THE FIFTH ANNUAL "CANADA'S MOST RESPECTED CORPORATIONS" SURVEY

THE FIFTH ANNUAL "CANADA'S MOST RESPECTED CORPORATIONS" SURVEY

BOMBARDIER CHOSEN AS THE #1 MOST RESPECTED CORPORATION BY CEOs FOLLOWED BY ROYAL BANK OF CANADA, NORTHERN TELECOM AND BCE

This year's Fifth Annual Angus Reid Group/Report on Business Magazine survey asked CEOs and the general public for their opinions on the most respected corporation as well as various business and economic issues.

The CEO component of this Report on Business/Angus Reid Group survey was conducted by telephone or mail-out survey between November 30th, 1998 and January 26th, 1999 among a representative cross-section of 272 CEOs.

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CEOs Rank Bombardier the Most Admired and Respected Company in Canada

In the fifth annual Angus Reid Group/Report on Business Magazine's envoy into how Canadian CEOs view the country's corporate landscape, Bombardier emerges as the darling of Canadian business. It displaces last year's top company, the Royal Bank of Canada to a second place finish. On a national basis, Northern Telecom, BCE, Magna, CIBC, Toronto Dominion Bank, Barrick Gold, Imperial Oil and IBM Canada fill out the top-ten (see figure 1 "Honour Roll" for the top 25).

The most respected companies are determined based on aggregate scores collected from a series of open-ended questions about what companies, other than their own, CEOs admire or respect most in terms of long term investment value, innovation and product/service development, human resources management, financial performance and corporate social responsibility. In addition, there is an open-ended question where respondents are asked to name the single company they admire and respect the most. A scoring system was used giving companies three points for each time it was the first mention in a given performance category, two points for each second-place showing and one point for a third place mention. An additional three points were attributed to firms cited in the question where CEOs were explicitly asked to name their choice for the single most respected corporation overall. The final tally for each firm is the sum of these points.

This year's story is as much about who is the leader of Canadian industry as it is about what has become of those who were at the top of the list. In particular, while last year's winner, the Royal Bank of Canada, continues to be well regarded by CEOs, the same cannot be said about the Bank of Montreal. The Bank of Montreal has been squeezed out of the top-ten and has suffered losses in categories such as human resources management and corporate social responsibility where it previously garnered strong scores.

In addition, while the survey reveals that Bombardier is the clear winner, it is not the same run-away victory that the Royal Bank of Canada enjoyed last year when it captured top marks in almost every category. Along with eliciting the most mentions when CEOs were asked to name the single company that they admire and respect the most over all, Bombardier only outranks all other companies in one performance category -- long term investment value. Bombardier must share the accolades with companies who are considered tops in other categories.

Rising Stars and Fallen Heroes

The Toronto Dominion Bank continues its stellar climb up the most respected list along with Barrick Gold and IBM Canada, who join the ranks of the 1999 top-ten.

• After climbing nine positions to 12th place in last year's survey, TD Bank improves another six places and makes its top-ten debut at sixth place (tied with CIBC).
• After slipping out of the top-ten last year (11th place in 1998; 9th place in 1997), Barrick Gold returns to the top-ten fold with an eighth place showing in 1999.
• Pegged in the 13th position for the last two surveys, the top-ten has eluded IBM Canada; however, this year the company enters the winners-circle with a tenth place finish

Leaving the prestigious top-ten, the Bank of Montreal, Newbridge Networks and the Bank of Nova Scotia are displaced to lower standings (11th, 16th and 19th respectively).

National Differences

Bombardier inspires admiration and respect among CEOs across the country; however, it is catapulted into the number one spot based on strong support among CEOs in Quebec where it out-ranked BCE, the second place company in the province, by a margin of more than 2:1. It is also ranked number one among CEOs in Atlantic Canada. On the basis of aggregate scores, CEOs throughout the rest of the country rank the Royal Bank of Canada ahead of the pack.

BC	Alta	Sask/Man	Ontario	PQ	Atl Canada
Royal Bank of Canada	Royal Bank of Canada	Royal Bank of Canada	Royal Bank of Canada	Bombardier	Bombardier
Northern Telecom	Imperial Oil	Bombardier	Bombardier	BCE	Royal Bank of Canada
Magna	Bombardier	Toronto Dominion Bank	Northern Telecom	Northern Telecom	Loblaws
Bombardier	Northern Telecom	BCE (tied for fourth)	Magna	Royal Bank of Canada	Voxcom (tied for fourth)
Barrick Gold Corporation	Petro Canada	Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan (tied for fourth)	BCE	Teleglobe	Bank of Nova Scotia (tied for fourth)

Performance Indicators

For the most part, the companies that comprise the top-ten perform well across most of the performance indicators tested. However, CEOs named different companies as the top performers in the areas of innovation and corporate social responsibility than they did for the other categories. In terms of innovation, Northern Telecom, Bombardier and Magna are the only companies that correspond on both the top-ten innovators list and the list of top-ten companies overall. In terms of social responsibility, Royal Bank of Canada, BCE and Imperial Oil are the only companies that correspond on both lists.

