The Hindu Business Line : The CNBC awards

The CNBC business leadership awards were instituted five years ago to recognise CEOs who are creating and sustaining entrepreneurial initiatives, developing best practices and carving out powerful businesses in the global economy.

The assessment is done by the University of Chicago's Graduate School of Business. As Associate Dean of the school, William Kooser, explained at the awards ceremony, the initial step in the selection process consisted of analysing performance of thousands of companies throughout Asia.

They analysed financial, growth and sales date to determine performance of these firms relative to their peers and to pinpoint the best performing firms in the region. Specifically the school looked at three key performance indicators: sales growth, operating margin and return on capital employed.

The school then took industry, company size and country into account to work out a model to make the most accurate comparisons of companies to create a short list of the best companies across the region.

In the second evaluation phase, with research partner Development Dimensions International, the panel goes through a three-phase judging process based on a combination of criteria including financial performance, leadership, creativity, innovation and social responsibility. Candidates are evaluated based on their ability to create short-term advantage, long-term value, competitive edge, and the demonstration of leadership in the business community. A face-to-face interview is also carried out to assess candidates' leadership qualities based on criteria such as talent management, innovation, culture, strategy formulation and execution and social contribution.