Top 20 Most Admired Companies

To create the top 20, Fortune and its survey partners at Hay Group asked the experts -- in this case, more than 3,700 people from dozens of industries -- to select the 10 companies they admire most. This year's winners all have strong records of innovation, leadership, and financial strength -- and their employees know it.

BMW
BMW
Top 20 rank: 14*
Rank in Motor Vehicles: 1
The German automaker has doubled the number of models, expanded its global manufacturing -- and fallen on its face with the disastrous acquisition and subsequent divestment of Britain's Rover Group. Yet even as it has transformed its operations, BMW has strengthened its image as the sporty and cool German luxury-car brand. BMW's biggest challenge: to achieve margins as fat as those of rival Daimler. That would make BMW's shareholders as happy as its drivers.  -Peter Gumbel
See how BMW rates in 8 key areas
Last updated March 03 2008: 2:10 PM ET

Apple

Berkshire Hathaway

General Electric

Google

Toyota Motor

Starbucks

FedEx

Procter & Gamble

Johnson & Johnson

Goldman Sachs

Target

Southwest Airlines

American Express

BMW

Costco

Microsoft

UPS

Cisco Systems

3M

Nordstrom
* Tied with Costco
Most admired: Full list See how 317 top companies rate in 8 key areas. (more)
Most admired in your state California is home to the most corporations on this year's list. See the top-rated firms near you. (more)
Game: How admirable are you? Can you match each quote to the Most Admired company it refers to? See how admirably you score. (more)

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