General Electric, which is at the top of this year's list of companies most respected by chief executives, is as much admired for its leadership and management as it is for the way it has increased shareholder value. Nearly 30 per cent of those who nominated GE mentioned its leadership - far higher than for any other company on the list.

Microsoft and Sony, which came second and third respectively, received high marks for their vision and innovation. On the other hand, Coca-Cola, in fourth place, was highly rated for its product portfolio and its sense of ethical and social responsibility.

IBM, in fifth place, reached its position because of its constant improvement and its marketing and advertising. Toyota, in sixth, won more marks than any other top-ranked company for its focus on consumers.

Not only are respected companies admired for different reasons. There is also wide variation between the way companies are viewed by the business world at large and by chief executives in their own sector.

Take, for example, the world's most respected food and beverages companies, as ranked by chief executives from the industry. The top five are PepsiCo, Nestle, Procter & Gamble, Coca-Cola and Danone. Yet, PepsiCo, the company ranked top by food and beverage chief executives, does not feature in the list of 50 companies ranked highest by chief executives of all industries.

It is a similar story in the energy and chemicals field. Two companies rated top by their own sector, Dow Chemical and Enron, do not feature in the overall list of top 50 companies.

Why is there this difference between the way the business world sees companies and the way their peers in the same industry do? Some of the verbatim replies from the survey respondents provide the clues.

While Coca-Cola is more admired by the wider business world, PepsiCo gets plaudits within the food and beverages industry for having "the best distribution system". It also wins praise for "its ability to adapt itself to being in second place in the world".

In the energy and chemicals sector, Dow Chemical has the respect of its peers for reasons which are perhaps best understood by those in the industry. For example, respondents within its own industry refer to the way it concentrates on its core business and outsources the rest. They also praise its strength in chemical products and processes and its strong position in the commodities market. Enron is respected for its ability to create markets in the electricity and gas sectors where none had existed before and for transforming itself from being an asset owner into a trader.

In the engineering sector, there are three companies which are ranked in the top 50 by the business world but do not appear in the top group when evaluated by their own sector. The three are General Motors, Boeing and Airbus Industrie. The omission of the latter two from the engineering sector is understandable in that they are in a different market from most other engineering companies. Not only do they specialise in making large aircraft; they are the only two companies which manufacture large aircraft and so have no real peers apart from one another.

Which industry sectors are most respected and what does that tell us about the changing state of the world economy? This year, more companies in the most respected 50 companies came from the information technology sector than any other area. IT companies accounted for 10 of the top 50. This might seem unsurprising but it is a new development. In 1999, only six of the top 50 were in IT. The most represented sector last year was engineering, with eight companies in the top 50.

Engineering had eight representatives in the top 50 this year, too, but that was not enough to prevent the sector being edged out by IT.

The US has increased its dominance of the companies in the top 50 this year. As many as 32 of the top 50 were American this year, compared with 28 last year. Japan is this year in second place, with four companies in the top 50. This puts it ahead of Germany which was in second place last year with five.

Germany is in joint third place this year, alongside the UK. Both countries have three representatives in the top 50, although the UK might have the edge as there are two additional UK-Dutch groups in the top 50 - Unilever and Royal Dutch/Shell.

What of the predicted top 50 companies in five years time? The survey respondents believe IT companies will continue to dominate in 2005, accounting for 12 of the 50. They believe telecommunications companies will be more prominent than they are now. They forecast there will be eight telecoms companies in the top 50 in 2005, compared with one this year.

The US is expected to be as overwhelmingly powerful in five years' time as it is today. Of the top 50 in 2005, 29 are expected to be American. Germany is forecast to be in second place with five companies and the UK in third place with four. Japan is expected to be fourth, with three companies in the top 50.