You must have heard the term, “Fortune 500” when talking about companies. Fortune Magazine, for the last 45 years has been publishing a list of the largest companies annually, meaning companies with the largest revenue for the previous year. Since Fortune calculates the revenue of companies using data available publicly, only companies having common stock that trades on a stock exchange are eligible. Even US subsidiaries of foreign companies are not included. The top 500 in the list are Fortune 500 companies.
Basically, Fortune 500 companies are among the most profitable and powerful companies in America. You would have heard of blue-chip companies like General Electric and Philip Morris, both are ranked very high on the Fortune 500 list.
Looking at the profits these companies make, the topmost company on the list made above $210 billion in revenue and even the lowest ranked in the list, Qualcomm made $3 billion.
The economic strength of a city is said to be quantified by the presence of Fortune 500 companies. The companies that fall into this category represent a variety of industries that have diversified with alliances from several business entities or partnerships. The cities that headquarter these companies also gain recognition globally and these companies contribute to the education, cultural and arts in the area.
We know what Fortune 500 companies are but do we know what gives them the edge over other businesses and puts them on this prestigious list?
There are several factors that go into making them the top few. The first one being their attitude. These companies are humane and understand that their power lies in their employees. If you look into the rise of each of the Fortune 500 companies, you will notice that they followed wonderful human resource practices like good pay, benefits and keeping the spirit of the employees high.
These companies bring to light how training and development helps with retention of staff. At Google, which has been voted the best company to work for, employees can even have their laundry done, get their car washed, get oil change for the cars, use the gym, get a massage done and also use a personal assistance service for getting personal things done, like making reservations for dinner etc. They even have day care crèches. There are also some companies that give off to their employees on their birthdays.
A company that gets into the Fortune 500 list is not all about profits; it is also about personalization and making staff feel at home. Where other companies look at these measures as expenses and additional costs for the company, these top companies look at it as an investment that will take them to greater heights. They do this because it works.
Fortune 500 companies get there by gaining on productivity and saving on staff turnover.
These companies are up-to-date with their technology. Most of them have an online presence and they know the importance of reaching their customers through various channels.
Project management is another area where Fortune 500 companies score. Analysts figure out that these companies’ projects are more profitable and successful because of professional project management. This enables them to execute more projects on time and within the specified budget. Strong management support increases the ability of the company to obtain the necessary resources for initiating projects and aligning the project goals with corporate strategy.
There are various reasons why Fortune 500 companies are where they are – looking down on others. Their professionalism and their strategies along with a great work culture get them there.
