Twenty-seven healthcare companies earned a spot on the latest list of the 250 best-managed organizations, as ranked by the Drucker Institute.
The "Management Top 250" ranking has been published annually since 2017 through a partnership between The Wall Street Journal and the Drucker Institute, which is part of Claremont (Calif.) Graduate University. The list highlights organizations excelling in management effectiveness, as defined by the late management expert Peter Drucker: "doing the right things well."
This year, 842 large, publicly traded companies were evaluated using 35 individual metrics that fall within five categories: customer satisfaction, employee engagement and development, innovation, social responsibility and financial strength. Scores range from 0 to 100 with a mean of 50. This year, eight more healthcare companies were recognized than in 2023.
New this year is the "digital positioning score," a metric that assesses a company's digital activity relative to its industry peers across four channels: search, website traffic, social media and apps. This addition reflects the increasing importance of digital strategy in effective management.
"The fact that a firm is ranked toward the bottom of the Management Top 250 doesn't mean that it is not managed effectively," the institute notes in its methodology. "The lowest-ranked firm on the list is still in the top 30% or so of a much larger group of companies that were analyzed."
Below are the 27 healthcare companies ranked on the list of the top 250 best-managed companies. The full listing can be found here, via The Wall Street Journal, and the scores for each evaluated company can be found here.
Johnson & Johnson
Overall rank: 6
Score: 75.5
Merck
Overall rank: 33
Score: 67.7
Eli Lilly
Overall rank: 35
Score: 67.3
Amgen
Overall rank: 36
Score: 67.1
Abbott Laboratories
Overall rank: 41
Score: 66.4
Pfizer
Overall rank: 45
Score: 66.1
AbbVie
Overall rank: 46
Score: 65.8
Edwards Lifesciences
Overall rank: 52
Score: 65.5
Bristol-Myers Squibb
Overall rank: 56
Score: 65.2
Medtronic
Overall rank: 63
Score: 64.1
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals
Overall rank: 69
Score: 63.6
Boston Scientific
Overall rank: 70
Score: 63.5
Vertex Pharmaceuticals
Overall rank: 73
Score: 63.3
Gilead Sciences
Overall rank: 80
Score: 62.7
Intuitive Surgical
Overall rank: 88
Score: 62.1
Agilent Technologies
Overall rank: 111
Score: 60.3
Becton Dickinson
Overall rank: 111
Score: 60.3
Zoetis
Overall rank: 140
Score: 58.7
Danaher
Overall rank: 154
Score: 57.9
DexCom
Overall rank: 171
Score: 56.9
Stryker
Overall rank: 176
Score: 56.6
Baxter International
Overall rank: 186
Score: 56
Thermo Fisher Scientific
Overall rank: 191
Score: 55.9
Hologic
Overall rank: 199
Score: 55.5
ResMed
Overall rank: 212
Score: 54.8
Insulet
Overall rank: 233
Score: 54.1
GE HealthCare Technologies
Overall rank: 247
Score: 53.8