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SUPPLEMENTARY READING FOR BP TOPIC: Fortune 500 companies

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ARTICLE 1 FACT SHEET: WHAT IS THE FORTUNE 500 LIST? It's something many have heard but few understand. You might know that a Fortune 500 company is a giant of American business, but how are these companies selected? There is plenty of fascinating information about the Fortune 500 list. Let's take an in-depth look at the list that most people have heard of but few know about in detail. What Is the Fortune 500? The Fortune 500 is a list compiled by Fortune magazine that lists the top 500 U.S.-based public and closely held companies as measured by gross revenue. The list is widely regarded as the 500 most powerful companies that define American business. The Fortune 500 list might be the best known but Fortune also publishes the Global 500, which opens the list to companies worldwide. Other lists, like the Forbes Global 2000, list the world's 2000 largest public companies. How Are Companies Selected? According to Fortune, companies are ranked by total revenue during their fiscal year. Only companies that are incorporated, operate in the United States and file financial statements with a government agency are eligible. Not all companies on the list are publicly traded. Private companies that file a 10-K or other financial statement are eligible, as well as mutual insurance companies that file with the appropriate state regulator. In order to make the list, a company cannot be a subsidiary. For example, Geico Auto Insurance is not eligible for the list because it is owned by Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK-B). Notable Changes to the List Walmart Regains Top Spot After falling to number two on the list last year, Walmart (NYSE:WMT) overtook Exxon (NYSE:XOM) to become the top company in 2013. The retailer returned to its low-pricing roots, which boosted sales 5.9% in 2012.

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Phillips 66 Debuts at Number Four People were scratching their heads when they saw who held the fourth spot. Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) was ConocoPhillips' (NYSE:COP) refining arm until it was separated from the exploration arm last year. Its $169.5 billion in sales was good enough for the number four spot. Apple Is Finally in the Top 10 How does the largest company in the United States by market cap only now crack the top 10? Because Apple's (Nasdaq: AAPL) 2012 revenue was only $108.2 billion compared to number one, Exxon, which had $452.9 billion. This year, the number shot up to $156.5 billion. When it comes to revenue, Apple would have to sell a lot more iDevices to keep up with an oil company. Eastman Kodak Didn't Make the List For the first time since the list started in 1955, Eastman Kodak failed to make the list. The company remains in bankruptcy and has plans to issue new stock, essentially making it a new company and leaving existing shareholders wiped out, according to USA Today. Interesting Facts from the 2013 List

Only 57 Companies Left - According to Fortune, only 57 companies have been on the list every year since it began in 1955.

The Youngest CEO Is - You guessed it, Facebook's (Nasdaq: FB) Mark Zuckerberg.

If All Fortune 500 Companies Were a Country - It would be the second largest country in the world, as measured by total sales of the companies versus the GDP of those countries.

The List as an Economic Indicator A list this large and exhaustive is sure to attract academic research and it has. A common metric used in conjunction with the Fortune 500 list is churn - the amount of turnover on the list. How many companies that were once on the list have been replaced? Only 11% of the inaugural companies are still on the list.

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This, according to some researchers and economists, is a positive sign. It points to innovation as new companies rise up as they meet the needs of an evolving economy, but others aren't so sure. In a 2012 study sponsored by the Kauffman Foundation titled, What Does Fortune 500 Turnover Mean?, authors Dane Stangler and Sam Arbesman argue that it's cause for concern. According to the study, during the 1950s, turnover was moderate but by the 1980s, turnover rose to historically high levels and by the mid-1990s, it reached new highs. After 2000, it returned to moderate levels. Accomethodological changes in how the Fortune list was compiled, and (b) a mergers and acquisition boom, concentrated in a handful of sectors that destroyed perhaps as much value as it created." In other words, high rates of churn don't necessarily mean that newer companies are getting stronger. It can also mean that some companies are no longer eligible or were swallowed up by bigger companies. Take Action How can an investor use the Fortune 500 list as a research tool? Because companies on the list represent health and stability, many pay a dividend. Income investors looking for names to add to their portfolio should consult this list for new ideas. Options traders know that while many companies are obtainable, many are too thinly traded on the options market to remain liquid. For this reason, options traders may look for larger companies with more options volume. The Fortune 500 list will provide a wealth of new ideas. Use it as a means to cut through media noise. Take Apple, for example. You don't have to search very long to find an article about how Apple has lost its edge, but its move to number six on the list was the result of a 44% increase in revenue, according to the report. That may prompt you to ask, "does that sound like a company that is no longer what it once was?" There may be more to the number once you do further research but using the list to form questions makes it invaluable. SOURCE: http://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/051413/fact-sheet-what-fortune-500-list.asp

