2012 World's Most Ethical Companies

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Aerospace and Defense
Rockwell Collins	USA
The Aerospace Corporation	USA
Agriculture
Ethical Fruit Company Ltd	UK
Apparel
Comme Il Faut	Israel
Gap Inc	USA
Patagonia	USA
Timberland	USA
Automotive
Cummins Inc.	USA
Ford Motor Company	USA
Johnson Controls, Inc.	USA
Banking
National Australia Bank	Australia
Old National Bank	USA
Rabobank	Netherlands
Standard Chartered Bank	UK
Westpac Group	Australia
Business Services
Accenture	Ireland
Dun & Bradstreet	USA
Noblis	USA
Paychex, Inc.	USA
William E. Connor & Associates Ltd.	Hong Kong
Chemicals
Ecolab, Inc.	USA
Pantheon Enterprises	USA
Computer Hardware
Hitachi Data Systems	USA
Intel Corporation	USA
Computer Software
Adobe Systems	USA
Microsoft	USA
Salesforce.com	USA
Symantec Corporation	USA
Teradata Corporation	USA
Wipro Ltd	India
Construction
CRH plc	Ireland
Granite Construction Inc	USA
Consumer Electronics
Electrolux	Sweden
Ricoh	Japan
Texas Instruments	USA
Xerox Corporation	USA
Consumer Products
Colgate-Palmolive Company	USA
Hasbro, Inc.	USA
Henkel AG & Co. KGaA	Germany
Kao Corporation	Japan
Kimberly-Clark Corporation	USA
Diversified Industries
General Electric Co.	USA
E-commerce
eBay Inc.	USA
Electronics
Applied Materials, Inc.	USA
Freescale Semiconductor, Inc.	USA
Premier Farnell plc	UK
Rockwell Automation	USA
Energy and Utilities: Natural Gas
Encana Corporation	Canada
NiSource Inc.	USA
Sempra Energy	USA
Spectra Energy Corp	USA
Energy and Utilities: Electric
EDP Energias de Portugal	Portugal
ENMAX Corporation	Canada
National Grid	UK/USA
Energy and Utilities: Wind
Vestas Wind	Denmark
Energy and Utlities: Water
Northumbrian Water Group	UK
Energy: Oil
Alyeska Pipeline Service Company	USA
Statoil	Norway
Engineering and Design
AECOM Technology Corp	USA
CH2M HILL	USA
Fluor Corporation	USA
Parsons Corporation	USA
Environmental Services
Waste Management	USA
Financial Services
American Express	USA
NYSE Euronext	USA/Netherlands
The Hartford Financial Services Group	USA
Thrivent Financial for Lutherans	USA
TSYS	USA
Food and Beverage
Kellogg Company	USA
PepsiCo	USA
Solae, LLC	USA
Stonyfield	USA
Food Service
Aramark	USA
Forestry, Paper and Packaging
International Paper	USA
SCA	Sweden
Stora Enso	Finland
Weyerhaeuser Company	USA
Health and Beauty
L’ORÉAL	France
Natura Cosmeticos	Brazil
Shiseido Co	Japan
Healthcare Services
Baptist Health South Florida	USA
Hospital Corporation of America	USA
Novation	USA
Premier Inc	USA
University Hospitals	USA
Industrial Manufacturing
Deere & Company	USA
Eaton Corporation	USA
Honeywell International Inc.	USA
Kennametal Inc.	USA
Milliken & Company	USA
Schneider Electric	France
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
Wisconsin Physicians Service Insurance Corporation	USA
Insurance: Property and Casualty
Sompo Japan Insurance Inc.	Japan
The Progressive Group of Insurance Companies	USA
Tokio Marine Holdings, Inc.	Japan
Insurance: Reinsurance
Swiss Re	Switzerland
Leisure and Hospitality
Holland America Line	USA
Kimpton Hotels	USA
Marriott International, Inc.	USA
The Rezidor Hotel Group	Belgium
Seabourn	USA
Media
Thomson Reuters	US/UK
Time Warner Inc.	USA
Medical Devices
Becton Dickinson	USA
Coloplast	Denmark
Henry Schein, Inc.	USA
Royal Philips	Netherlands
Metals and Mining
Alcoa	USA
The Mosaic Company	USA
Tata Steel Ltd	India
Umicore	Belgium
Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology
Medicis Pharmaceutical Corporation	USA
Professional, Scientific and Technical Services
Concurrent Technologies Corporation	USA
SRA International, Inc.	USA
Real Estate
British Land plc	UK
Jones Lang LaSalle Inc	USA
Realogy Corporation	USA
Restaurants and Cafes
Starbucks Coffee Company	USA
Retail: Food Stores
Kesko	Finland
Safeway Inc.	USA
SONAE	Portugal
The Co-operative Group	UK
Wegmans	USA
Whole Foods Market, Inc.	USA
Retail: General
Costco	USA
Marks and Spencer	UK
Target	USA
Retail: Specialty
Best Buy Co., Inc.	USA
OfficeMax	USA
Petco	USA
Ten Thousand Villages	USA
Staffing Services
ManpowerGroup	USA
Telecommunications Equipment
Cisco Systems	USA
Juniper Networks	USA
Telecommunications Services
Portugal Telecom	Portugal
SingTel	Singapore
T-Mobile USA, Inc.	USA
Transportation and Logistics
Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha	Japan
Panama Canal Authority	Panama
UPS	USA

