25 Most Admired Companies in 2023

Zarah Hamid

Thu, Sep 14, 2023, 11:12 PM13 min read

In this article:

In this article, we will be analyzing the most admired companies in the world, their characteristics, and some recent initiatives taken by them to maintain their market position. If you wish to skip our detailed analysis, you can move directly to the 5 Most Admired Companies in 2023.

What Makes A Company Admired?

Companies around the world are known for serving their customers, employees, shareholders, local community, and other stakeholders. Let's have a look at certain factors which contribute to the sense of admiration for a company.

Company Culture

The sense of admiration for any company primarily comes from the company culture. This culture is based upon a set of core values on which the company operates. On June 28, Great Place to Work, a publisher of the world’s best companies’ rankings, reported that a good company culture is where the leadership is credible since employees are 11 times more likely to work at a company for long if it offers trustworthy leadership. Although compensation matters for employees, other aspects like good leadership and a sense of pride in work highly impact employee retention and loyalty.

A Customer-Centric Approach

A company strategy focusing on achieving customer satisfaction, convenience, and retention goes a long way. The success of some most admired companies around the world comes down to the effort they put in to meet and even anticipate evolving customer needs. An example of a company that aligns its business goals and decisions with its customers is Delta Airlines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL). This US-based airline has launched several features to improve the overall customer experience even at a height of 30,000 feet above the ground. On July 12, the company reported that it has partnered with T-Mobile successfully to equip 600 domestic planes with free Wi-Fi to make the customers feel at home. The company also has plans to extend this internet connectivity feature to all of its international flights by 2024. Furthermore, the airline company has introduced a new platform called Delta Sync exclusives for its frequent flyers, the SkyMiles members, through which they can access entertaining streams, look up their trip itinerary, and plan their activities while they are on board.

Admirable Companies Leading the Way

Some of the most reputable companies in the world include Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) , and Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN). These companies are known to perform well by serving their stakeholders to position themselves well in their respective industries. Let’s take a look at all of them.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is a leading technology company that specializes in consumer electronics. Its broad range of products including iPhones, iPads, and Macs, have penetrated across the world. The company rigorously engages in community initiatives, especially for disadvantaged groups. In 2023, the company published its racial equity and justice initiative report. It reported that the company partnered with Southbank Centre to launch its first cohort of 80 black art professionals to equip them with technology and skills through sessions with experts from the film, music, or photography industry.

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) is a popular US chain of retail hypermarkets and discount stores. The company has secured several international recognitions as a result of its efforts to be sustainable. In the company's environmental, social, and governance highlights for 2023, the company reported that it is listed on the Bloomberg 2023 gender equality index and EPA's green power partnership rankings as the number 1 retailer to use green power resources. The company has been working on its priority of achieving zero waste in its operations. The employee statistics for the company are also promising as 88% of the US associates who got a promotion in 2023 started from entry level. Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) offers an hourly compensation of $21.75 to its US associates which includes many women and people of color as well.

Another company that is acclaimed at a global level is Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN). The company continues to earn its name in the market by immensely supporting its employees. On August 19, the company reported some of its employee empowerment programs where it mentioned that its Career Choice program covers tuition fees for its employees enrolled in associate degrees, professional certifications, or bachelor’s degrees in addition to providing mentoring and career counseling. This depicts a deep level of concern and understanding for employees.

Now that we have taken a look at the most renowned companies such as Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) and Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) and some efforts that make them admirable, let's examine the most admired companies in 2023.

Methodology

In order to create a list of the 25 most admired companies in the world, we reviewed the Fortune most admired companies for 2023. Fortune ranks the extent of admiration for a company through 9 different metrics namely ability to attract and retain talented people, quality of management, corporate social responsibility, innovativeness, product quality, wise use of corporate assets, financial soundness, long-term investment value, and effectiveness in doing business globally. We shortlisted the top 40 companies.

Moving on, we decided to carry out our research focusing on the brand performance and employees.

For brand performance, we considered SyncForce’s ranking the brands list for 2023. We used the scores under the brand performance category as our first metric. This brand performance score is a global score based on how much a brand is mentioned in positive brand rankings. More positive brand rankings indicate a higher rank on this list. A better brand performance leads to higher customer satisfaction and retention.

For the employee dimension, we looked at Glassdoor’s survey of best companies to work in 2023. We considered the total employee score as our second metric. This score included all fundamental employee factors such as compensation and benefits, diversity and inclusion, work-life balance, culture and values, career opportunities, and senior management.

Finally, we created our own rankings by including only those Fortune most admired companies for 2023 that rank higher on both the employee score and the brand performance score. A consolidated score was calculated by taking an average of the two scores to rank the companies.

25 Most Admired Companies in 2023

25. BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Employee Score: 4

Brand Performance Score: 3

Consolidated Score: 3.50

BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) is a popular US-based investment management company that operates in 36 countries around the world. It is known for promoting diversity and inclusion as well as sustainable investments to help people achieve financial well-being. BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) is one of the most admired companies in 2023, with an employee score of 4 and a brand performance score of 3.

24. Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Employee Score: 4.1

Brand Performance Score: 3

Consolidated Score: 3.55

Based in Texas, Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) is one of the world's most low-cost airlines. It is one of the top most admired companies in 2023 as a result of its employee-first corporate culture, low-cost travel offerings, and exceptional customer service. Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) aims to replace 10 percent of its jet fuel with sustainable aviation fuel to reduce carbon emissions by the end of 2030.

23. Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Employee Score: 4.3

Brand Performance Score: 3

Consolidated Score: 3.65

Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) also makes it to the list of the most admired companies in 2023. It is one of the world’s most valuable airlines known for its commitment to the inclusion of employees without any discrimination, innovation to enhance customer experience, and reducing carbon emissions. Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) has also announced plans to become the first carbon-neutral airline by 2050.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT), and Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) are among the most reputable companies in the world committed to customer excellence, employee satisfaction, and fulfilling their corporate responsibilities.