Since I started this site, I’ve been meaning to put together a list of the top rated companies based on their economic, social, and cultural factors, but truthfully it’s really difficult to decide what exactly that means without some sort of standardized ranking system, and while ultimately it’s been a goal of mine to implement something like that on this site, to date, I’m still writing about other peoples perspectives.

That said, Fortune Magazine came out with their list of the 2009 Most Admired Companies in March and I just got around to reading it. A few interesting names names of note: Apple, Toyota, and Google, some of the very same companies that we’ve talked about in the past year on this site.

Going a step further, you can take a look at the Fortune rankings for Best and Worst in Innovation. This list is a little closer to my unofficial list of companies that I’ve been looking at for this site: Apple, Walt Disney, Google, Nike, Amazon, etc. Companies that have in one way or another contributed to modern culture by a combination of social programs, products, and policies.

Anyway, it’s a step in the right direction for me as a site to define my qualifications for what is a culturally significant company, and the Fortune lists provide a good bit of insight for me to work with as I continue to build a process.