Company	Industry	Country
Accenture	Business Services	Ireland
Adobe Systems	Computer Software	USA
AECOM Technology Corp	Engineering and Design	USA
Aflac Inc.	Insurance: Health	USA
Alcoa	Metals and Mining	USA
Alyeska Pipeline Service Company	Energy: Oil	USA
American Express	Financial Services	USA
Applied Materials, Inc.	Electronics	USA
Aramark	Food Service	USA
Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.	Insurance: Brokerage	USA
Baptist Health South Florida	Healthcare Services	USA
Becton Dickinson	Medical Devices	USA
Best Buy Co., Inc.	Retail: Specialty	USA
Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina	Insurance: Health	USA
Blue Shield of California	Insurance: Health	USA
British Land plc	Real Estate	UK
CH2M HILL	Engineering and Design	USA
Cisco Systems	Telecommunications Equipment	USA
Colgate-Palmolive Company	Consumer Products	USA
Coloplast	Medical Devices	Denmark
Comme Il Faut	Apparel	Israel
Concurrent Technologies Corporation	Professional, Scientific and Technical Services	USA
Costco	Retail: General	USA
CRH plc	Construction	Ireland
Cummins Inc.	Automotive	USA
Deere & Company	Industrial Manufacturing	USA
Dun & Bradstreet	Business Services	USA
Eaton Corporation	Industrial Manufacturing	USA
eBay Inc.	E-commerce	USA
Ecolab, Inc.	Chemicals	USA
EDP Energias de Portugal	Energy and Utilities: Electric	Portugal
Electrolux	Consumer Electronics	Sweden
Encana Corporation	Energy and Utilites: Natural Gas	Canada
ENMAX Corporation	Energy and Utilities: Electric	Canada
Ethical Fruit Company Ltd	Agriculture	UK
Fluor Corporation	Engineering and Design	USA
Ford Motor Company	Automotive	USA
Freescale Semiconductor, Inc.	Electronics	USA
Gap Inc	Apparel	USA
General Electric Co.	Diversified Industries	USA
Granite Construction Inc	Construction	USA
Hasbro, Inc.	Consumer Products	USA
Henkel AG & Co. KGaA	Consumer Products	Germany
Henry Schein, Inc.	Medical Devices	USA
Hitachi Data Systems	Computer Hardware	USA
Holland America Line	Leisure and Hospitality	USA
Honeywell International Inc.	Industrial Manufacturing	USA
Hospital Corporation of America	Healthcare Services	USA
Intel Corporation	Computer Hardware	USA
International Paper	Forestry, Paper and Packaging	USA
Johnson Controls, Inc.	Automotive	USA
Jones Lang LaSalle Inc	Real Estate	USA
Juniper Networks	Telecommunications Equipment	USA
Kao Corporation	Consumer Products	Japan
Kellogg Company	Food and Beverage	USA
Kennametal Inc.	Industrial Manufacturing	USA
Kesko	Retail: Food Stores	Finland
Kimberly-Clark Corporation	Consumer Products	USA
Kimpton Hotels	Leisure and Hospitality	USA
L’ORÉAL	Health and Beauty	France
ManpowerGroup	Staffing Services	USA
Marks and Spencer	Retail: General	UK
Marriott International, Inc.	Leisure and Hospitality	USA
Medicis Pharmaceutical Corporation	Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology	USA
Microsoft	Computer Software	USA
Milliken & Company	Industrial Manufacturing	USA
National Australia Bank	Banking	Australia
National Grid	Energy and Utilities: Electric	UK/USA
Natura Cosmeticos	Health and Beauty	Brazil
Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha	Transportation and Logistics	Japan
NiSource Inc.	Energy and Utilites: Natural Gas	USA
