Ford Motor Co. Chief Executive Donald Petersen...

Ford Motor Co. Chief Executive Donald Petersen is the country’s most effective business leader, according to a survey of Fortune 500 chief executives to be published in Fortune magazine’s Oct. 24 issue. Petersen led the poll with 25% of the 206 chiefs surveyed, defeating Chrysler’s Lee A. Iacocca by five votes. General Electric’s Jack Welch came in third, picked by 20% of the executives. Citicorp’s John Reed--who is leading U.S. banks in their attempts to resolve the Third World debt crisis--tied with International Business Machines chief John Akers for fourth place, with 11% of the vote. The survey asked the executives about trends in American leadership, finding that 80% of the chiefs believe that U.S. business is in good hands, and 84% saying U.S. industry is not having a leadership crisis.