It’s always nice to be recognized for your efforts. Although Dell is honored to take the top slot in Newsweek’s Green Rankings for 2010 (see the complete list here), we also see this award as a reflection of your commitment to environmental stewardship.

Having customers like you who strive to be greener is what inspires us to continually find better ways to help you achieve more. The efficiencies that come from greener practices, products and services are so often the key to finding those better ways.

Newsweek recognized us for building sustainability into our supply chain and operations, which ultimately makes it easier and more cost-effective for you to be green. For example, you have helped us divert more than 484 million pounds of equipment from landfills since 2006 through our convenient recycling programs. And our innovative bamboo packaging provides a strong, renewable packaging alternative that you can compost for easy disposal.

Newsweek also recognized our passion for helping you compute more while consuming less. For example, thanks to the energy management features on our OptiPlex™ business computers, Dell customers have saved more than $5 billion in energy costs since 2006.

About the Ranking

The Newsweek Green Rankings grades America’s 500 largest publicly traded companies, as measured by revenue, market capitalization and number of employees, on their environmental performance, policies and reputation as environmentally responsible companies.

Newsweek partnered with three independent organizations to assemble a “green score” for each company. That score is based on three components:

• Environmental impact — based on data compiled by Trucost
• Green policies — derived from data collected by RiskMetrics
• Reputation — based on an opinion survey of corporate social responsibility (CSR) professionals, academics and other environmental experts who subscribe to CorporateRegister.com

CEOs or high-ranking officials in all companies on the Newsweek 500 list were also invited to participate.

Top Ten Performers in BCG’s Annual Value Creators Rankings Are All Based in Asia–Five in China, Two in Hong Kong, and One Each in India, Indonesia, and South Korea

BOSTON, One side effect of the Great Recession has been to accelerate the ascent of companies from rapidly developing economies to the top ranks of the world’s creators of shareholder value, according to a new report by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG). This is the core finding of Threading the Needle: Value Creation in a Low-Growth Economy, the twelfth annual report in BCG’s Value Creators series.

Starting from a database of more than 4,000 companies worldwide, the report presents detailed analyses of the total shareholder return (TSR) at 712 companies across 14 major industries for the five-year period from 2005 through 2009. It also identifies the top ten value creators overall and in each of the industries studied. Among the key findings:

• Of the 142 companies included in this year’s global and industry rankings, 81 are located in developing economies — 57 percent of the total.
• Even more dramatic, the top ten value creators in the 712-company sample are all from Asia — five companies listed on stock exchanges in China, two in Hong Kong, and one each in India, Indonesia, and South Korea. (See the exhibit “The BCG Global Top Ten, 2005-2009.”)
• Seven of the top ten large-cap value creators (those with market valuations of more than $35 billion) are listed on stock exchanges in rapidly developing economies as well — Brazil, Hong Kong, India, Mexico, and South Korea.
• Of the 14 major industries covered by the report, only one – pharmaceuticals and medical technology — does not have any companies from emerging markets in its top ten.

“One of the consequences of the Great Recession is that we are now living in what BCG calls a ‘two-speed’ economy,” said coauthor Daniel Stelter, a senior partner in BCG’s Berlin office and the global leader of the firm’s Corporate Development practice. “Most developing economies are rebounding relatively quickly to their precrisis growth levels. In contrast, developed economies are entering an extended period of below-average growth — with profound implications for how companies create value and which companies come out on top.”

Trends in Value Creation

The report also discusses other findings from BCG’s analysis of this year’s Value Creators database.

