Data points

Technology companies continue to hold most of the top spots in the annual Management Top 250 ranking of America’s best-run companies, with Apple unseating Microsoft at No. 1. The Management Top 250 ranking compares companies using the late management guru Peter Drucker’s principles to identify the most effectively managed businesses. This year, 842 companies were graded in five categories (customer satisfaction, innovation, social responsibility, employee engagement and development, and financial strength) based on 35 indicators supplied by third-party data providers. Companies that are in the top 15pc in each of the components of the ranking are designated “all-stars,” and those that score in the bottom 25pc in any category are tagged with “red flags.” The ranking captures the year that ended in June — a year of rising interest rates, cooling inflation yet persistent consumer perceptions that prices are still too high, tension ahead of the November election, continued debates about returning to the office, and increased employee dissatisfaction.