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ARTICLE 2 FORTUNE 500 The term Fortune 500 refers to an annual listing by Fortune magazine of the top 500 public companies in the U.S., as ranked by sales, assets, earnings, and capitalization. This list ranks only public companies, or those which have issued securities through an offering and which are traded on the stock market. This list is important to a number of financial groups, but particularly to investors, who study the performance of these select companies. In addition, academic and business researchers look to these companies to learn about best practices in various industries and to discover the secrets to their business and financial success. RANKING FACTORS USED IN DETERMINING THE FORTUNE 500 Sales Growth Ranking Tracking the increase in sales of a company is a way to determine if the company is indeed growing. This is very important to investors. Sales growth is also indicative of the state of the economy. One would expect a company's sales to grow during a healthy period of economic activity. When a company's sales grow faster than the general economy in the markets in which the firm operates, the firm is obviously outperforming the market due to some process within the company. It could be due to a superior quality product, low-cost production or service delivery methods, excellent customer service and support, or innovations in production and/or processing. Companies on the Fortune 500 list typically exhibit more than one success measure that may be important for competitors to emulate. Assets Ranking Companies listed on the Fortune 500 usually have large and growing asset balances. An asset is any item of economic value owned by the corporation, including cash, securities, accounts receivable, inventory, office equipment, and property. Earnings Ranking A firm's earnings are calculated by subtracting the cost of sales, operating expenses, and taxes from its revenues. Earnings are often the single most important determinant of a corporation's stock price.

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Capitalization Ranking Capitalization is the sum of a corporation's long-term debt, stock, and retained earnings. It may also be called invested capital. By multiplying the number of shares outstanding by the price per share, it is possible to determine the market price of an entire company or its market capitalization. MOST ADMIRED COMPANIES Another popular feature of the Fortune 500 list is the top 10 rankings of the most admired companies. The top 10 most admired list for 2005 includes the following companies: General Electric; FedEx; Southwestern Airlines; Procter & Gamble; Starbucks; Johnson & Johnson; Berkshire Hathaway, Dell, Toyota Motor, and Microsoft. The top ten "most admired" ranking is based on all the votes a company received from all respondents across all industries to the Fortune survey. According to the Fortune 500 study, the annual list of 500 companies represents the bedrock of American business and remains an important tool for both researchers and investors. The Fortune 500 list is well established and has been a standard of performance for over 50 years. In recent years, the companies of the Fortune 500-whether ranked by growth, return, or market capitalization were led by computer firms and telecommunications companies. Fortune also compiles the Global 500 list, a list of the most admired international companies, and a list of top employers on an annual basis. SOURCE: https://www.inc.com/encyclopedia/fortune-500.html

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ARTICLE 3 FORTUNE 500 Strictly speaking, the Fortune 500 is a list compiled by Fortune magazine raking the top 500 public corporations of the US as measured by their gross revenue. The names that grace the list however command such power and wealth that the Fortune 500 has come to define American business, as well as being defined by it. Similar lists exist including the Forbes Top 500 Private Companies, Fortune Global 500, Financial Times 500, and Business Week's Global 1000. Each list takes into account different ranking criteria, but none are as prestigious as the original. In today's business world the corporations that make up the Fortune 500 wield enormous power and influence government policy on a regular basis, as is evidenced by the appointment of Henry M Paulson, CEO of Goldman Sachs, as Treasury Secretary for the United States. With 2005 profits of US$610 billion, the corporations comprising the Fortune 500 could buy the entire annual economic output of the nations of Brazil, India or South Korea. Even more impressive, with revenues of US$ 9.1 trillion, if the Fortune 500 were seen as a nation they would have the second largest economy in the world, bigger than the economies of the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Japan combined. If the Fortune 500 constituted a nation they could absorb the US budget deficit for 2006/2007 in its entirety. History and Influence of Fortune 500 Since 1955 Fortune magazine has produced an annual list of the 500 US corporations with the highest gross revenue. The rankings are based on the revenue figures for each company's previous fiscal year (the end date for which may differ from company to company). The Fortune 100 is the top 100 corporations from the 500 list and the Fortune 1000 is the extended version. Both use the same ranking criteria. Aside from simply detailing the biggest revenue generating corporations, the Fortune 500 list allows us to see a snapshot of America's commercial progress, where the money has gone and how it's moved to new industries over time.

