predecessor Lou Gerstner, who led the company's turnaround, as well

as Big Blue's refusal to 'hunker down' during the recession. " IBM

knocks Procter & Gamble off the list, which had ranked No. 10 on the

2003 list. Technology now accounts for three out of the Top Ten

companies.

Following Wal-Mart on the top list are Berkshire Hathaway (No. 2);

Southwest Airlines (No. 3); General Electric (No. 4); Dell (No. 5);

Microsoft (No. 6); & (No. 7); Starbucks (No. 8);

FedEx (No. 9); and IBM (No. 10). In addition to ranking the Top Ten

Most Admired Companies, FORTUNE also ranks companies by industry. " If

last year set a low-water mark for corporate admiration, the results

of our latest survey of thousands of businesspeople may signal a

rebound, " reports FORTUNE. " Companies' median scores rose 5% over the

previous year. Three firms roared up the rankings: Xerox zoomed from

No. 9 to No. 3 in computers; Mc's super-sized from No. 7 to No.

2 in food services; Washington Mutual vaulted to first place in

mortgage services. And Calpine took its share of heat in the energy

industry meltdown, but it tops that embattled group this year. "

The less fortunate, reports Harrington, include Freddie Mac and Tenet

Healthcare, whose accounting troubles and federal investigations led

to lower rankings; Oracle, which fell from No. 2 to No. 7 in the

Computer Software category as it struggled to take over PeopleSoft;

and Anadarko Petroleum, which plunged from No. 2 to No. 9 in the

Mining-Crude Oil Production category due to slow growth.

To arrive at the industry category rankings, the Hay Group, a

management-consulting firm, took the ten largest companies by revenue

in 64 industries, including foreign firms with large U.S. operations.

Then it asked 10,000 executives, directors, and securities analysts

to rate the companies in their own industries according to eight

criteria, using a scale of one to ten. The Top Ten list is the result

of another poll which asked respondents to select the ten companies

they admire most in any industry, choosing from a list of

corporations that ranked in the top 25% overall last year, plus any

that finished in the top 20% of their category. Because insiders may

grade differently from the business world as a whole, high scorers on

the industry lists don't always make the overall top ten. "

Rodney.

[Guest guest]

Then again, Crest toothpaste is Crest toothpaste. And if the Wal-Mart is

open 24 hours, I'm going in!

Did I mention that I'm part ish?

I'll tell you where to go!

Mayo Clinic in Rochester

http://www.mayoclinic.org/rochester

s Hopkins Medicine

http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org

Re: [ ] Wal-mart

> I don't much like Walmart-the stuff they carry tends

> to look cheap. I prefer Target.--- snowdrift52003

> <snowdrift52003@...> wrote:

> >

> > > I went to Walmart today, and got really sick. I

> > started sweating,

> > > and dizzy, disoriented,

> >

> > Wal-mart does that to me, too.

> >

> > S.