2009-10-28 - ABB has joined Google, Apple and other household names in a ranking of the 40 top performing international companies on a listing compiled by A.T. Kearney, a management consultancy.
The companies selected averaged nearly 15 percent annual growth between 2004 and 2008, while the average growth of 2,500 of the world’s largest international companies was around 8 percent. ABB was 15th in the 2009 Ranking of Global Champions, based on its growth and value creation (measured by the market value of ABB's shares less its capital investments).
The best companies demonstrated a commitment to innovation, maintained a diversified portfolio and had a clear vision for the future, A.T. Kearney said. A strong external focus was cited as critical to understanding customer needs and where the market is heading beyond the current economic cycle.
A “relentless focus on flawless execution” was also identified as a key success factor for the top performing companies. Although no significant competitor was ranked in the top 40, the list did include a number of customers in industries such as utilities, oil and gas, metals and minerals, and engineering, procurement and construction.
“I think this is a great acknowledgement of all the hard work ABB's people have done to remain competitive in this business cycle” said Joe Hogan, CEO, commenting on the results. “And it’s no accident that several ABB Group and key accounts sit beside us on this list. Industry and utilities are under tremendous pressure today to improve the efficiency of their processes and energy consumption. When we work together with our customers and partners to address our operational challenges and market opportunities, we all win.”
The ranking was published in the Business Week magazine. In an article about the list, Paul Laudicina, chairman of A.T. Kearney, said that leveraging technology and innovation to enhance productivity will be an important factor in the global economy in the coming years.
ABB did not feature in last year’s ranking, which covered only the top 25 global companies.
ABB (www.abb.com) is a leader in power and automation technologies that enable utility and industry customers to improve their performance while lowering environmental impact. The ABB Group of companies operates in around 100 countries and employs about 120,000 people. ABB has a full range of business activities in China, including R&D, manufacturing, sales and services, with 15,000 employees, 27 joint ventures and wholly owned companies, and an extensive sales and service network across 60 cities.