Worlds Most Ethical Companies

The Ethisphere Institute, a New York think tank, on Tuesday released its fifth annual ranking of the world's most ethical large companies, expanding the ranking to a top 110.

At the heart of the evaluation and selection process for Ethisphere’s World’s Most Ethical Companies is Ethisphere’s proprietary rating system, the Ethics Quotient (EQ). The framework of EQ is comprised of a series of multiple choice questions that capture a company’s performance in an objective, consistent and standardized way. The information collected is not intended to cover all aspects of corporate governance, risk, sustainability, compliance or ethics, but rather it is a comprehensive sampling of definitive criteria of core competencies. The EQ framework and methodology was determined, vetted and refined by the expert advice and insights gleaned from Ethisphere’s network of thought leaders and from the World’s Most Ethical Companies Methodology Advisory Panel. 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.

The EQ framework consists of five core categories. The categories and associated weighting for each is defined as: Ethics and Compliance Program (30%), Reputation, Leadership and Innovation (30%), Governance (15%) and Corporate Citizenship and Responsibility (25%). Detailed read on the methodology is here

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.

The Winners are…

Aerospace
Indra Sistemas
Rockwell Collins Inc.
The Aerospace Corporation

Apparel
Adidas
Comme Il Faut
Gap
Patagonia
Timberland

Auctions
eBay

Automotive
Cummins
Denso
Ford Motor Company
Johnson Controls

Banking
Australia and New Zealand Banking Group
National Australia Bank
Rabobank
Standard Chartered Bank
The Westpac Group

Business Services
Accenture
Dun & Bradstreet
Noblis

Chemicals
Ecolab
JM Huber

Computer Hardware
Hitachi Data Systems

Computer Software
Adobe Systems
Microsoft
Salesforce.com
Symantec Corporation
Teradata Corporation

Construction and Engineering
CRH
Granite Construction
Parsons Corporation

Consumer Electronics
Electrolux
Ricoh
Xerox

Consumer Products
Colgate-Palmolive Company
Henkel AG
Kao Corporation

Diversified Industries
General Electric Co.

Electronics and Semiconductors
Freescale Semiconductor
Premier Farnell
Texas Instruments

Energy and Utilities
Encana
Statoil
NextEra Energy, Inc.
Northumbrian Water
Vestas Wind
Wisconsin Energy Corporation

Engineering and Design
AECOM Technology Corporation
CH2M Hill
Fluor Corporation

Environmental Services
Waste Management

Financial Services
American Express
Housing Development Finance Corp
NYSE Euronext
The Hartford Financial Services Group

Food and Beverage
General Mills
PepsiCo
Solae
Stonyfield Farm

Food Stores
Kesko
The Co-Operative Group
Wegmans
Whole Food Market

Forestry, Paper and Packaging
International Paper
Stora Enso Oyj
Svenska Cellulosa

Health and Beauty
Natura Cosmeticos

Healthcare Services
Baptist Health South Florida
Hospital Corporation of America
Premier

Hotels, Travel and Hospitality
Kimpton Hotels
Marriott International
The Rezidor Hotel Group
Wyndham Worldwide

Industrial Manufacturing
Caterpillar
Deere & Company
Eaton Corporation
Milliken & Company
Schneider Electric

Insurance
Aflac Incorporated
Sompo Japan Insurance
Swiss Re
Wisconsin Physicians Service Insurance Co.

Internet
Zappos

Media, Publishing and Entertainment
Thomson Reuters

Medical Devices
Becton Dickinson
Royal Phillips

Metals
Umicore

Real Estate
British Land plc
Jones Lang LaSalle
Unibail-Rodamco

Restaurants and Cafes
Starbucks Coffee Company

Specialty Pharma
Medicis

Specialty Retail
Best Buy Co.
Hennes & Mauritz
Sonae
Target
Ten Thousand Villages

Staffing
Manpower

Telecom Hardware
Avaya Inc.
Cisco Systems
Juniper Networks

Telecom Services
Singapore Telecom
Swisscom
T-Mobile USA

Transportation and Logistics
Autoridad del Canal de Panama
East Japan Railway Company
Nippon Yusen Kabushi Kaisha
UPS

Here is the list with information on the nations the above company belongs and operating to.

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