• The average annual TSR for the 712 companies in the database was 6.6 percent — and in 3 of our 14 industry samples, TSR was actually negative, on average, during the past five years. This relatively poor performance (considerably below the long-term historical average of approximately 10 percent) reflects the precipitous decline in market values in late 2008 owing to the global financial crisis — a decline that the rebound in 2009 equity values only partly recovered.
• The big industry winner in this year’s rankings is the mining and materials sector, with a weighted average annual TSR of 18 percent. This performance is a function of the rise in commodity prices during the 2005-2009 time period, driven in part by rapid development in emerging markets. In second and third place are the chemicals industry and the machinery and construction industry.
• The leading companies in the sample substantially outpaced not only their own industry average but also the total sample average. For example, the average annual TSR of the global top ten — 75 percent — was more than 11 times greater than that of the sample as a whole. The top ten companies in each industry outpaced their industry averages by between 13.2 percentage points (in pulp and paper) and 34.5 percentage points (in machinery and construction). And in every industry we studied, the top ten companies also did substantially better than the overall sample average — by at least 6.6 percentage points of TSR.

“The lesson for executives is clear,” said coauthor Frank Plaschke, a partner in BCG’s Munich office. “Coming from a sector with below-average market performance is no excuse. No matter how bad an industry’s average performance is relative to other sectors and to the market as a whole, it is still possible for companies in that industry to deliver superior shareholder returns.”

The Impact of Low Growth on Value Creation

In addition to analyzing TSR rankings, Threading the Needle also explores the implications of below-average economic growth for value creation at companies that mainly do business in the developed world.

Capital gains will become a relatively less important source of TSR as lower GDP growth puts pressure on corporate revenues and profits, and average valuation multiples decline as investors reset their future growth expectations. Meanwhile, declining multiples means that the yield from payouts of free cash flow will increase, making direct payments to shareholders in the form of dividends or stock repurchases relatively more important.

“This shift in the composition of TSR means that there will be opportunities for some companies to achieve above-average shareholder returns by emphasizing cash payout,” said coauthor Eric Olsen, a senior partner in BCG’s Chicago office. “But the big winners will be those companies that manage to increase cash payouts even as they deliver above-average profitable growth in what is a much tougher and more competitive economic environment.”

The report identifies three priorities for value creation strategy in a low-growth environment.

• Target value-creating growth. Because achieving profitable growth is going to be more difficult, companies will need to take a tough look at existing business plans so as to weed out those growth investments that do not create value and focus only on those that do.
• Rethink capital deployment. As direct payments to shareholders become more important, companies may also have to question some legacy assumptions — for example, the preferability of share buybacks over dividend increases.
• Explore alternative scenarios for value creation. By creating alternative future scenarios that emphasize different uses of capital, a company can assess critical tradeoffs and define the most appropriate path for optimizing its value-creation strategy.

To receive a copy of the report or arrange an interview with one of the authors, please contact Eric Gregoire at +1 617 850 3783 or gregoire.eric@bcg.com.

About The Boston Consulting Group

The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) is a global management consulting firm and the world’s leading advisor on business strategy. We partner with clients in all sectors and regions to identify their highest-value opportunities, address their most critical challenges, and transform their businesses. Our customized approach combines deep insight into the dynamics of companies and markets with close collaboration at all levels of the client organization. This ensures that our clients achieve sustainable competitive advantage, build more capable organizations, and secure lasting results. Founded in 1963, BCG is a private company with 69 offices in 40 countries. For more information, please visit www.bcg.com.

The new joint venture will provide merchandising and marketing services and have national market presence in the country.

The new joint venture will be called SPAR (Shanghai) Marketing Management Company. Spar will own 51% of the joint venture while Shanghai Wedone Marketing Consulting will own 49% in accordance with the laws of China. The new company will provide merchandising and related marketing services to manufacturers and retailers throughout China.

Gary Raymond, president and CEO of Spar Group, said: “It is no secret that China is one of the fastest growing economies and most promising markets for our marketing and specialty merchandising services. We have researched diligently to find a synergistic partner to maximize the value of our presence in China and are pleased to reach an agreement with Shanghai Wedone. We believe the team at Shanghai Wedone Marketing is the optimal partner to continue our growth in China.”
From:www.americanchronicle.com

Aon will pay $50 per Hewitt share, representing a 41 percent premium to Hewitt’s closing stock price of $35.40 on Friday.