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The growth of opportunities brought in by the building of interstate highways changed the way Americans do business, transport goods, how they travel, shop and where they live. The companies that rose to the opportunities presented by the more than 42,000 miles of highway that were laid from Lose Angeles to New Jersey by the mid 1970's soon found a place on the list. Chain retailers such as McDonald's and hotel chains like Holiday Inn made the most of the way the interstate was changing American life and profited hugely from it. The new roads also had a profound impact on corporations in the South of the US with the likes of Coca-Cola, Wal-Mart, Home Depot and Fedex now able to grow and succeed in a way that would not have been possible before. And it helped to shape General Motors, one of the biggest names on the list. The emergence of credit cards as the preferred method of purchasing has also been influential in the creation of the list, with corporations moving up and down, appearing or disappearing according to how innovative they are about taking payments. Reward cards, smart cards, payroll cards and even embedded credit chips are just a few of the ways corporations are attempting to entice Americans to spend money in the future. The easier it is to spend money, the more consumers spend. Simple. The Fortune 500 list is also a showcase of adaptability. As consumer's wants change corporations must adapt to meet that demand or risk losing their place to another who will. Pepsi is one such example of a corporation seeking to meet changing consumer demands. As one of the US's largest manufacturers of snacks, the corporation is now having to come to terms with the consumer's desire for healthy alternatives and look at ways to profitably rise to the challenge. Fortune 500 Facts and Stats

In 2005 the combined profits of the corporations on the Fortune 500 list were US$610 billion.

490 of the Fortune 500 CEOs are men, only 10 are women. Among the top 100 there are no female CEOs.

Katharine Graham of the Washington Post was the first female executive to run a Fortune 500 company when it joined the list in 1972.

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5 million workers are employed by the 10 largest Fortune 500 employers which includes McDonald's, Sears, Home Depot Wal-Mart, and Target.

In 2005, for the first time in the history of the list, Texas displaced New York as the state with the largest number of Fortune 500 companies headquartered there.

The Bank of New York, founded in 1784, is the oldest company on the Fortune 500 list.

DuPont has been on every list since the first one was published in 1955.

There is a Fortune 500 board game, released by Pressman Toy in 1980 which companies paid US$30,000 each to be included in.

SOURCE: http://www.uspages.com/fortune500.htm

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ARTICLE 4 190 FORTUNE 500 COMPANIES SAVE $3.7 BILLION A YEAR BY TAKING CLIMATE ACTION Despite efforts in Washington to sideline action on climate change, a growing number of Fortune 500 companies are taking increasingly ambitious steps to reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, procure more renewable energy and reduce their energy bills through energy efficiency, according to a new report released Tuesday by World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Ceres, Calvert Research and Management and CDP. Sixty-three percent of Fortune 100 companies have set one or more clean energy targets. Nearly half of Fortune 500 companies 48 percent have at least one climate or clean energy target, up five percent from an earlier 2014 report. Accompanying this growth is rising ambition, with significant numbers of companies setting 100 percent renewable energy goals and science-based GHG reduction targets that align with the global goal of limiting global temperature rise to below two degrees Celsius. Findings from the report, Power Forward 3.0: How the largest U.S. companies are capturing business value while addressing climate change, are based on 2016 company disclosures to CDP, which holds the world's largest collection of self-reported corporate environmental data and other public sources. "American businesses are leading the transition to a clean economy because it's smart business and it's what their customers want," said Marty Spitzer, World Wildlife Fund's senior director of climate and renewable energy. "Clean energy is fueling economic opportunity from coast to coast without regard for party line. Washington policies may slow this boom, but these companies are making it very clear that a transition to a low-carbon economy is inevitable." The report highlights the financial benefits companies receive from their clean energy investments: Nearly 80,000 emission-reducing projects by 190 Fortune 500 companies reporting data showed nearly $3.7 billion in savings in 2016 alone. The emission reductions from these efforts are equivalent to taking 45 coal-fired power plants offline every year. Praxair, IBM and Microsoft are among the companies saving tens of millions of dollars annually through their energy efficiency efforts.