Noblis	Business Services	USA
Northumbrian Water Group	Energy and Utlities: Water	UK
Novation	Healthcare Services	USA
NYSE Euronext	Financial Services	USA/Netherlands
OfficeMax	Retail: Specialty	USA
Old National Bank	Banking	USA
Panama Canal Authority	Transportation and Logistics	Panama
Pantheon Enterprises	Chemicals	USA
Parsons Corporation	Engineering and Design	USA
Patagonia	Apparel	USA
Paychex, Inc.	Business Services	USA
PepsiCo	Food and Beverage	USA
Petco	Retail: Specialty	USA
Portugal Telecom	Telecommunications Services	Portugal
Premier Farnell plc	Electronics	UK
Premier Inc	Healthcare Services	USA
Rabobank	Banking	Netherlands
Realogy Corporation	Real Estate	USA
Ricoh	Consumer Electronics	Japan
Rockwell Automation	Electronics	USA
Rockwell Collins	Aerospace and Defense	USA
Royal Philips	Medical Devices	Netherlands
Safeway Inc.	Retail: Food Stores	USA
Salesforce.com	Computer Software	USA
SCA	Forestry, Paper and Packaging	Sweden
Schneider Electric	Industrial Manufacturing	France
Seabourn	Leisure and Hospitality	USA
Sempra Energy	Energy and Utilites: Natural Gas	USA
Shiseido Co	Health and Beauty	Japan
SingTel	Telecommunications Services	Singapore
Solae, LLC	Food and Beverage	USA
Sompo Japan Insurance Inc.	Insurance: Property and Casualty	Japan
SONAE	Retail: Food Stores	Portugal
Spectra Energy Corp	Energy and Utilites: Natural Gas	USA
SRA International, Inc.	Professional, Scientific and Technical Services	USA
Standard Chartered Bank	Banking	UK
Starbucks Coffee Company	Restaurants and Cafes	USA
Statoil	Energy: Oil	Norway
Stonyfield	Food and Beverage	USA
Stora Enso	Forestry, Paper and Packaging	Finland
Swiss Re	Insurance: Reinsurance	Switzerland
Symantec Corporation	Computer Software	USA
T-Mobile USA, Inc.	Telecommunications Services	USA
Target	Retail: General	USA
Tata Steel Ltd	Metals and Mining	India
Ten Thousand Villages	Retail: Specialty	USA
Teradata Corporation	Computer Software	USA
Texas Instruments	Consumer Electronics	USA
The Aerospace Corporation	Aerospace and Defense	USA
The Co-operative Group	Retail: Food Stores	UK
The Hartford Financial Services Group	Financial Services	USA
The Mosaic Company	Metals and Mining	USA
The Progressive Group of Insurance Companies	Insurance: Property and Casualty	USA
The Rezidor Hotel Group	Leisure and Hospitality	Belgium
The Timken Company	Industrial Manufacturing	USA
Thomson Reuters	Media	US/UK
Thrivent Financial for Lutherans	Financial Services	USA
Timberland	Apparel	USA
Time Warner Inc.	Media	USA
Tokio Marine Holdings, Inc.	Insurance: Property and Casualty	Japan
TSYS	Financial Services	USA
Umicore	Metals and Mining	Belgium
University Hospitals	Healthcare Services	USA
UPS	Transportation and Logistics	USA
Vestas Wind	Energy and Utilities: Wind	Denmark
Waste Management	Environmental Services	USA
Wegmans	Retail: Food Stores	USA
Westpac Group	Banking	Australia
Weyerhaeuser Company	Forestry, Paper and Packaging	USA
Whole Foods Market, Inc.	Retail: Food Stores	USA
William E. Connor & Associates Ltd.	Business Services	Hong Kong
Wipro Ltd	Computer Software	India
Wisconsin Physicians Service Insurance Corporation	Insurance: Health	USA
Xerox Corporation	Consumer Electronics	USA

