The Most Admired list is the definitive report card on corporate reputations. Our survey partners at Hay Group started with the FORTUNE Global 500 and large companies with revenue in excess of $10 billion. To create the 26 industry lists, Hay asked executives, directors and analysts to rate companies in their own industry on nine criteria, from investment value to social responsibility.

The top 20 list is based on a separate vote across all industries, in which all 1,467 respondents to the survey were asked to rank their top ten firms.

A total of 358 companies in 27 industries were surveyed. Due to an insufficient response rate, the results of 13 companies in the energy industry are not reported. In addition, for 44 companies, only the aggregate scores and ranks are published due to the distribution of responses in the following four industries: Airlines, General Merchandisers, Metals and Network Communications.

Hay Group, which has conducted the research for the World's Most Admired Companies list since 1997 and for America's Most Admired Companies since 2001, is a global management consulting firm with 88 offices in 47 countries. For information about Hay Group's services, go to haygroup.com.

Find out what top executives and financial analysts in your industry think. For detailed scores and analysis of the eight key drivers of corporate reputation for all companies within an industry, including those not published, visit www.fortunedatastore.com/reputation.

If you have further questions about the Most Admired Companies, please e-mail lists@cnnmoney.com.