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The 240 companies with targets have set one or more of the following goals: GHG reductions, energy efficiency improvements or renewable energy sourcing. Two hundred and eleven companies have set a GHG reduction goal, making it the most common target. "We are encouraged to see significant improvement in both the number of Fortune 500 companies setting climate and clean energy goals and the ambition of those goals in particular commitments to setting science-based and 100 percent renewable energy targets," said Anne Kelly, senior director of policy and the BICEP network at Ceres. "But in order to meet our national and global emissions goals, more companies will need to join the champions highlighted in this report, both in setting goals and in becoming vocal advocates for continued federal and state policies in support of climate and clean energy progress." Ten percent (53) of companies have set renewable energy targets and almost half of those (23) have committed to power 100 percent of their operations with renewable energy among those, Wal-Mart, General Motors, Bank of America, Google, Apple and Facebook. The growth in the number and ambition of renewable energy commitments is mainly the result of recent sharp declines in renewable energy costs, which saves companies money and of price certainty that comes with renewable energy. "Corporate commitment to energy efficiency and renewable energy is an accelerating trend that illustrates broader recognition within the business community of the importance of clean energy and the financial benefits it can yield," said Stu Dalheim, vice president of corporate shareholder engagement for Calvert. "Many of the largest companies in the U.S. are achieving significant cost savings through clean energy programs and mitigating longer-term risks associated with energy price volatility." Some of the strongest efforts are also among Fortune 100 companies, with nearly two-thirds (63 percent) adopting or retaining goals. The report also shows strong improvement among the smallest 100 companies in the Fortune 500, with 44 percent setting goals in one or more categories, up 19 percentage points from the 2014 report. The report shows a significant spread in target setting among different sectors, with consumer staples (72 percent), materials (66 percent) and

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utilities (65 percent) sectors leading in setting clean energy goals and the energy sector (11 percent), including oil & gas companies, significantly lagging. "CDP and the investors we work with, representing over US$100 trillion in assets, engage thousands of the world's largest companies to measure and manage climate-related risks" said Lance Pierce, president of CDP North America. "Voluntary corporate disclosure highlights the compelling business case for corporate clean energy procurement and clearly demonstrates the transition underway in the energy markets. Companies in turn have benefited, identifying billions of dollars in savings and new opportunities through their disclosures to CDP." The report includes key recommendations for companies, policymakers and investors to continue to scale clean energy efforts, such as:

energy targets, while supporting local, state and national policies that make it easier to achieve their climate and energy commitments.

-term low-carbon polices that will help companies meet their clean energy targets while also helping the U.S. meet its carbon-reducing commitments under the Paris climate agreement.

well-positioned for the low-carbon economy. Investors should continue to file shareholder resolutions and engage in dialogues with companies to encourage them to set climate and energy efficiency targets and position themselves for a low-carbon future. SOURCE: https://www.ecowatch.com/fortune-500-companies-climate-change-2377894524.html

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ARTICLE 5 FORTUNE 500 FIRMS 1955 v. 2016: ONLY 12% REMAIN, THANKS TO THE CREATIVE DESTRUCTION THAT FUELS ECONOMIC PROSPERITY December 13, 2016

What do the companies in these three groups have in common? Group A: American Motors, Brown Shoe, Studebaker, Collins Radio, Detroit Steel, Zenith Electronics and National Sugar Refining. Group B: Boeing, Campbell Soup, Deere, General Motors, IBM, Kellogg, Procter and Gamble and Whirlpool. Group C: Facebook, eBay, Home Depot, Microsoft, Google, Netflix, Office Depot and Target. All of the companies in Group A were in the Fortune 500 in 1955, but not in 2016.

