Yet another meaningless list: The 10 “best” companies in America

It’s not that I don’t believe the 30,000 members of the general public surveyed by Harris Interactive are telling the truth, when it comes to the most reputable companies. It isn’t even that I don’t think the winners deserve to be highly ranked.

No, it’s the fact that the list, such as it is — at least the top 10 — is almost completely meaningless to the average consumer. What it means to corporate America, however, may be the most troubling.

Let’s start with the list:

1. Google
2. Johnson & Johnson
3. 3M Company
4. Berkshire Hathaway
5. Apple
6. Intel
7. Kraft Foods
8. Amazon.com
9. General Mills
10. The Walt Disney Company

Sure, all of these companies have solid reputations. But c’mon. How is this going to affect the way you buy products?

Take Berkshire Hathaway or Intel. Berkshire is a diversified company whose stock price is $122,310. Are you going to do business with BRK — or not — because of the Harris list? I don’t think so.

And Intel? Do we have any choice, when it comes to the microprocessor in our PC. Not really.

How about Google? It has a commanding market share among search engines, because it’s the best. Ditto for cloud-based email (Gmail) and browsers (Chrome). The list just reinforces the fact that there’s nothing better out there for us to use, which may say more about the lack of innovation in corporate America than it does about Google.

In fact, as you go down the list — Apple, Disney, General Mills, Johnson & Johnson — it’s pretty clear that there are no real alternatives to their products. I mean, nothing comes close to a Mac or an iPhone (sorry, Android fan boys). Those fake Cheerios at the grocery store? Blech!

Employees at the top 10 in corporate America may be doing high-fives because of this list, but I’m actually depressed by it. I’m struck by the lack of robust competition and innovation and troubled by the rise in de-facto monopolies.

But what’s worse, I’m bothered that American consumers would reward the very companies who dominate their industries, often unfairly, and often to the detriment of their own customers.

Maybe having a “good” reputation isn’t such a good thing, after all.

(Photo: Laughing Squid/Flickr Creative Commons)

  • Lonepaddler

    Well said. It is as meaningless as asking for the Ten Best Books. The titles that people can remember (To Kill a Mockingbird!!!) will always make the list (the Bible!!!). The really good interactions people have with companies are often with small businesses and these change from neighborhood to neighborhood. These folks will never end up on the web on any “Ten Best of” lists.

  • Grey83

    The ironic thng is that J&J has had several recalls this year and I believe at least one plant shut down because of its defective products.

  • FLYER

    Ok.. fair thought that you feel there’s no competition.. but possibly could it be that these folks make a product (or service) that we as the consumer base really like *and* have chosen to buy repeatedly over time– thus making them the leader in their respective industries..? I don’t recall that any of these companies operate in monopoly markets– including the drug makers..

    To me, a quick look down this list and I see names of companies that started small.. very small.. and over time, grew bigger.. and I have to conclude that a large part.. perhaps the largest part is because of US… that you and me– who make a voluntary choice to buy their stuff or not..

    Got a beef with google? use yahoo.. Think J&J’s prices are bad- switch to Pfizer or Roche or the like… hate post-it notes.. try regular papers made by Boise Cascade… Got a problem with Berkshire’s stock price… buy the B share.. Think Apple is rotten to the core– Dell, Compaq, Android, etc.. Think Intel inside is bad? I’m sure AMD or Micron would love to hear from you.. Think all Kraft foods are bad? Try a Nestle product instead… General Mills cereals all sugar? Try a Kellog’s in the morning.. Hate Disney… Well.. Sure Knott’s berry farms would welcome you… or even Universal Studios… right in your own backyard…

    Seems to me that we’re not a prisoner at all.. We’ve CHOSEN by our past purchasing actions to favor X over Y and this list merely shows us who those X’s are…

  • http://www.facebook.com/cklingensmith Christopher Klingensmith

    I thought I was the only one who thought that way. ;-)

    I do love accurate thinking.

  • http://elliott.org Christopher Elliott

    I kind of see where you’re coming from. Still, if you want a quality product, are you often have no choice. Does anything come close to the quality of an iPhone? Or the performance and price of an Intel chip? My point is, if we insist on quality, we have very few choices.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_X66STTMKMTEZNRJDEY3NVQUMX4 Bob

    I’m going to have to disagree with you here. I believe that Google is right at the top of that list BECAUSE OF, and not in spite of, Android. I was on vacation last year with my wife and two very good friends of ours, both of whom are iPhone people. They were using the well below average stock navigator app on the iPhone in the car. Fighting ensued. Finally, the call came from the driver’s seat: can you ask your Droid to get us there?

    I calmly said to the Droid, “Navigate to the Polynesian.” Using its location based services and integrated Google voice search, it figured that we were in Orlando, specifically at the Walt Disney World Resort, and that we wanted to get to Disney’s Polynesian Resort. In under three seconds, the Droid was using its native, audible turn by turn directions to get us there.

    I still won’t let them live it down, and I dare you to try the same thing on your iPhone. Is the iPhone better? I don’t think so. Is it simpler? Probably, as it’s just rows of bubbly icons and one button. It’s idiot proof, sure, but has far, far fewer features.

    FYI, I have a 27″ i5 iMac in front of me right now and a home built PC with Win 7 on it. I use the PC because I can’t stand how the Mac works, and there’s no way to preview my browser tabs in the dock, like I can with Aero peek with Windows.

  • FLYER

    @elliott “Still, if you want a quality product, are you often have no choice”

    I’d dare say that each and everyone of the alternatives I’ve mentioned makes a “quality” product— or they wouldn’t be around.. You either adapt to your consumer and market or die.. Ask the folks at Smith Carona about how quality their typewriters were.

    I think that this list is NOT the companies doing at all.. rather it’s how you and I choose what to buy and how we rate it.. we put them there..as noted earlier not one single company listed operates in a vacuum or without direct or near direct competition.. so if WE as a consumer group demanded a better product– and we back that up with our purchasing power you’d see change.. Eastman Kodak thought digital photos were not going to be relevant.. every try to buy 35mm roll film lately? We demanded better and got it.. digital.

    So to me, the notion that the companies hold us hostage, I see as nonsense.. WE gave them that power by choosing what we buy.. we deemed the products on your list as being superior and our purchasing power went along with it… very, very very few things you and I buy today are done so with monopolistic markets.. so we almost always have a choice of another product…

  • Anonymous

    Hmmm, I have the exact opposite opinion…

    While I do like Google as a search engine, and their mapping is the best, for email, I prefer Yahoo.

    J&J? When I purchase personal household items, I don’t even pay attention to the brand…so I have no idea if I purchase J&J items.

    3M…from a consumer level, I don’t know if I have any 3M products either.

    Berkshire Hathaway…what do they do? I don’t know…

    Apple….come on…I don’t own a single apple product and am still relevant in the computer/network industry

    Intel…my last 3 computers do not have Intel chips in them…AMD for my latest desktop and something else for the tablets I just purchased….don’t remember the CPU..

    Kraft foods…unless it’s Mac and Cheese, I don’t know if I have Kraft products…although I do prefer Knorr

    Amazon.com. Well, you got me on this one…this is a company that can’t be replicated…although Buy.com and several others are trying very hard to.

    General Mills. Sorry, I prefer Kellogs

    Walt Disney. Are they still relevant?