Indian cos world's most reputed; Tatas above Google, Microsoft

New York, May 10 (PTI) They may not be as big as their
global peers in terms of revenue and profits, but Indian
companies are top of the lot in terms of their reputation, as
per a study that has ranked Tatas as more reputed than the
likes of Google, Microsoft, Coca-Cola, GE and Walt Disney.

Noting that the world looks to "corporate India to find
trust, admiration and good feeling," the US-based brand and
reputation management consulting firm Reputation Institute has
named five Indian firms among the top-50 in its annual list of
the world's most reputed companies.

While the global list has been topped by Italy's
chocolate maker Ferrero, Sweden's retailer IKEA, and Johnson &
Johnson in the US, the Tata group has been ranked 11th.

Among Indian companies, Tatas are followed by SBI (29),
Infosys (39), Larsen & Toubro (47) and Maruti Suzuki (49th).

There are 22 other Indian companies on the list of 600
largest companies, ranked in terms of their reputation.

"Corporate India has the best reputed companies. Of the
27 Indian companies ranked among the 600 largest in the world,
almost 90 per cent received scores above the global mean, with
five ranking among the Top 50," the Reputation Institute said
in its annual study for 2009.

Only the US had more number of companies in the top-50
(17 companies), the report noted. In terms of overall presence
also, the US had five times the number of companies in the
list than India.

The list is made on the basis of admiration, trust and
good feeling that consumers have towards a company.

Other Indian companies on the list include -- Hindustan
Unilever (70th rank), ITC (96), Canara Bank (103), HPCL (112),
Indian Oil (113), Wipro (117), Reliance Group (133), Mahindra
& Mahindra (138), Bharti Airtel (164), Bank of Baroda (175),
BPCL (176) and Punjab National Bank (178).

The report did not clarify whether the Reliance group
means the Mukesh Ambani Group or Anil Ambani group of
companies.

The report revealed that corporate trust is higher in the
emerging markets, while companies in industrialised markets
are trusted less.

"Proportionally, the largest companies in Brazil, Russia,
India and China (BRIC) enjoy a stronger emotional connection
with consumers than the largest companies in the
industrialized world," it added.

Out of the 289 companies from the US, Japan, the UK,
France and Germany, 45 per cent have reputations below the
global average, while only 34 per cent of the 142 companies
from BRIC nations have below-average reputations, with Chinese
companies dragging down the BRIC average substantially.

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China saw the largest
gain in reputation, 16.38 points from 2008 to 2009, while AIG
lost the most reputation capital with a drop of 27.52 points.

Internet giant Google has been ranked at the 23rd
position, while Microsoft grabbed the 30th rank and Walt
Disney was at 21st place. Nokia is at 45th, PepsiCo is 46th
and GE is ranked 50th.

In 2008, Toyota and Google were number one and two, they
now rank 59th and 23rd, respectively. PTI MBH
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