The World’s Most Ethical Companies designation recognizes companies that truly go beyond making statements about doing business “ethically” and translate those words into action. WME honorees demonstrate real and sustained ethical leadership within their industries, putting into real business practice the Institute’s credo of “Good. Smart. Business. Profit.”
There is no set number of companies that make the list each year. Rather, the World’s Most Ethical Company designation is awarded to those companies that have leading ethics and compliance programs, particularly as compared to their industry peers. This year, there are 110 World’s Most Ethical Companies. Of these companies, 36 are new to the list in 2011 and 26 companies dropped off from the 2010 list. These “drop offs” generally occurred because of litigation and ethics violations, as well as increased competition from within their industry.
IT CAN PAY TO BE ETHICAL
Investing in ethics is beneficial for any company, even in a recession. The below graph compares the “WME Index,” or all publicly traded 2011 World’s Most Ethical Company honorees, against the S&P 500 since the initial World’s Most Ethical Companies recognition from 2007.
2011 WORLD’S MOST ETHICAL COMPANY SELECTION PROCESS:
1. The Methodology
A methodology committee of leading attorneys, professors, government officials and organization leaders, assisted Ethisphere in creating the scoring methodology for the World’s Most Ethical Companies awards.
2. Candidate Selection
Over the course of the year, companies across the world submitted their applications to become 2011 World’s Most Ethical Companies. Based on these applications, as well as information Ethisphere gathered throughout the year, a list of semi-finalists was created.
3. In-Depth Analysis
At this stage, semi-finalist companies were notified and given an in-depth survey questionnaire to fill out regarding their ethics and compliance program, governance and corporate responsibility.
4. Further Refinement
Ethisphere then conducted data analysis on hundreds of companies based on their responses to the survey, as well as documents and information researched and requested by Ethisphere to confirm survey responses. Every company was then given an EQ score based on the results of the survey and measured against seven distinct categories. These categories were Corporate Citizenship and Responsibility; Corporate Governance; Innovation that Contributes to the Public Well Being; Industry leadership; Executive Leadership and Tone from the Top; Legal, Regulatory and Reputation Track Record; and Internal Systems and Ethics/Compliance Program.
5. The Winners…
The highest EQ scores for each industry became this year’s 2011 World’s Most Ethical Companies.
You can find more in-depth information on the methodology for 2011’s World’s Most Ethical Companies here.
2011 WORLD’S MOST ETHICAL COMPANIES:
AerospaceIndra Sistemas
Rockwell Collins Inc. The Aerospace Corporation |
ApparelAdidas
Comme Il Faut Gap Patagonia Timberland |
AuctionseBay | AutomotiveCummins
Denso Ford Motor Company Johnson Controls |
BankingAustralia and New Zealand Banking Group
National Australia Bank Rabobank Standard Chartered Bank The Westpac Group |
Business ServicesAccenture
Dun & Bradstreet Noblis |
ChemicalsEcolab
JM Huber |
Computer HardwareHitachi Data Systems |
Computer SoftwareAdobe Systems
Microsoft Salesforce.com Symantec Corporation Teradata Corporation |
Construction and EngineeringCRH
Granite Construction Parsons Corporation |
Consumer ElectronicsElectrolux
Ricoh Xerox |
Consumer ProductsColgate-Palmolive Company
Henkel AG Kao Corporation |
Diversified IndustriesGeneral Electric Co. | Electronics and SemiconductorsFreescale Semiconductor
Premier Farnell Texas Instruments |
Energy and UtilitiesEncana
Statoil NextEra Energy, Inc. Northumbrian Water Vestas Wind Wisconsin Energy Corporation |
Engineering and DesignAECOM Technology Corporation
CH2M Hill Fluor Corporation |
Environmental ServicesWaste Management | Financial ServicesAmerican Express
Housing Development Finance Corp NYSE Euronext The Hartford Financial Services Group |
Food and BeverageGeneral Mills
PepsiCo Solae Stonyfield Farm |
Food StoresKesko
The Co-Operative Group Wegmans Whole Food Market |
Forestry, Paper and PackagingInternational Paper
Stora Enso Oyj SCA |
Health and BeautyNatura Cosmeticos |
Healthcare ServicesBaptist Health South Florida
Hospital Corporation of America Premier |
Hotels, Travel and HospitalityKimpton Hotels
Marriott International The Rezidor Hotel Group Wyndham Worldwide |
Industrial ManufacturingCaterpillar
Deere & Company Eaton Corporation Milliken & Company Schneider Electric |
InsuranceAflac Incorporated
Sompo Japan Insurance Swiss Re Wisconsin Physicians Service Insurance Co. |
InternetZappos | Media, Publishing and EntertainmentThomson Reuters |
Medical DevicesBecton Dickinson
Royal Phillips |
MetalsUmicore |
Real EstateBritish Land plc
Jones Lang LaSalle Unibail-Rodamco |
Restaurants and CafesStarbucks Coffee Company |
Specialty PharmaMedicis | Specialty RetailBest Buy Co.
Hennes & Mauritz Sonae Target Ten Thousand Villages |
StaffingManpower | Telecom HardwareAvaya Inc.
Cisco Systems Juniper Networks |
Telecom ServicesSingapore Telecom
Swisscom T-Mobile USA |
Transportation and LogisticsAutoridad del Canal de Panama
East Japan Railway Company Nippon Yusen Kabushi Kaisha UPS |
Source: ethisphere