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All of the companies in Group B were in the Fortune 500 in both 1955 and 2016. All of the companies in Group C were in the Fortune 500 in 2015, but not 1956. The list of Fortune 500 companies in 1955 is available here and for 2016 here (based on sales the fiscal year ended on or before Jan. 31, 2016). Comparing the 1955 Fortune 500 companies to the 2016 Fortune 500, there are only 60 companies that appear in both lists (see companies in the graphic above). In other words, only 12% (and fewer than 1 in 8) of the Fortune 500 companies in 1955 were still on the list 61 years later in 2016, and more than 88% of the companies from 1955 have either gone bankrupt, merged with (or were acquired by) another firm, or they still exist but have fallen from the top Fortune 500 companies (ranked by total revenues). Many of the companies on the list in 1955 are unrecognizable, forgotten companies today (e.g. Armstrong Rubber, Cone Mills, Hines Lumber, Pacific Vegetable Oil, and Riegel Textile). In my report last year on the 2015 Fortune 500 companies, there were 61 companies in the group that existed in both 1955 and 2015, but Alleghany (No. 499 last year) dropped from the Fortune 500 list this year because its sales fell and it now ranks No. 509. Economic Lessons: The fact that nearly 9 of every 10 Fortune 500 companies in 1955 are gone, merged, or contracted demonstrates that

that when the Fortune 500 list is released 60 years from now in 2076, Fortune 500 companies will no longer exist as

currently configured, having been replaced by new companies in new, emerging industries, and for that we should be extremely thankful. The constant turnover in the Fortune 500 is a positive sign of the dynamism and innovation that characterizes a vibrant consumer-oriented market

-competitive global economy. According to a report released earlier this year by Innosight

Index in 1965 stayed in the index for an average of 33 years. By 1990, average tenure in the S&P500 had narrowed to 20 years, fell to 18 years in 2012 and is forecast to shrink to 14 years by 2026. At the current churn rate, about half of the S&P 500 firms will be replaced over the

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lifespans of biInnosight. Another economic lesson to be learned from the creative destruction that results in the constant churning of Fortune 500 (and S&P 500) companies over time is that the process of market disruption is being driven by the endless pursuit of sales and profits that can only come from serving customers with low prices, high quality products and

sales revenues as the number of providing goods and services to consumers, we can then appreciate the fact that the Fortune 500 companies represent the 500 companies that have generated the greatest dollar votes of confidence from us as consumers

$246 billion), Apple (No. 3 at $233 billion), GM (No. 8 at $152 billion) and Ford (No. 9 at $150 billion). As consumers, we should appreciate the fact that we are the ultimate beneficiaries of the Schumpeterian creative destruction that drives the dynamism of the market economy and results in a constant churning of the firms who are ultimately fighting to attract as many of our dollar votes as possible. The 500 top winners of that competitive battle in any given year are the firms in the Fortune 500, ranked not by their profits, assets or number of employees, but by what is ultimately most important in a market economy: their dollar votes (sales revenues).

Update: In a comment below the post, John Dewey points out that Fortune changed its methodology for the Fortune 500 starting 1995. Between 1955 and 1994, only manufacturing and industrial companies were included. Staring in 1995, both manufacturing and service firms (including retailers like Walmart and financial services firms) were included in the Fortune 500. To account for the change in methodology, an analysis of the change in Fortune 500 firms before and after the change is displayed above.

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In the 1955 to 1994 period when only manufacturing firms were considered, there were only 188 Fortune 500 firms in 1955 that survived to be included in the list in 1994, while there were 347 new firms

annual turnover rate of 8.5 new firms in the Fortune 500. In the 1995 to 2016 period when both manufacturing and service firms were considered, there were only 153 Fortune 500 firms in 1995 that survived to be included in the list in 2016, while there were 312 new

average annual turnover rate of 14.1 new firms in the Fortune 500, and almost twice the turnover rate of the earlier period. At that rate, half of

2051. If the turnover rate accelerated to 20 firms per year, half of by 2028, and the entire Fortune 500

today would be replaced by all new firms in only 25 years, or by 2041.

hold: a) there is significant turnover in both the Fortune 500 and the S&P 500 companies, b) that turnover is accelerating over time for both groups, c) the composition of both the Fortune 500 and S&P 500 will be much different in 10 years and 20 years than today, and d) consumers will be the main beneficiaries of the Schumpeterian creative destruction that drives the significant and accelerating turnover in those two groups of 500 firms, as companies engage in intense, cut-throat competition unified by a single goal: deliver maximum value to the consumer to survive, thrive and prosper as a company. SOURCE: American Enterprise Institute http://www.aei.org/publication/fortune-500-firms-1955-v-2016-only-12-remain-thanks-to-the-creative-destruction-that-fuels-economic-prosperity/

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ARTICLE 6 7 MOST ADMIRED COMPANIES THAT FELL OFF THE MAP February 28, 2013 In 1983 the year that Fortune launched its first-ever list of companies ranked by reputation the world was a different place. The economy was on an upswing, the defense industry was merging the two mega-companies Boeing and Lockheed Martin, and the technology industry was on the verge of a digital revolution. Some of the companies on the first list were bought, sold or outcompeted. Here are seven companies that were some of the most admired in the world in 1983 but fell from grace by 2013.