2011 World's Most Ethical Companies

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 www. 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:

2010 World's Most Ethical Companies

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 100 World’s Most Ethical Companies. Of these companies, 26 are new to the list in 2010 and 24 companies dropped off from the 2009 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 2010 World’s Most Ethical Company honorees, against the S&P 500 and FTSE since 2005.

MEDIA RESPONSIBILITY REPORT

For the first time, in concert with the announcement of the 2010 World’s Most Ethical Companies, Ethisphere has published its first annual Media Responsibility Report. This report discloses the methodologies, editorial approach and financial relationships behind the generation of the annual World’s Most Ethical Companies list.

The 2010 Ethisphere Media Responsibility Report can be found here.

2010 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 2010 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 www. 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 2010 World’s Most Ethical Companies.

You can find more in-depth information on the methodology for 2010’s World’s Most Ethical Companies here.

2010 WORLD’S MOST ETHICAL COMPANIES:

2009 World's Most Ethical Companies

Making it onto the World’s Most Ethical Companies list proves to be more and more difficult every year. This year Ethisphere received a record number of nominations from companies in over 100 countries and 35 industries.

This year, 99 companies made the cut. Twenty companies dropped off the list from last year, and 25 companies were newcomers. A remarkable 44 companies are “three-peats,” making the list for the past three years.

Below you’ll find the methodology used to determine winners, as well as a few callouts from companies that made the list, and how they encourage ethics throughout their company on a day-by-day basis.

2009 World’s Most Ethical Companies 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 2009 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 www. 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 analyses 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 2009 World’s Most Ethical Companies.

You can find more in-depth information on the methodology for 2009’s World’s Most Ethical Companies at www.ethisphere.com/worlds-most-ethical-companies-methodology/.

