As our readers are now familiar with, this website likes to comment on CSR lists, and oh, are there many. Such lists can be used as a grazing area for readers screening new SRI candidates.
This World’s Most Ethical (“WME”) list is brought to you by Ethisphere.com. This firm (this word is chosen over organization and you’ll see why) has come out of nowhere to become among a few select lists cited by companies. These are companies that are socially responsible and want that fact to be known to their customers, suppliers, investors, etc. Ethisphere started in 2007 as an online newsletter and later transformed to what is known today. Unlike other CSR lists, there are no rankings and no set number of chosen companies. Though, typically 100-130 companies are chosen.
However, as in politics, Ethisphere is not without its own ethical controversies. According to Will Evans of Slate magazine, the organization has an inherent conflict of interest. In his article, Mr. Evans states, “Ethisphere’s director, Alex Brigham, is also president and CEO of Corpedia, which helps corporations develop and review their ethics programs.” In fact, Corpedia has several hundred clients, some of which are on the WME list. Specifically, Ethisphere charges companies to be part of its membership groups, buy ads in its magazine, and certify them with its “Ethics Inside” label, which they receive only if Ethisphere determines that “its compliance and ethics activities are demonstrably better than competitors.” We’ll leave it to others to sort out this issue, but Ethisphere has made changes to become more transparent and has changed its advisory panel. The history of these changes are on its website, unfortunately several links are not functioning properly so we could not attain the desired background information.
Despite the above, we like the WME list for a few reasons:
- several of the companies on the list have been recognized by other organizations as being socially responsible.
- the list has few Banks and other industries that have been scandal-ridden, providing additional comfort to us.
- Ethisphere automatically excludes companies operating in “sin industries” such as alcohol, tobacco and firearms.
- while it’s true that the qualifying companies simply fill out a questionnaire, Ethisphere has a process to ween down the list including utilizing independent verification.
- Any organization, public or private, large or small, for profit or not-for-profit can participate. Other lists have become filled with large public companies (and we generally feel that small, and/or private companies are more socially responsible).
- Any company that has had significant legal trouble over the past five years is excluded from the list.
2013’s World’s Most Ethical Companies list:
This year, a record 145 companies made it on the list, with 43 of those headquartered outside the U.S. Since 2007, 23 companies have made it on the list every year. Readers take note! They include:
- American Express
- Fluor
- General Electric
- Milliken & Company
- Patagonia
- Rabobank
- Starbucks
We can vouch for several of the companies above as they are well-regarded in CSR circles. Full List (by Industry) is below:
23 companies have made the list all six years including: Aflac, American Express, Fluor, General Electric, Milliken & Company, Patagonia, Rabobank and Starbucks, among others. – See more at: http://ethisphere.com/worlds-most-ethical/wme-honorees/#sthash.qkFP2mzV.dpuf
23 companies have made the list all six years including: Aflac, American Express, Fluor, General Electric, Milliken & Company, Patagonia, Rabobank and Starbucks, among others. – See more at: http://ethisphere.com/worlds-most-ethical/wme-honorees/#sthash.qkFP2mzV.dpuf
Aerospace & Defense
Rockwell Collins USA The Aerospace Corporation USA
Agriculture
Ethical Fruit Company Ltd UK
Apparel
Gap Inc USA H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB Sweden
Automotive
Cummins Inc. USA Delphi USA Ford Motor Company USA Johnson Controls, Inc. USA
Banking
National Australia Bank Australia Old National Bank USA Westpac Banking Corporation Australia
Business Services
Accenture Ireland Capgemini France Dun & Bradstreet USA Paychex, Inc. USA Salesforce.com USA William E. Connor & Associates Ltd. Hong Kong
Chemicals
Ecolab USA H.B. Fuller USA The Mosaic Company USA The Sherwin-Williams Company USA
Computer Hardware
Hitachi Data Systems USA Intel Corporation USA
Computer Software
Adobe System Incorporated USA Microsoft Corporation USA Symantec Corporation USA Teradata Corporation USA Wipro Ltd India
Construction
