• Brands with purpose win, but a purpose-driven company is not necessarily an ESG-compliant one
• China's regulatory crackdowns have reshaped the global tech industry and sees China losing to U.S big tech
• "One trick pony" startups or companies won't survive long-term unless they diversify

LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND - Media OutReach - 13 December 2022 - Nike, Google, and Roche topped the global rankings in their respective industries in the latest edition of the Future Readiness Indicator released today. Burberry, Alibaba, and Meta fared much worse than expected, dropping 4, 9, and 2 spots respectively. Amazon loses its winning spot to Microsoft and Twitter surprisingly gained six places while Netflix crashed down 22 spots. This year's ranking benchmarks the resilience of the highest-grossing companies in three industries:Technology, Pharmaceuticals, and Retail (fashion, luxury & retail). According to the study, the pharmaceutical industry is forecasted to be the most recession-proof among the three sectors. IMD released its first Future Readiness Indicator last December to benchmark the highest-revenue companies against their competitors by how future-ready they are for the post-pandemic economy and their likelihood of thriving in a world marked by fast and frequent change. "Recessionary headwinds and other crises over the last year have ushered a reversal of fortune for Chinese companies losing ground to the U.S, "explains Professor Howard Yu, author of the Future Readiness Indicator report. "The big learning for companies this year? Diversity is king. Be it gender, race, or business diversity, single-mindedness may have brought them this far, but won't be as forgiving through 2023." View Technology Industry rankings here The Indicator examines 39 top tech companies based on $5.1 billion to $469.8 billion in revenue, with data from 2015 to November 2022. The tech sector measures against the following criteria: financial fundamentals, investors' expectation of future growth, employee diversity/ESG, research and development, business diversity, early innovation results, and cash and debt. Continuing its strong streak, Google ranks #1 again this year, followed by Microsoft, NVIDIA, Amazon, and Apple. Apple rose dramatically in the rankings this year as Meta lost ground. Chinese Alibaba plunges nine spots, and Netflix tumbles down 22 places while Twitter climbs six spots. The tech company that has seen the most growth is NVIDIA at #3. This isn't only thanks to shortages in semiconductor chips (their main competitor, Intel, was at #15 in contrast). NVIDIA nearly dominates the advanced chipset market regarding artificial intelligence. Google, Tesla, Amazon, and Meta are customers of NVIDIA. It's also one of the few tech companies that continues to operate in both China and the US. At a time when the tech war is forcing brands to choose sides - NVIDIA and Microsoft are exceptions. This year sees 12 new entrants in tech: eight semiconductor companies and Chinese giants Baidu, with JD.com, eBay, and Autodesk from the USA. Microsoft jumped to 2^nd place as Apple shot up four spots from 9th to 5th. Compared to other big techs, Microsoft and Apple have a balanced product portfolio, making them more resilient to the economic shocks leading to dominance over their competitors. China's reversal of fortune is an effect of the repercussions of its regulatory crackdown, which as a result, has reshaped the tech industry. Although Tencent held on to its 11th spot, Alibaba dropped nine places to 17th. JD.com, Alibaba's competitor. With less access to data, Meta cannot target its audience precisely as it used to. This affects not only Meta but Snapchat, Instagram, and TikTok – except for Google, not only for the world's dependency on Gmail and YouTube, but because it operates Android. This is how Alphabet is consolidating the advertising industry where others are splintering. Only Alphabet has enough essential product offerings to counterbalance Apple's move. While other big tech companies are barred from China, Microsoft has more than 9,000 full-time employees, 80% of which are R&D specialists and engineering technicians – an exception to the tech rule in the US-China tech war. View Fashion & Retail Industry rankings here The Indicator examines the 27 biggest fashion & luxury brands and sports apparel, based on $3.8 billion to $72.7 billion revenue, drawing data from 2015 to November 2022. This year, new entrants include Prada, Capri, Tapestry, and department stores, Macy's, Foot Locker, Ross Stores, TJX companies, Nordstrom, and fashion brand Gap. The retail sector is measured against financial fundamentals, investors' expectations of future growth, business diversity, cash and...