Infosys Technologies Ltd has won the Global Most Admired Knowledge Enterprise award for 2003.

The Bangalore-based global IT major is the first Indian company to win such a prestigious award, chosen by a panel of Fortune 500 executives and knowledge management gurus.

According to a company statement on Thursday, the 6th annual global MAKE study hailed Infosys for developing knowledge workers through senior management leadership and maximizing enterprise intellectual capital.

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"Infosys is the only company, founded and headquartered in India, to be named among the Global Most Admired Knowledge Enterprises," the statement affirmed.

Other winners include Accenture, Amazon.com, BP, General Electric, Hewlett-Packard, McKinsey & Company, Microsoft, Nokia, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Toyota Motor, and World Bank.

Last year, the Rs 2,600-crore (Rs 26 billion) Infosys had achieved the distinction of being the only Indian company to have won the Asian MAKE award.

Teleos, the Web-based independent knowledge management research firm, administers the MAKE program. Its global study sets the international benchmark for best practice knowledge organisations.

"Infosys has been recognized as the global leader in transforming enterprise knowledge into wealth-creating ideas, products and solutions. It is building intellectual capital and intangible assets to out-perform its competitors," said Teleos managing director Rory Chase.

Acknowledging the award, Kris Gopalakrishnan, Infosys chief operating officer and deputy managing director, said, "We are delighted to be ranked among the world's Most Admired Knowledge Enterprises in the 2003 Global MAKE study."

Gopalakrishnan said knowledge management had helped the company to connect people, bring geographically dispersed work-groups, closer and created an enduring culture of sharing and caring.