2009 World’s Most Ethical Companies

Honeywell International USA • Aerospace and Defense	The Aerospace Corporation USA • Aerospace and Defense
Harris Corporation USA • Aerospace and Defense
Nike USA • Apparel	Patagonia USA • Apparel
BMW Germany • Automotive	Cummins USA • Automotive
Johnson Controls USA • Automotive	Toyota Motor Japan • Automotive
HSBC UK • Banking	Rabobank Netherlands • Banking
Standard Chartered Bank UK • Banking	Westpac Banking Corporation Australia • Banking
Accenture Bermuda • Business Services BELA Member	Pitney Bowes USA • Business services
Dun & Bradstreet USA • Business Services BELA Member
Ecolab USA • Chemicals BELA Member	Dell USA • Computer Hardware BELA Member
Hewlett-Packard USA • Computer Hardware	Ricoh Company Japan • Computer Hardware
Xerox USA • Computer Hardware	Oracle Corporation USA • Computer Software
salesforce.com USA • Computer Software	Symantec USA • Computer Software
Henkel Germany • Consumer Products	Kao Japan • Consumer Products
Mattel USA • Consumer Products	SC Johnson & Son USA • Consumer Products
Unilever Netherlands/UK • Consumer Products	General Electric USA • Diversified Industries BELA Member
Freescale Semiconductor USA • Electronics & Semiconductors	Intel USA • Electronics & Semiconductors
Texas Instruments USA • Electronics & Semiconductors	Duke Energy USA • Energy & Utilities
FPL Group USA • Energy & Utilities	Sempra Energy USA • Energy & Utilities BELA Member • EIC™ Certified
Statkraft Norway • Energy & Utilities	Wisconsin Energy USA • Energy & Utilities
CRH Ireland • Engineering & Construction	Fluor USA • Engineering & Construction BELA Member
CH2M Hill USA • Construction and Engineering	Holcim Switzerland • Engineering & Construction
Waste Management USA • Environmental Services & Equipment
American Express USA • Financial services BELA Member	The Hartford Financial Services USA • Financial services BELA Member
The Principal Financial Group USA • Financial services	Danone France • Food & Beverage
General Mills USA • Food & Beverage	Kellogg Company USA • Food & Beverage
PepsiCo USA • Food & Beverage BELA Member	Stonyfield Farm USA • Food & Beverage
Sodexo France • Food Service	Safeway USA • Food Stores
Trader Joe’s USA • Food Stores	International Paper USA • Forestry, Paper & Packaging
Stora Enso Finland • Forestry, Paper & Packaging	Svenska Cellulosa (SCA) Sweden • Forestry, Paper & Packaging
Weyerhaeuser USA • Forestry, Paper & Packaging	Target USA • General Retail
Cleveland Clinic USA • Healthcare	Johns Hopkins Hospital USA • Healthcare
Premier USA • Healthcare	Accor France • Hotels, Travel & Hospitality
Marriott International USA • Hotels, Travel & Hospitality	Caterpillar USA • Industrial Manufacturing
Eaton Corporation USA • Industrial Manufacturing BELA Member	John Deere USA • Industrial manufacturing
Milliken USA • Industrial manufacturing EIC™ Certified	Rockwell Automation USA • Industrial Manufacturing
Aflac USA • Insurance	Sompo Japan • Insurance
Swiss Re Switzerland • Insurance	Google USA • Internet
Zappos.com USA • Internet
Thomson Reuters Canada • Media, Publishing & Entertainment	Time Warner USA • Media, Publishing & Entertainment
Baxter International USA • Medical Devices	Becton Dickinson USA • Medical Devices
Royal Philips Netherlands • Medical Devices	Flint Hills Resources USA • Oil & Gas
Petro-Canada Canada • Oil & Gas	AstraZeneca UK/Sweden • Pharma & Biotech
Novartis Switzerland • Pharma & Biotech	Novo Nordisk Denmark • Pharma & Biotech
Novozymes Denmark • Pharma & Biotech	Jones Lang LaSalle USA • Real estate BELA Member • EIC™ Certified
McDonald’s USA • Restaurants & Cafes BELA Member • EIC™ Certified	Starbucks USA • Restaurants & Cafes
Best Buy USA • Specialty Retail	Gap USA • Specialty Retail
IKEA Sweden • Specialty Retail	Marks & Spencer UK • Specialty Retail
Ten Thousand Villages USA • Specialty Retail	Avaya USA • Telecom Hardware BELA Member
Cisco Systems USA • Telecom Hardware EIC™ Certified
T-Mobile USA • Telecom Services	Vodafone UK • Telecom Services
Nippon Yusen Kaisha Japan • Transportation and logistics BELA Member	United Parcel Service USA • Transportation and logistics

Spotlight on Selected Winners

What goes on behind the scenes of a company to make it one of the World’s Most Ethical? We asked a number of individuals directly responsible for the ethical direction of their company. Following are some excerpts from their responses:

Douglas G. Scrivner, General Counsel, Secretary & Compliance Officer

In Accenture’s ethics and compliance program, the company uses six “core values” of stewardship, best people, client value creation, one global network, respect for the individual and integrity.

