The Hindu Business Line : Nilekani, Ambani in top biz leaders' list

THE Infosys Technologies Chief Executive Officer, Mr Nandan Mohan Nilekani, and the Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries, Mr Mukesh Ambani, are the two Indian names featuring in the list of 63 world's most respected business leaders in the sixth global `Financial Times/PricewaterhouseCoopers World's Most Respected Companies Survey 2003'.

While Mr Nilekani stood at 35, Mr Ambani was 40th. Reliance was also voted 32nd in the category of companies creating most value for shareholders. Tata Steel was 34th among companies demonstrating their commitment to corporate social responsibility.

For the sixth consecutive year as per the survey, General Electric has retained the number one slot for the most respected company. Microsoft once again takes second place with Toyota displacing IBM to the third spot.

For the second year running, Mr Bill Gates is the world's most respected business leader, with Mr Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway moving up three places to become runner up in this category.

US-based companies once again dominate the top echelons of the list with German motor giant DaimlerChrysler and Japan's Toyota and Sony the only non-US companies to make it into the top 10.

Closer analysis of the top 50 revealed several big-name companies making major strides up the "most respected" table, including Disney, Honda, Johnson & Johnson, L'Oreal, Siemens, Caterpillar, Nissan, British Airways, HSBC, BASF, Philips Electronics and Danone.

For the global survey, the research draws on the views of more than 1,000 CEOs in 20 countries worldwide and a selected cross-section of fund managers, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and media commentators to show which companies are truly setting the pace in building reputation.

The top ten world's most respected companies are General Electric, Microsoft, Toyota, IBM, Wal-Mart, Coca-Cola, Dell, Berkshire Hathaway, DaimlerChrysler and Sony.