Aon plans to integrate Hewitt with its existing consulting and outsourcing operations and operate the segment under the newly created Aon Hewitt brand, the company said.

“This merger will give us a broader portfolio of innovative products and services focused on what we believe are two of the most important topics in the global economy today – risk and people,” Aon chief executive Greg Case said on Monday.

Hewitt stockholders will receive $25.61 in cash and about 0.6362 percent of a share in Aon stock for each Hewitt share. The total payment will be $2.45 billion in cash and issue of 64 million shares.

The companies expect the deal to save about $355 million annually by 2013 through reduction in back-office areas and other impacts. The transaction is expected to close by mid-November.

49 percent of Aon Hewitt’s operation by revenue would be consulting, 40 percent would be benefits outsourcing and 11 percent would be from HR business process outsourcing, Aon said in a statement.

Aon expects the transaction to add to its earnings on a GAAP basis in 2012 and on an adjusted basis in 2011. Aon expects the deal to be significantly help cash earnings in 2011. Aon bought reinsurance broker Benfield Group Ltd. for $1.4 billion, or 350 pence a share, in 2008.

Credit Suisse Group AG acted as a financial adviser to Aon and Citigroup Inc. advised Hewitt on the transaction.

Hewitt helps more than 3,000 clients and serves nearly two-thirds of the FORTUNE 500. The company handles more than 117 million human resources-related customer interactions a year for nearly 16 million employees, retirees, and their families.

Shares of Aon closed at $38.34 on Friday on the NYSE.
News From:IBTIMES.COM

The long-awaited recovery is now under way, but it’s a slow, painful slog that’s short on trust and confidence and long on a drumbeat of numbers that mostly shift from dreadful to less depressing. Twenty-seven months after the recession began, unemployment is stuck at 9.7%. Housing starts are dragging near half-century lows. Consumers are finally spending again, but they’re still too fearful about their jobs and homes to crowd malls and auto lots with the buoyant abandon that heralds a full-rigged revival, the kind Americans are used to.

Amazingly, as consumers struggle, U.S. corporations are staging a nearly unprecedented comeback that’s largely escaping notice. The gargantuan, dispiriting job cuts that seem to dominate the news have also been the spur for an epic resurgence in profits. For 2009, the Fortune 500 lifted earnings 335%, to $391 billion, a $301 billion jump that’s the second largest in the list’s 56-year history, approaching the increase in the robust recovery of 2003. For last year the 500 raised their return on sales from less than 1% to 4%. That’s close to the list’s 4.7% historical average.

Hence, the 500′s profits virtually returned to normal after years of extremes — bubbles in 2006 and 2007, collapse in 2008 — despite a feeble overall recovery that’s far from normal. This year’s list — reminder: the Fortune 500 ranks U.S. companies by revenue — is packed with changes that reflect and spotlight the trends reshaping corporate America. The homebuilders that occupied 14 places in 2007 and three last year, including Centex and Pulte, have all disappeared, casualties of shrinking sales. No fewer than nine newcomers from recession-resistant health care joined in 2009, among them drugmakers Genzyme (sales: $4.5 billion) and Allergan ($4.5 billion).

The fall in commodity prices removed half-a-dozen energy production, oil refining, and pipeline companies, and bumped last year’s No. 1, Exxon Mobil ($285 billion), into second place, far behind the new leader, Wal-Mart ($408 billion). The collapse in car sales pushed General Motors ($105 billion) from sixth to 15th place, the first time in the list’s history that GM didn’t make the top 10.

The rebound comes chiefly from three sectors: financial services, consumer cyclicals — items ranging from toys to furniture — and health care. In 2009 banks, securities firms, and insurance companies lowered their combined losses from a staggering $213 billion to just $20 billion. Buoyed by a government bailout, AIG swung from a loss of $99 billion in 2008 — a Fortune 500 record — to a deficit of $11 billion last year. The combined losses at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac shrank by $15 billion to a still-huge $94 billion, as write-downs continued on subprime mortgages. By contrast, the banks and brokers, including J.P. Morgan, Wells Fargo, and Goldman Sachs, rebounded from losses of $8.7 billion to $38 billion in profits. Write-downs on toxic securities receded, and investment-banking profits jumped, helping offset losses on credit cards and mortgages. J.P. Morgan Chase doubled earnings to $12 billion, thanks chiefly to big gains in fixed-income trading.

