Latin America's 20 most admired companies: Latin America's businesses earn respect by crossing borders while taking care of core markets. (Cover Story).

Good business is more than making money.

When LATIN TRADE set out to identify companies around the region that draw the public's admiration, we found that a broad range of factors influence a corporation's image. Certainly, a solid financial footing is viewed favorably. But it has to come with more, including--but not limited to--community service, environmental consciousness, generous treatment of employees, respect for customers and high quality goods and services. Latin America's most admired companies use innovation and corporate assets to pursue socially responsible success.

To select from such a large number of talented companies and organizations, LATIN TRADE pitted the very best businesses from each of six large economies. We culled the top companies by sector from the ranks of the most admired as determined by the premier local publications in their respective markets: Carta Capital, Expansion, Inversiones, Clarin, Dinero and Chilean survey group Adimark. Based on a comparison of a company's ranking within its own country and sector versus its peers in other countries, we developed the final list of Latin America's most admired companies.

In analyzing hundreds of companies, it became clear that many of the region's most respected businesses have successfully outgrown their original markets. Yet, they continue to exercise great influence in their home countries and frequently garner praise for a bevy of achievements, whether it's the number of jobs they generate for a community or the amount of energy they save. For those winning admiration, corporate responsibility and financial success go hand-in-hand.

Successful expansion into new international markets seems to give corporations an image boost at home. Grupo Bimbo, one of Mexico's largest companies, exemplifies that. The undisputed king of Mexico's bread-making business strengthened its domestic identity when it extended its name internationally.

Bimbo first took operations to Guatemala and then began buying local bread makers in larger Spanish-speaking markets across the region, including Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Venezuela. It also took advantage of the North American Free Trade Agreement, Nafta, to push into the United States. Bimbo recently spent US$610 million to purchase the western United States' assets of Canadian baked goods giant George Weston Ltd.

At home, Bimbo has actively joined community efforts to promote what it considers family values. It is leading the charge in a local campaign dubbed "In Favor of the Best" (A Favor de lo Mejor) to rid television and radio of violent and sexually explicit material. The bread maker also supports several non-profit organizations in Mexico.

"Values are universal," explains Rafael Velez, head of Bimbo's bread-making division. "Respect for other people, the virtue of work as a means to better yourself, justice, discipline. These are things that work everywhere."

Cemex is another Mexico-based multinational that proves some practices work universally. The world's No. 3 cement company in sales gets high marks for its money-making savvy within Mexico, where it is the second most profitable company after telecom giant Telefonos de Mexico (Telmex).

The company's operating margins have remained at more than 20% for nearly a decade, but the results did not come at the expense of environmental programs. In fact, the company was recognized by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for its role in promoting private sector participation in protecting the environment.

Cemex's power-saving policies help the cement giant reduce electricity consumption by 160,000 megawatts each year; it also saves $19 million a year through alternative energy sources and recycling, making it the darling of Mexico's environmentalists. And Cemex, which earns more than half its money abroad these days, is taking that philosophy worldwide.

Chile's state-run Codelco, the globe's largest copper miner, churns out 16% of the world's production and accounts for 4% of the country's gross domestic product and 20% of Chile's exports. Chile's $70 billion economy heats up and cools down with this national treasure.

And Codelco just keeps getting bigger. It expects to double its $3.6 billion in annual sales by the end of the president's term in 2006. With the ushering in of democracy in Chile in the '90s, however, Chile's nascent environmental movement spotlighted the damaging effects of the mining industry. Codelco responded by investing heavily in filters and other earth-friendly technology. It is also studying wind technology to power its copper plants.

"We recognize the great efforts that Codelco has made to clean up the environment," says Gonzalo Villarino, head of Greenpeace Chile. However, Villarino added that "there is still a long way to go." Today, Codelco is conducting a $270,000 feasibility study on the use of windmills to power copper plants. It is also teaming with the University of Chile's Energy Research Program to design software that measures energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions. Company reports identify clean and efficient operations as a key to sustained growth. And growth is what the company wants. Bursting at the seams in Chile, the mining giant is looking to expand beyond its borders. It recently signed an agreement with Brazilian mining giant Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (CVRD) to jointly develop copper projects around the world.

Good neighbor. The public watches--and adulates--corporations that give back to their own communities. Such is Colombia's Carvajal. The Cali-based company founded in 1906 has operations in 18 countries. But the media and publishing conglomerate stands out most for its commitment to social causes in its homeland. The Carvajal Foundation began in the 1960s to support Roman Catholic church-sponsored centers serving the poor in Cali.

Today, the foundation has broadened its scope. Since 1986, it has erected 18,000 low-cost homes for needy families. It also has pumped $5 million into reconstruction of devastated coffee-producing areas near the Colombian city of Armenia in the wake of a deadly 1999 earthquake.

Another force for good in Colombia is the Mario Santo Domingo Foundation, run by Grupo Bavaria, Latin America's oldest brewer. Named for one of the region's wealthiest families, the foundation supports an array of social programs in Colombia. They include a fund to help children affected by violence from the country's civil war and a home-construction program for communities razed by natural disasters.

