This year the list honours 131 companies, spanning 21 countries and five continents, and representing over 45 industries; and L’Oréal, Shiseido, Kao, Natura, Henkel, and Colgate have all been acknowledged once again.
In the Health & Beauty category, it is the tenth consecutive year that Kao has been honoured thanks to its ethical principles, as well as its proactive involvement in contributing to preservation of the global environment, for taking on societal issues through its business activities, and for its efforts at creating a vibrant and diverse working environment.
The Japanes company says it takes its commitment seriously and that the recognition by the Ethical Institute only reaffirms this.
For Henkel, it is the ninth year that it has been recognised, and the consumer products firm says that it shows that it is evident that business has to be part of the solution and the sustainability agenda.
“Our approach toward sustainability has continued to evolve over the last years, becoming more systematic and addressing an increasing number of environmental and social challenges along our value chain,” says Kathrin Menges, Executive Vice President Human Resources and Chair of Henkel’s Sustainability Council.
Making the grade
L’Oréal receives recognition for the seventh year in a row, and company chairman Jean-Paul Agon says it shows how much progress is being made and how much influence ethics will continue to have over the next ten years, becoming fundamental to business.
Colgate-Palmolive and Natura both appear on the list for the sixth year running, while Shiseido is also a return feature, for the fifth consecutive year.
"Companies rely on Ethisphere to continually raise and measure the standards of corporate behaviour. Those that demonstrate leadership in areas like citizenship, integrity and transparency create more value for their investors, communities, customers and employees, thus solidifying a sustainable business advantage," adds Ethisphere’s Chief Executive Officer, Timothy Erblich.
The list is a distinction that honours superior achievement in transparency, integrity, ethics and compliance; highlighting companies that use ethics as a means to further define their industry leadership and embrace the connection by embedding their corporate values into everything they do.
The assessment is based upon the Ethisphere Institute’s Ethics Quotient (EQ) framework developed over years of research to provide a means to assess an organization’s performance in an objective, consistent and standardized way.
Scores are generated in five key categories: ethics and compliance program (35%), corporate citizenship and responsibility (20%), culture of ethics (20%), governance (15%) and leadership, innovation and reputation (10%).