LMD’s 2025 rankings of Sri Lanka’s ‘Most Respected’ entities were compiled by PepperCube Consultants, drawing on insights shared by business leaders across the country.
Fieldwork for the survey took place during March and April this year with responses gathered from 600 senior professionals. All participants were employed at a managerial level or higher in companies listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE), the latest edition of the LMD 100 and Brands Annual 2024.
To ensure a broad and diverse sample, a maximum of six participants were selected from each organisation. And respondents were not permitted to nominate their own employers.
A structured questionnaire – developed by PepperCube Consultants and approved by LMD – formed the foundation of the study. Interviews were then conducted in English by a trained team of enumerators with each session lasting between seven and 20 minutes. Responses were recorded electronically.
To minimise potential bias, the sequence in which attribute related questions appeared was varied from interview to interview.
This year, the number of ranked attributes remained at 16, following minor revisions made in consultation with LMD. The list includes categories such as aspirational workplace, ethical outlook, business expansion, national perspective, quality consciousness and tax compliance.
For the overall rankings, participants were asked to nominate their three most respected companies. These responses were then weighted to reflect their relative importance – with five points assigned to each first place mention, three points for second place and one point for third. The cumulative weighted scores across all respondents were used to determine the final rankings.
Additionally, each respondent could nominate one entity under each attribute and the total number of mentions determined the attribute rankings.
Once all interviews were completed, the dataset was rigorously cleaned, coded and analysed before the rankings were finalised, offering a credible and transparent reflection of corporate respect in Sri Lanka.