Douglas Scrivner, General Counsel at Accenture, says that ethics and compliance can’t be effective if they’re only seen as “bolt-ons,” or something that is only done at the end of the day after the “regular work” is complete. “We aim to put ethics and compliance into the way our people work and lead. We seek to leverage existing processes, procedures, structures and functions to ensure the outcomes we are expecting and alignment with the goals of the organization,” says Scrivner.

To better understand how the company’s ethics and compliance program is being received by employees, Accenture uses employee surveys, risk assessments and results of corporate investigations. Scrivner notes that in a recent survey, over 90 percent of employees feel that Accenture is highly ethical and that the company’s commitment to integrity has been communicated to the whole company.

“Those are excellent scores for a company of more than 181,000 people,” Scrivner says. “We haven’t arrived at the end of our journey (and never will), but I am confident that we continue to move in the right direction and continually reinforce our commitment and our expectations in this area.”

Ed Scott, Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer

Ed Scott, Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer at Caterpillar, says that the ethics at Caterpillar start at the top, beginning with CEO Jim Owens. “Our leaders work to ensure that Our Values in Action [Caterpillar’s Code of Conduct] are part of everyday life at Caterpillar,” says Scott. “They take various opportunities to incorporate Our Values in Action into their communications. In turn, Caterpillar employees are expected to know and live by Our Values in Action.”

Scott says that he is most proud of the way that the company’s ethics program reaches out to the thousands of Caterpillar employees working in around 50 countries in all regions of the globe. “Over the past few years, we’ve made significant strides in globalizing our approach,” says Scott. “One item in particular is our Annual Assessment and Questionnaire. It is offered in 14 languages and all of our employees are required to complete this. You can imagine that with so many employees, this is a major undertaking.”

Scott believes that any company’s ethics and compliance program is only as strong as the culture behind it. “You can have the best ethics and compliance program in the world, but if you don’t have an ethical culture supported by strong leadership, the program will ultimately not succeed,” Scott says. “Generations of Caterpillar people built our honorable reputation and ethical culture through their words and deeds.”

Roderick A. Palmore, Executive Vice President, General Counsel, Chief Compliance and Risk Management Officer

As a well established global business, General Mills knows that ethics programs must be adaptable to the different regions in which the company operates. “A strong ethics and compliance program must feel culturally relevant to employees,” says Roderick Palmore, General Counsel of General Mills. “A program that genuinely reflects the culture and values of a company helps employees understand and incorporate the messages of the program into their daily decisions. Employees experience them as part of the very fabric of the company’s culture.”

To help employees learn from prior real-world decisions—both good and bad—General Mills developed a feature on its company Intranet that uses real examples that came from the company’s Ethics Line. “We continually look for opportunities to incorporate real stories from our history to bring to life our heritage of integrity and to respond to that feeling of pride we all have in working for General Mills,” Palmore says.

Palmore says that in order to remain relevant, General Mills makes sure that its ethics and compliance program is continually evolving in a real-time way to meet the needs of a constantly changing demographic-base of employees. “We strive to be the best,” Palmore says. “That means we need to stay fresh in our thinking and be in touch with best practices.”

Brent Shafer, CEO

Above and beyond mere “word play” towards and ethics program, Philips links its sustainability and ethics programs with the company’s core strategy. And, even more important, Philips grades its success by measurable results. By 2012, Philips aims to generate 30 percent of total revenue off Green Products, further increase energy efficiency of the company by 25 percent and double the company’s investment in Green Innovations to €1 billion.