Not all of the most highly regarded companies in Latin America are large, traditional domestic companies. Microsoft Brasil, a recent arrival compared to many companies on the most-admired list, earns respect by making a happy workforce a priority There may be special challenges in that goal, seeing that the average worker is 29 years old. "Employee satisfaction is one of the biggest factors for us," says Carlos Ximenes, head of community affairs for the computer software giant.

Microsoft pays its 300-something employees above the sector average and takes extra care to keep them motivated. Its Sao Paulo division recently hired four personal trainers to prepare 150 employees for a Rio de Janeiro marathon.

The Brazil office of the world's largest software company also encourages volunteer work for non-profit organizations. It is especially active with the Comite para a Democratizacao da Informatica, which teaches information technology skills to the poor. Since 1998, Microsoft has given $450,000 in cash and $5 million in software to the program.

Service with a smile. Treating customers well is not a bad idea either, and several companies on the most-admired list--including Brazilian airline TAM--were cited for that attribute. Brazil's most dynamic airline has transformed itself from a small regional carrier into the country's most successful, and one with a much-touted reputation for customer service and a public attachment to its founder.

When TAM founder and CEO Rolim Adolfo Amaro died tragically in a helicopter crash in 2001, the nation mourned the loss of "Captain Amaro," who entertained air travelers by personally checking in passengers at the ticket counter and by replying directly to customer complaints. Attention and respect for passengers helped TAM expand internationally. In 2001, it spent $600 million on 19 new aircraft, making its 86-plane fleet one of the youngest in the world.

Gonzalo Brujo, head of Latin America for corporate consultant FutureBrand, says TAM, like the other most-admired companies in our list, owes its success to its ability to make a promise to the consumer and then deliver on it.

"From the time you think about flying 'til you buy the ticket, you go to the lounge, you get on the plane, that whole experience has everything to do with your brand," says Brujo. Companies that make that experience satisfying for customers will reap admiration and, ultimately, more business.

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Coca-Cola: Argentina

Grupo Bavaria: Colombia

Coke successfully taps Argentine sentiments. "The essence of Coke is to be close to people in small and important moments of their lives," says James Quincey, Coke's manager for Argentina.

Brewer Bavaria supports an array of social projects, from homebuilding to coastal clean-ups.

FINANCIAL

American Express: Argentina

Banco de Chile: Chile

"We are the opposite of the faceless entity that many financial services companies represent," says Carolina Martin, an AmEx spokesperson.

Banco de Chile, the country's largest bank, boasts a sound financial performance behind low-cost, highly efficient operations.

FOOD

Arcor: Argentina

Grupo Bimbo: Mexico

Cordoba-based Arcor bucked the Argentine recession by growing into a US$1 billion candy giant with operations in more than 100 countries. Mexican bread-maker Grupo Bimbo expanded into new markets like Brazil and the United States coupled with its strong commitment to social causes at home.

INDUSTRIAL

Cemex: Mexico

Embraer: Brazil

Big employer, international player, efficient, profitable, eco-minded, socially committed. That's Cemex. The company also supports 13 environmental organizations.

Embraer, once a money-losing state enterprise, is one of Brazil's top three exporters and the world's No. 4 maker of commercial aircraft.

RESOURCES

Codelco: Chile

Copec: Chile

Codelco, the world's top copper producer, has begun pumping money into environmental efforts, from clean-air research to the rescue of polluted rivers.

Fast-growing Copec produces everything from wood to gasoline. It also backs educational programs in rural areas of Chile.

ENERGY

Empresas Publicas de Medellin (EPM): Colombia

Repsol YPF: Argentina

EMP, the state-run utility that provides waste, water, power, phone and even cable television service to 4.2 million people, is clean, efficient and profitable.

One of the biggest investors in Argentina, Spain's Repsol shelled out US$15 billion for YPF in 1999.

TECHNOLOGY

Entel: Chile

Microsoft: Brazil

Entel's strong growth in Chile is a result of investment in new technologies; it will spend US$150 million through 2004 in wireless alternatives to fixed-line phone service.

Besides being a great place to work, Microsoft Brasil also donates millions a year to the Ayrton Senna Foundation and other charities.

MEDIA

Carvajal: Colombia

Televisa: Mexico

Carvajal is one of Colombia's biggest philanthropists; its micro-lending project has given US$12 million to small businesses since 1977.

Televisa, the world's largest Spanish-language television network, and its syrupy telenovelas have been a major force behind family planning in Mexico.

RETAIL

Almacenes Exito: Colombia

Grupo Pao de Acucar: Brazil

Medellin-based Exito, Colombia's largest employer after its purchase of Cadenalco, backs several social programs.

Innovation, savvy and aggressive acquisition help supermarket chain Pao de Acucar defend its turf against European conglomerates and gain admiration in Brazil.

AIRLINES

TAM: Brazil

LanChile: Chile

Customer service is the key ingredient to Brazilian airline TAM'S spectacular growth amid a skydiving aviation market.

LanChile was rated the best airline in Latin America last year in a Skytrax Research survey of 2.7 million airline passengers. One reason? It treats customers well.