In consumer cyclicals, a category that could be labeled “things you’d like to buy but can put off,” companies suffered losses of $42 billion in 2008. Casino operators, electronics retailers, and auto-parts suppliers saw revenues fall faster than they could slash costs. That trend reversed in 2009. Wal-Mart managed to lift revenues, on top of a big increase in 2008, by attracting bargain-hungry customers from competitors with remodeled stores and inexpensive private-label goods, offering everything from frozen pizza to patio furniture in one stop. A single trip also meant less spending on gas. Result: Earnings surged 7.0% to $14.3 billion.

The 500′s most exceptional study in ingenuity may be Mattel, the world’s largest toymaker. In late 2008, Mattel foresaw that sales would plunge in 2009 and introduced a clench-jawed cost-cutting campaign called Global Cost Leadership. Mattel pared its professional workforce by 10%, or 1,000 employees; paid down debt to lower interest costs by $10 million; and reduced overhead by $132 million. Its revenues did drop by $487 million, or 8%. But costs fell much more, by a remarkable $669 million before tax. Mattel booked a net income increase of $149 million, or 39%.

The star of 2009 is undoubtedly health care. The sector’s earnings jumped to an all-time high of $92 billion, placing it second behind tech at $94 billion. Health-care earnings rose by $23 billion, or 33%.

The Fortune 500′s remarkable response is yet another chapter in the saga of a list that’s gone from boom to bust to almost normal, all in the space of three short years. Never has getting to “almost normal” been a bigger achievement.
From:www.fortune.com

1. Facebook
2. Amazon
3. Apple
4. Google
5. Huawei
6. First Solar
7. PG&E
8. Novartis
9. Walmart
10. HP
11. Hulu
12. Netflix
13. Nike
14. Intel
15. Spotify
16. BYD
17. Cisco Systems
18. IBM
19. GE
20. Disney
21. Gilt Groupe
22. Indian Premier League
23. PatientsLikeMe
24. Grey New York
25. BMW DesignworksUSA
26. Synthetic Genomics
27. FiLife
28. Frito-Lay
29. Alibaba
30. MITRE
31. HTC
32. Diller Scofidio + Renfro
33. Firstborn
34. Sportvision
35. Ideo
36. Samsung
37. Glam Media
38. Ngmoco
39. VNL
40. Aldi Süd
41. Fast Retailing
42.Huayi Brothers
43. Athenahealth
44. MVRDV
45. Alstom
46. Quantcast
47. Good Guide
48. Microsoft
49. Politico
50. Twitter

Rankings methodology:For the 2008 Vault consulting survey, we selected a list of top consulting firms to include. These consulting firms were chosen because of their prominence in the consulting industry and their interest to consulting job seekers. This year, over 4,000 consultants responded to our survey.
The Vault survey was distributed to the firms on Vault’s list in spring 2008. In some cases, Vault contacted practicing consultants directly. Survey respondents were asked to rate each consulting firm on the survey on a scale of 1 to 10 based on prestige, with 10 being the most prestigious. Consultants were unable to rate their own firm, and they were asked to rate only those firms with which they were familiar.

Vault collected the survey results and averaged the score for each firm. The firms were then ranked, with the highest score being No. 1, down to No. 50.

We also asked survey respondents to give their perceptions of other consulting firms besides their own. A selection of those comments is featured on each firm profile as The Buzz.

Remember that Vault’s top-50 strategy consulting firms are chosen by practicing consultants at top consulting firms. Vault does not choose or influence the rankings. The rankings measure perceived prestige (as determined by consulting professionals) and not revenue, size or lifestyle.