CRH plc Ireland Granite Construction Inc. USA
Consumer Electronics
Ricoh Japan Texas Instruments USA Xerox Corporation USA
Consumer Products
Colgate-Palmolive Company USA Hasbro USA Henkel AG Germany Kao Corporation Japan Kimberly-Clark Corporation USA Mattel USA SCA Sweden illycaffe Italy
Diversified Industries
General Electric Company USA
E-commerce
eBay USA
Electronics
Applied Materials USA Premier Farnell plc UK Rockwell Automation USA Schneider Electric France
Energy And Utilites: Natural Gas
Encana Corporation Canada NiSource Inc USA Sempra Energy USA Spectra Energy Corp USA
Energy And Utilities: Electric
ABB Asea Brown Boveri Ltd Switzerland EDP Energias de Portugal Portugal ENMAX Corporation Canada National Grid UK / USA NextEra Energy USA
Energy And Utlities: Water
Northumbrian Water Group UK
Energy: Oil
Alyeska Pipeline Service Company USA
Engineering And Design
AECOM USA CH2M Hill USA Fluor Corporation USA Parsons Corporation USA
Environmental Services
The Nature Conservancy USA Waste Management USA
Financial Services
American Express USA NYSE Euronext Netherlands / USA TSYS USA Thrivent Financial for Lutherans USA Visa Inc. USA
Food And Beverage
All Good Organics New Zealand Kellogg Company USA PepsiCo USA
Food Service
ARAMARK USA
Forestry, Paper And Packaging
International Paper USA Stora Enso Finland Weyerhauser Company USA
Health And Beauty
L’OREAL France Natura Cosmeticos Brazil Shiseido Company, Limited Japan
Healthcare Services
Baptist Health South Florida USA Cleveland Clinic USA Hospital Corporation of America USA Novation USA Premier, Inc. USA Sharp HealthCare USA
Industrial Manufacturing
Atlas Copco AB Sweden Deere & Company USA Eaton Corporation USA Honeywell International Inc. USA Kennametal Inc. USA Milliken & Company USA The Timken Company USA
Insurance: Brokerage
Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. USA
Insurance: Health
Aflac Inc. USA Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina USA Blue Shield of California USA CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield USA Wisconsin Physicians Service Insurance Corporation USA
Insurance: Property And Casualty
CUNA Mutual Group USA Sompo Japan Insurance Inc. Japan The Progressive Group of Insurance Companies USA
Insurance: Reinsurance
Swiss Re Switzerland
Leisure And Hospitality
Holland America Line USA Marriott International, Inc. USA Seabourn USA The Rezidor Hotel Group Germany
Media
Thomson Reuters UK / USA Time Warner Inc USA
Medical Devices
Becton Dickinson USA Coloplast A/S Denmark Henry Schein USA
Metals And Mining
Alcoa USA Tata Steel Ltd India
Professional, Scientific And Technical Services
Concurrent Technologies Corporation USA Gemological Institute of America (GIA) USA Noblis USA
Real Estate
Jones Lang LaSalle Inc USA Realogy Corporation USA Unibail-Rodamco France
Restaurants And Cafes
Starbucks Coffee Company USA
Retail: Food Stores
SONAE Portugal Safeway Inc. USA The Co-operative Group USA Whole Foods Market, Inc. USA
Retail: General
Marks and Spencer USA Target USA
Retail: Specialty
OfficeMax USA Petco Animal Supplies USA Ten Thousand Villages USA
Staffing Services
ManpowerGroup USA Robert Half International USA
Telecommunications Equipment
Cisco Systems USA Juniper Networks USA
Telecommunications Services
Portugal Telecom Portugal SingTel Singapore T-Mobile USA USA
Transportation And Logistics
Autoridad del Canal de Panama Panama Nippon Yusen Kaisha Japan UPS USA –
Ethisphere originally began in 2007 as an online industry e-newsletter published by corporate compliance and ethics training and consulting firm, Corpedia – See more at: http://ethisphere.com/about/history/#sthash.N5WGoylI.dpuf
Ethisphere originally began in 2007 as an online industry e-newsletter published by corporate compliance and ethics training and consulting firm, Corpedia – See more at: http://ethisphere.com/about/history/#sthash.N5WGoylI.dpuf
Ethisphere originally began in 2007 as an online industry e-newsletter published by corporate compliance and ethics training and consulting firm, Corpedia – See more at: http://ethisphere.com/about/history/#sthash.N5WGoylI.dpuf
Ethisphere originally began in 2007 as an online industry e-newsletter published by corporate compliance and ethics training and consulting firm, Corpedia – See more at: http://ethisphere.com/about/history/#sthash.N5WGoylI.dpuf
Ethisphere originally began in 2007 as an online industry e-newsletter published by corporate compliance and ethics training and consulting firm, Corpedia – See more at: http://ethisphere.com/about/history/#sthash.N5WGoylI.dpuf