Time Inc.’s Fortune magazine has released its fourteenth annual World’s Most Admired Companies rating. 

The rank is based on the survey conducted by Fortune in collaboration with Hay Group. In course of the survery, reputed business people of the U.S. were asked to cast their votes for the companies they consider to be the best in any industry. The survey was based on such criteria as quality of management, social responsibility to the community and the environment, quality of products and services, wise use of corporate resources, ability to attract and retain talented people, etc.

Image: www.ibtimes.com

So, 2011 Top 10 Most Admired Companies rating looks as follows:

1. Apple

2. Google

3. Berkshire Hathaway

4. Southwest Airlines

5. Procter & Gamble

6. Coca-Cola

7. Amazon.com

8. FedEx

9. Microsoft

10. McDonald’s

To learn more about top 50 and 350 most admired companies of the world, please visit www.money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/mostadmired/2011/full_list/.

As we can see, this year’s list is crowned by IT giants with Apple as the most innovative company topping Google (selected No 2 for the popularity of its free operating system Android as well as for the endless number of innovative projects that made Google a king of online search).

Procter and Gamble took the fifth place for its huge consumer reach as the world’s largest consumer-products company. Its annual sales total $79 billion.

Coca-Cola has ranked the 6th place due to its popularity with consumers, speed of global expansion and numerous campaigns designed to protect the environment.

McDonald’s is at the end of top 10 list. The restaurant chain was selected one of top 10 most admired companies for its ability to quickly adapt to the challenges of the market (introduced healthy menu amid the ‘anti-junk-food’ campaign) as well as for its charity campaigns and budget menu.