SIA most admired company in Asia

SIA most admired company in Asia

Singapore: Singapore Airlines (SIA) has been voted the most admired company in Asia outside of Japan in an annual Fortune magazine poll of business executives, said a report on Wednesday.

This is the third straight year the airline has won the honor, and SIA was the only Asian company outside of Japan to make Fortune's 50 company "All-Star" list.

But its position slipped to number 32 this year, down from number 21 last year, reported The Straits Times newspaper. In 2002, SIA was number 50.

As in previous years, U.S. companies dominated the standings, accounting for 36 of the 50 All Stars.

U.S. retail giant Wal-Mart retained its position as the world's most admired company among executives. General Electric and Microsoft also maintained their number 2 and number 3 rankings, respectively.

The survey polled more than 10,000 directors, executives and managers at 345 companies around the world. Respondents were asked to rank other companies within their own industries based on nine criteria including innovativeness, quality of management and financial soundness.

The list will be published in Fortune's March 8 issue. -- DPA