1. Eastman Kodak Founded by George Eastman in 1888, Eastman Kodak was still greatly admired in the 80s, when it launched its rallying cry to recover from its struggling business. In the first quarter of 1983, the company announced a 73% decline in earnings. Consumers' shift away from cameras that used traditional film was the nail in the iconic company's coffin. Although Kodak invented digital camera technology back in 1975, it was hesitant to release the technology for fear of cannibalizing its film business. The market ultimately forced the company to retire its film brand Kodacrome in 2009, after a 74-year run. Three years later, the once-mighty company filed for Chapter 11.

2. SmithKline Beckman

Back in 1983, pharmaceutical companies were in the midst of combining, Transformer-style, into the massive global giants we know today. SmithKline Beckman was one of the companies that would later get mushed. In 1989, SmithKline Beckman merged with the Beecham Group to form SmithKline Beecham plc. Medical instruments company Beckman was a casualty of the merger -- it was spun off along with then-eye-care product maker Allergan. Separately, pharma companies Glaxo and Wellcome joined forces in 1995 to form Glaxo Wellcome. The two

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separate companies merged in 2000 to form the modern-day goliath GlaxoSmithKline.

3. Rockwell International Once, Rockwell International was a conglomerate composed of the companies that built some of the most important machinery in American history -- the B-25 bomber, for example, and the audio equipment used for NASA's Apollo, Gemini and Mercury programs. But, like others in its industry, Rockwell International struggled once demand dropped after the Cold War. Boeing bought Rockwell's Aerospace and Defense businesses in 1996. The conglomerate dissolved completely in 2001. Two companies still retain the Rockwell name; those would be communications equipment company Rockwell Collins and also Rockwell Automation, formerly a company called Allen-Bradley that Rockwell International purchased in 1985. As Rockwell Automation, it still produces industrial control equipment and software.

4. McDonnell Douglas McDonnell Douglas was once one of the great American plane makers. Before they merged in 1967, both McDonnell and Douglas had separately built fighter planes used in WWII. After the merger, they jointly rolled out commercial planes, including the technically troubled DC-10. But in 1995, Lockheed merged with Martin Marietta, creating a formidable defense contractor. Two years later, Boeing bought McDonnell Douglas, which opened up the rivalry that continues today -- Boeing and Airbus are the only companies left standing with the ability to compete for comparable contracts.

5. Western Electric Founded in 1869, Western Electric was purchased by the American Bell Telephone Company in 1881, and served as AT&T's manufacturing arm for about a century. Western Electric built everything from telegraphs to some of the earliest sound systems. In 1926, Western Electric created the first telephone to have a handset, a transmitter and a receiver all in one device.

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Western Electric disappeared as a cohesive business in 1984, a year after this list was compiled, when AT&T dissolved its Bell System unit. In 1996, some of the capabilities that had been developed under Western Electric were spun off as a new company called Lucent Technologies, which merged with French company Alcatel in 2006 to become its current iteration, telecom Alcatel-Lucent.

6. Gillette In 1901, King Gillette and MIT-trained inventor William Emery Nickerson formed a company based on a device they co-designed: the safety razor. All of a sudden, men could shave themselves with a disposable blade. In 1904, Gillette won the patent for the product, locking down his intellectual territory. The brand maintained its strength, even as King Gillette faced great personal struggles -- he lost his money in the stock market crash that triggered the Great Depression. Still, Gillette the company prospered such that the largest consumer products company in the country, Procter & Gamble, saw it as a prime acquisition target. P&G bought Gillette in 2005 in a $57 billion deal. Today, the brand doesn't just sell men's razors, but offers women's disposable blades via its "Venus" line.

