Fortune: Most Admired Companies: Snapshot
Toyota is the first non-U.S. based company to make the list, in the #9 slot. The top 10 are GE, FedEx, Southwest, Proctor & Gamble, Starbucks, Johnson & Johnson, Berkshire Hathaway, Dell (falling from #1), Toyota, and Microsoft.
Toyota ranks #1 in the auto sector in the survey for:
- Social responsibility
- Quality of management
- Financial soundness
- Long-term investment
- Quality of products/services
They are ranked #2 for:
- Innovation (I'm surprised by that)
- Employee talent (I'm not surprised by that, as with TPS you would expect a company to do “great” things with “good” people because they work as part of a high-performing system.)
Mark Graban
Mark Graban is an internationally-recognized consultant, author, and professional speaker who has worked in healthcare, manufacturing, and startups. His latest book is Measures of Success: React Less, Lead Better, Improve More. He is author of the Shingo Award-winning books Lean Hospitals and Healthcare Kaizen, as well as The Executive Guide to Healthcare Kaizen. He also published the anthology Practicing Lean that benefits the Louise H. Batz Patient Safety Foundation, where Mark is a board member. Mark is also a Senior Advisor to the technology company KaiNexus.
Toyota actually says they do extrodinary things with ordinary people or something along those lines. For seeking out the best talent, they could probably be ranked 8th, but for doing the most with the people they have, clearly 1st.
Innovation depends on how you evaluated it, but most of their innovation is somewhat hidden from both consumers and the market.