Whether you want to align your business practices with those of some of the top 50 international companies or make informed investing choices, international company rankings can provide easily digestible information on how companies compare. Don't be fooled by the simple format of numbered rankings, however, since ranking international companies is not a standard process.

An international company rank is determined differently by different resources. While most are based on revenues in some form, they do not all reflect the same factors. Knowing the international company rankings basics can help you get the best and most accurate information from a rankings list.

When browsing the top international companies, consider the following basic types of rankings:

1. Consult performance rankings for composite scores of revenues and asset value.
2. Use international company rankings of growth to find booming businesses.
3. Consider industry-specific rankings for the top international companies in your area.
   

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Find the best international companies by profits, sales and market value

Most traditional international company rankings evaluate a number of revenue-based factors, including sales, profits, assets and market value, to produce a composite score for each company. The formulas used vary by ranking system, but tend to consider the same factors as indicators of company performance.

I recommend: Financial Times posts its FT 500 rankings online and allows you to read about their method for developing rankings. Business Week uses a similar formula for evaluating performance to create its rankings of best international companies and worst international companies.

Find top international businesses by growth indicators

You may also be looking for the best international company by the margin of growth rather than simply the total revenues or market value. Growth rankings are good for finding the top international businesses that are small but booming. Growth rankings compare sales and revenues across a certain time span to find those which have the largest percentage growth.

I recommend: Entrepreneur.com publishes the Hot 500 fastest growing businesses, measuring sales across a four-year period. Fortune also lists its 100 fastest growing companies, and provides information on the growth over the past four quarters, growth over the past 3 years and a comparison to the company's previous ranking by Fortune.

Learn about the top 50 international companies in your industry

An industry-specific international company ranking can often be more meaningful than general business rankings that tend to favor energy and financial sectors and provide little information on other businesses. Use an industry-specific list to find the top international companies in industries such as airline travel and manufacturing.

I recommend: Flightglobal offers downloads of airline business rankings across the airline sector. Industry Week publishes the IW 1000 with company profiles for the top international companies in manufacturing.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Consider alternatives to the typical revenues-based ranking systems used to select top international businesses. For instance, some rankings are done based on employee benefits and work environment, such as the Fortune's 100 Best Companies to Work For. If you're trying to make your business competitive in the rankings, remember to consider factors like these.

You can't help but think of major energy companies and large financial institutions when thinking about the top 50 international companies. Lists of the top international businesses are easy to find. Trade and professional associations, popular and business magazines and business-focused websites provide company rankings. Profiles of these companies can be especially useful in strategic planning.

Knowing who's on the list of the best international companies is key business intelligence. The data on the top international companies tells you who’s on top and why in international business. Company profiles for the top 10 international companies, top 100 international companies or even the top 500 international companies can provide key tips on how learn to build a better business. Among the things to keep in mind are:

1. International company rank provides clues to best and worst business practices.

2. Information on the top international companies offers useful market intelligence.

3. International company rankings can help you find new partners, customers or other business relationships.

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Locate sources of international company ranking

There are many publications and agencies for ranking international companies. Find out whether your company is on any of them. If it's your goal to get ranked, look at the top ten international businesses and learn their secrets to success.

I recommend: At Forbes, you can find Global High Performers that stand out from peers in growth, return to investors and future potential. You can also find data on the world's 2,000 largest companies and other business categories. The free Hoover’s Index for top international businesses is based on amount of online activity. It focuses on companies that are creating a buzz in their markets. You can access by location as well as by other parameters.

Analyze the rankings of the top international businesses for best practices

International company rankings often include detailed company profiles. Use them to strengthen business intelligence. Study the profiles and other key company information for ways you can improve your business processes.

I recommend: Dun & Bradstreet offers Selectory, an online business-to-business application with detailed company profiles for international firms. You can find data about more companies from more countries in the Mergent Online databases. You can search by country or business sector.

Search international company rankings to find possible business connections

It makes good business sense to do business with the best. The perfect place to look for potential partners are lists of the best international companies. They identify the most successful business in each market sector.

I recommend: FT.com, the online version of the Financial Times, cites the world's most respected companies. Innovation and staying power in a weakening economy characterize these top businesses. In addition to international business rankings in several categories, Inc.com offers information to companies looking for business partners and investors.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Remember that international company rankings reflect the ranking institution's criteria. You might want to research the subjectivity of the ranking agency based on past listings.