“Our performance in 2008 shows that we are well on track to achieve these goals with 25 percent of total sales coming from Green Products, investing 282 million euros in green innovations and reducing our carbon footprint by 5 percent,” says Brent Shafer, CEO of Philips Electronics in North America. “We communicate transparently on our sustainability performance through our annual report that is independently verified by a third party.”

Shafer notes the importance of transparency when it comes to reporting about the ethical environment of the company, especially in developing countries. “It is important for anyone with an interest in Philips to know that any corporate targets, whether it is a sales goal or growth ambition, will not happen at the expense of non-compliance with the Philips General Business Principles,” Shafer says. “This risk is heightened in emerging markets as corporate governance systems are less developed in emerging markets compared to mature markets.”

Iskah C. Singh, Deputy Global Code & Compliance Officer, Associate General Counsel

Unilever uses a number of approaches to engage its employees in the company ethics and compliance program, according to Iskah Singh, Associate General Counsel for Unilever.

“Our employee training and education program raises awareness and reinforces the values of the Code of Business Principles,” says Singh. “Also, employees annually acknowledge understanding and compliance with our Code of Business Principles. In addition to traditional training modules, we have utilized smaller ‘Ethical Moments’ – 3 to 5 minute clips – to raise awareness and strengthen the open ethics and compliance environment.”

Singh says that a strong ethics and compliance program provides many benefits: solid leadership; encourages and facilitates open communication; clearly articulates the standards of business conduct; continually reinforces ethics awareness and actively demonstrates that the values are not just words on paper but are lived on a daily basis.

Singh notes that a key differentiator in Unilever’s ethics and compliance program is the fact that employees deep within the organization can look to their immediate supervisors as examples of ethical leadership. “It is here that an ethical culture is cultivated and the standards and values of Unilever’s Code of Business Principles is given meaning,” says Singh.

Robert Dotson, President and CEO

Robert Dotson, president and CEO of T-Mobile USA says that the real test of a company’s ethics program is the extent to which it is “in the fabric” of all employees. He says that happens through strong tone of the top. “That emphasis also echoes through the halls of our parent company, Deutsche Telekom,” says Dotson. “However it also includes active participation and support from our employees. Our employees strive to get results the right way; they regularly raise issues or questions to management on our anonymous Integrity Line; and they take personal responsibility for how they live the values in their quarterly performance reviews. It’s a top to bottom program that is owned at all levels of the company.”

Dotson adds that T-Mobile is a fast paced company in a competitive industry, and that “brings a certain amount of pressure to develop game-changing products, outpace the competition, and drive excellent financial results.” But, he says, that shouldn’t affect how the products are developed or how the company operates. “Our employees know that getting great results is only part of the equation,” Dotson says. “We expect everyone to get the right results, the right way. ‘Performance’ and ‘values’ are like two wings of an airplane – they are both required for success, and you really would never try flying without one of them.”

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2008 World's Most Ethical Companies

A number of companies out there think that a good CSR program consists only of a soapbox and a bullhorn. Unfortunately for them, just being loud doesn’t equate with being ethical. Likewise, simply dropping a cool $100 million into clever marketing and public relations doesn’t make a company ethical, either.

The World’s Most Ethical Companies are the ones that go above and beyond legal minimums, bring about innovative new ideas to expand the public well being, work on reducing their carbon footprint rather than contributing to green washing and won’t be found next to the words “Billion Dollar Fine” in newspaper headlines any time in the near future. These are the companies that stand out among the competition in their industry.

So if that’s what it takes to become one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies, perhaps a good question to ask is, what does it take to be eliminated from consideration for the World’s Most Ethical? The obvious answers involve bribery, discrimination, fraud or any number of other illegal activities. The conditions of supplier factories must be taken into account too, as well as the company’s stance on the environment. Product liability is a factor as well.