7. Wang Laboratories The life of An Wang reads, at different points, like a great American business story and a Greek tragedy. He founded Wang Laboratories in 1951, having migrated to the United States from Shanghai only six years earlier. Wang built the electronic word-processor and desktop calculators that were cutting edge enterprise technology in the 1960s and 1970s. In the 1980s, however, the arrival of the personal computer destroyed the market for Wang's machines. By 1985, only two years after Wang was listed on the first iteration of Fortune's "Most Admired" list, the company's profits start to slide. Wang passed away in 1990, and a year later, his company merged with IBM, once a great competitor, and agreed to sell IBM's machines under the Wang name. The merger failed to save the flagging company, which filed for bankruptcy in 1992. SOURCE: Fortune http://fortune.com/2013/02/28/7-most-admired-companies-that-fell-off-the-map/

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ARTICLE 7 THESE FORTUNE 500 COMPANIES CARE ABOUT THEIR EMPLOYEES, NOT JUST THEIR PROFITS

-released Fortune 500 list show that

happiness: some -grossing companies are leaders in employee well-being, too. Companies across the list are embracing programs to help their employees de-stress at work and disconnect outside of it. Google (whose parent company Alphabet arrives at number 27 on the list) encourages its employees to take advantage of on-site massages and nap pods to reduce workplace stress. Salesforce (number 326 on the

employees spend on activities ranging from yoga to smoking-cessation programs. Edward Jones (number 403 on the list) prides itself on its flexible workweek policies, which allow employees to adjust their schedules to spend time with their families at whatever points in the day work best for them.

needs of our clients when we can also meet the work/life challenges of

Another encouraging bit of news from the list: its companies are run by

-year history, with 32

meaningful (if small) step forward in gender equality, this news also bodes well for workplace culture. A recent article in The Atlantic called

bes how, under female CEOs,

SOURCE: https://journal.thriveglobal.com/these-fortune-500-companies-care-about-their-employees-not-just-their-profits-16ed4c6b8def

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ARTICLE 8 RETIRING CISCO CEO DELIVERS DIRE PREDICTION: 40% OF COMPANIES WILL BE DEAD IN 10 YEARS June 8, 2015 Cisco's giant customer conference, Cisco Live, began Monday in San Diego and was the last time outgoing CEO John Chambers would impart his vision in a keynote speech. And was it ever a speech, filled with fire-and-brimstone predictions. The upshot: Chambers, Cisco's CEO of 20 years, says more than one-third of businesses today will not survive the next 10 years. The only ones that will survive will turn their companies into digital, techie versions of themselves, and many of will fail trying. "Forty percent of businesses in this room, unfortunately, will not exist in a meaningful way in 10 years," he told the 25,000 attendees, adding that 70% of companies would "attempt" to go digital but only 30% of those would succeed. "If I'm not making you sweat, I should be," he said. "It will become a digital world that will change our life, our health, our education, our business models at the pace of a technology company change," Chambers said. He warned companies that they could not "miss a market transition or a business model" or "underestimate your competitor of the future not your competitor of the past." "Either we disrupt or we get disrupted," he said. Startups want to upturn every existing business, including taxis (Uber), hotels (Airbnb), and banking, Chambers said. He quoted JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon's annual letter to shareholders, in which Dimon warned that "Silicon Valley is coming." Dimon meant that startups were creating new banking apps for everything from loans to payments. Cisco's own painful reorg Chambers talked a lot about the painful transition that Cisco underwent over the past three years, which culminated in a massive reorganization of its 25,000-person engineering team in which "24 of 92 leaders" were let go.

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He said similar reorgs took place in the sales and administrative ranks. Cisco has "changed 41% of our client-interfacing execs," he said. "We had to change or we would have been left behind." Chambers said the company had cleaned up its 62 business units product-oriented fiefdoms and silos that had sprouted up from Cisco's love of acquisitions. He reorganized them into two huge groups: enterprise and service provider. The divisions now make 18 product "families," and all of those products must work together. "We had to tie together our silos, we had to change our culture, we had to lead by example," he said. And we'll see if Cisco is done. On July 26, Cisco will get a new CEO, Chuck Robbins, who has been hinting that he plans to tighten the belt even further. SOURCE: Business Insider http://www.businessinsider.com/chambers-40-of-companies-are-dying-2015-6