International company rankings news and trends provide valuable information for business leaders, recent graduates venturing into executive positions in the global marketplace and small business investors. Use a list of the top international businesses to gage the viability of proposed shifts and future changes to increase your competitiveness in the international arena. It’s imperative to carefully evaluate and develop an appropriate understanding of fundamental resources available through business data.

Many news and trends resource materials develop international company rankings based on varying criteria. Some use revenue, others credit worthiness and some choose to focus on the business’ impact on the local and national community where it conducts business. It’s clear the attention given to the analysis of trends and assessment of news generates the outcomes and rank of a specific business. Consider the following suggestions to explore the benefits of global business news and trends:

1. Read leading publications that consistently list top international businesses.

2. Consider evaluating international company rankings by country, industry or type of rating for a precise evaluation.

3. Review specific standard, criteria or variables used to establish best international companies.

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Research industry research reports that specialize in international company rankings

View the top 50 international companies. Research reports and experts in the area of international rankings news and trends offer an informed opinion based on years of evaluating changes in the domestic, ranking international companies and marketplace.

I recommend: CNN's Money.com is a leading publication which develops an annual top 50 international companies rankings list based on revenue. ThomasNet Industrial Newsroom provides an in-depth and up-to-date snapshot that explains the trends in the industrial global marketplace.

Assess top international company rankings that use multiple variables

News and trend resources utilize data about top international companies in order to predict shifts and changes in the global market. Seek out comprehensive sources with comparable data criteria beyond just revenue, which only provides one aspect of market success and international company rank.

I recommend: globalEDGE is sponsored by the University of Michigan and provides a variety of in-depth industry resources using multi-focal criteria. OneSource offers comprehensive source for global information on companies and gives analysis using multiple variables to gather international business data.

Generate customized sample reports for international company rankings

Tailor your international ranking reports specific to the demographics that impact major shifts in your company. Using resource reports and trends that are particular and industry-driven can yield invaluable results for analysis and critical evaluation.

I recommend: A.M. Best offers free access to analysis of company news and research to provide an in-depth look at the trends in the financial industry or rank the top ten international businesses in a particular industry. SRC Free Demographics provides the tools to create free sample reports, a personalized top 10 international business list or register for free webinars about utilizing trends through data and demographic reports.

A number of research organizations, magazines and journals, and private institutions rank international companies. Variables used in rankings vary. Most use financial and sales figures, including revenue, market value, assets and growth. There are other more narrow rankings, such as green initiatives, best places to work and most admired companies. Many research sources rank companies within an industry, which can give a better picture of a company's standing as it relates to current industry trends. When looking at international company rankings, get to know some of the key terminology used by ranking systems to make sure you are comparing the data that is most relevant to your business.

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Market capitalization

A popular ranking tool is market capitalization, which is the value of the company's outstanding shares. The monetary values are converted into a common currency when ranking international companies.

I recommend: See The Financial Times for a description of its ranking system and a few of the top ranking companies. Check out Investopedia for a definition of market capitalization.

Revenue

Another ranking tool, used by Fortune magazine and other industry analysts, is revenue. Revenue is the amount of money a company receives in a year for products or services sold, before deducting expenses.

I recommend: Check out ADVFN for a definition of revenue.

Foreign assets

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development ranks international companies based on the amount of foreign assets held as well as additional financial data including sales and employment.

I recommend: See the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development for information about its company ranking systems.

Growth

Forbes uses annual average growth in revenue and net income to rank international companies. The top ranked companies in their survey have expanded earnings at 25% annually.

I recommend: View the Forbes international company rankings for more information about their ranking system and examples of high performance.

Green

A modern trend in ranking companies surveys 'green' initiatives like emissions, water use, energy consumption, recycling, alternative energy sources and employee training.

I recommend: Reuters has posted an article about Natural Health Magazine's survey and ranking of the top multinational green companies. Greenpeace ranks electronics companies based on their green initiatives.

Industry specific

Industry specific rankings are used to evaluate and compare companies in a specific industry. Rankings may be done using financial data or variables.

I recommend: See GlobalEDGE from Michigan State University for examples of industry specific company rankings.