Top of Mind

When CEOs were asked to name the one company in Canada, other than their own, they most admire or respect, Bombardier is mentioned by the greatest number of CEOs. Northern Telecom, Magna, the Royal Bank of Canada and BCE fill out the top five.

This open-ended question produces a different result from the composite data because it allows CEOs the latitude to consider other performance indicators that were not measured in this study. It is also restricted to just one choice.

Figure two outlines the top-ten most admired and respected corporations in Canada in terms of how CEOs perceive them overall.

Best Long Term Investment Value

After being considered the most admired and respected company in terms of its long-term investment value for two years running, the Royal Bank of Canada has slipped to second place behind Bombardier (2nd in 1998). When CEOs were asked to name the companies they admire most in terms of their long term investment value, Bombardier and the Royal Bank of Canada followed by Northern Telecom in third place (improving its standing by one position), BCE in fourth (dropping one position since last year) and Magna in fifth (climbing two positions since last year).

The Bank of Montreal, Bank of Nova Scotia and Newbridge Networks have fallen out of the top-ten. Power Corporation and Teleglobe are joining the top-ten for the first time this year and Barrick Gold has reestablished the top-ten ranking it lost last year.

While the banks dominated this category in 1998, the absence of the Bank of Montreal and the Bank of Nova Scotia from this year's top-ten reflects a decline in CEOs faith in the value of banks' long term worth and a concomitant increased appreciation for the value offered by companies of diverse backgrounds.

Figure three outlines the top-ten most admired and respected corporations in Canada in terms of how CEOs perceive their long-term investment value.

Human Resources Management

After a narrow victory last year, the Royal Bank of Canada secures a first place finish as the most admired and respected company in terms of its human resources management. It finishes well ahead of second place Bombardier (fifth place in 1998). Improving their standings, BCE assumes a third place finish (up from 7th last year) and Dofasco clinches a fourth place showing (up from 6th last year). Northern Telecom has dropped one position to fifth place. In addition, Alcan debuts in this year's top-ten with an eighth place finish.

Based on the CEOs' responses, the Bank of Montreal and Magna have suffered the greatest losses among the top-ten companies. After rivaling the Royal Bank of Canada for first place last year, the Bank of Montreal has dropped from a strong second place finish to seventh place and Magna suffered a six-point drop moving it from third to ninth place. In addition, Cascade drops out of the top-ten in this category this year.

Figure four outlines the top-ten most admired and respected corporations in Canada in terms of how CEOs perceive their human resources management.

Corporate Social Responsibility

The Royal Bank of Canada continues to be the most admired and respected corporation in terms of its corporate social responsibility. It is held in much higher regard than second place company BCE (third in 1998). Imperial Oil and Noranda have each improved their standings by two positions to finish third and fourth respectively while CIBC has suffered a one-position loss and assumes a fifth place finish.

The face of the most admired and respected corporations in terms of corporate social responsibility has changed significantly since last year. It has witnessed the Bank of Montreal plunge from a second to tenth place finish. In addition, four new corporations have been introduced to this top-ten list (Petro Canada, Nova, Syncrude and MacMillan Bloedel). Corporations leaving the top-ten include Northern Telecom, Alcan, Dupont and Magna.

Figure five outlines the top-ten most admired and respected corporations in Canada in terms of how CEOs perceive their corporate and social responsibility.

Financial Performance

For the third year in a row, Royal Bank of Canada and Bombardier secure a first and second place finish among CEOs regarding their financial performance. They are followed by BCE in third place (up from seventh in 1998), Magna in fourth place (up from fifth place) and Northern Telecom in fifth place (up from sixth place).

CEOs have dropped CIBC and Newbridge Networks out of the top-ten. In addition, their estimations of the Bank of Montreal's financial performance have soured as it dropped from fourth place in 1998 to tenth place this year.

After dropping off the top-ten list last year, Barrick Gold has resumed a position among the top-ten (seventh place) and Power Corporation makes its top-ten debut (eighth place).

Figure six outlines the top-ten most admired and respected corporations in Canada in terms of how CEOs perceive their financial performance.

Innovation and Product/Service Development

When CEOs were asked to indicate what companies they admire or respect the most in terms of their innovation and product/service development, similar results to those gathered last year were yielded. In particular, Northern Telecom, Bombardier and Newbridge Networks once again finished in first, second and third place respectively. Magna finished in fourth place. Notably, Teleglobe improved the tenth place finish it secured last year to a solid fifth place finish this year.

New comers to this top-ten list include ATI (seventh place) and JDS Fitel (tenth place). IBM Canada and 3M have fallen off the top-ten list this year.

Figure seven outlines the top-ten most admired and respected corporations in Canada in terms of how CEOs perceive their innovation and product/service development.

Best Run Company

Although not part of the composite data, this year, CEOs were also asked to indicate what company, other than their own they consider to be the best run. Bombardier (18%), BCE (5%), the Royal Bank of Canada (5%) and Magna (4%) topped their lists.

For further information, please contact:

John Wright
Senior Vice-President
Angus Reid Group
(416) 324-2900