Southern Company named among Fortune's most admired for seven years

<p>Fortune has named Southern Company to its 2016 &quot;World's Most Admired Companies&quot; list, marking the seventh consecutive year the company has earned recognition among the publication's top-three utilities worldwide.</p>
<p>The magazine recognized Southern Company as an industry leader for its quality of management, value as a long-term investment, the quality of products and services offered and its innovation. Other criteria included the company's financial soundness, wise use of corporate assets, effectiveness in conducting its business globally and responsibility to the community and the environment.</p>
<p>&quot;Southern Company consistently earns recognition among the world's top companies because we keep these qualities central to our business,&quot; said CEO Tom Fanning. &quot;Today, we are creating America's energy future by developing real solutions for the benefit of customers and communities.&quot;</p>
<p>The Hay Group administered the Fortune survey, starting with about 1,400 companies: the Fortune 1,000 - the 1,000 largest U.S. companies ranked by revenue - and non-U.S. companies in Fortune's Global 500 database with revenue of $10 billion or more. Hay then selected the 15 largest companies for each international industry and the 10 largest for each U.S. industry, surveying a total of 692 companies from 30 countries.</p>
<p>To create the 57 industry lists, Hay asked executives, directors and analysts to rate companies in their industry on nine criteria, from investment value to social responsibility. A company's score must rank in the top half of its industry survey to be listed.</p>
<p><a href="http://fortune.com/worlds-most-admired-companies/" target="_blank" adhocenable="false">View the full list</a>.</p>