Of course, no business is perfect. Every large corporation gets sued or experiences a crisis. The World’s Most Ethical Companies are the businesses that respond not with a PR campaign, but with real action, such as complete transparency for the public and significant effort given to fixing the core problem.

With the help of our methodology panelists, our researchers looked at company history as far back as five years. Products that clearly don’t benefit the public’s best interest pulled down a company’s ranking. Because most large corporations take on lawsuits in five years’ time, we looked at the nature and history of each case and the nature and history of the plaintiff, as well as the effect of the issue in question. We noted if a major case was brought about by a disgruntled ex-employee or generally lacked significant merit.

At the same time, we took note of issues and lawsuits that didn’t hit the largest media outlets. And, because of those little-heard cases, a few of the 2007 winners fell off the list this year. Some fell off because newcomers stood out this year, and others dropped because they got caught up in some unpleasant business since last year’s rankings. You can read more about our methodology below to get a breakdown of how we scored each company.

All of the 2008 World’s Most Ethical Companies are standouts in their industries. These companies up the ante for what it takes to be an ethical leader and force their competitors to follow suit or fall behind.

The World’s Most Ethical Companies use ethical leadership as a purposeful method to drive profits. Finally, each of these companies embodies the true spirit of Ethisphere’s credo: Good. Smart. Business. Profit. We salute them and encourage you to do so as well.

Methodology

01 The Starting Line
We began by bringing together a group of expert attorneys, professors, government officials and organization leaders concerned with ethical and honest business practices to create a methodology panel. The panel assisted us in creating the scoring methodology for the World’s Most Ethical Companies awards.

02 Candidate Selection
Over the course of the year, Ethisphere contacted thousands of companies worldwide about the awards to gather information and create a pool of candidates.

03 Making Contact
Semi-finalist companies were then notified and given an in-depth survey questionnaire to fill out regarding their ethics and compliance program, governance and corporate responsibility. To see a copy of the questionnaire, click here.

04 Crunching Numbers
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 a score based on the results of the survey and measured against seven distinct categories. These categories are 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.

05 The Final Stretch
The highest EQ scores for each industry became finalists and were then notified and interviewed by Ethisphere analysts.

06 And the Winners Are…
Finally, 2008 World’s Most Ethical Companies were announced on June 3rd, 2008 at the Forbes-Ethisphere Ethical Leadership Forum in New York City’s Rainbow Room.

You can find more in-depth information on the methodology for 2008’s World’s Most Ethical Companies at ethisphere.com/worlds-most-ethical-companies-methodology.

Ranking

Ethical leadership can and should be profitable. through recognizing companies that pursue an ethical leadership model, the Ethisphere Institute both rewards such behavior and motivates winners and other companies to strive for future recognition.

SPOTLIGHT ON SELECTED WINNERS

What goes on behind the scenes of a company to make it one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies? We spoke with a number of individuals directly responsible for the ethical direction of their company. Following are some excerpts from our conversations:

Mark Burns
Global Compliance & Ethics Coordinator
UPS

Mark Burns, the global compliance & ethics coordinator at UPS, reveals that his company uses ethics as a business strategy. “At UPS, we consider being a good corporate citizen a key ingredient that enables us to be a successful company,” Burns says. “In fact, it is part of our overall corporate strategy.”

With over 100 years of business under its belt, UPS has become the world’s largest package delivery company, operating in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide. Mark points out that UPS is “a global company with many different cultures. Although languages and cultures around the world may be different, we do not change our ethical standards at UPS.” To keep up with the worldwide operations, his ethics program must be ready for international demands. “Our ethics program is global in nature,” he says. “We provide ethics and code of conduct materials in 12 languages, ensuring that our employees understand and adopt ethics policies. Our culture also reinforces written policies. Managers are expected to be role models with their subordinates and their performance and career is judged accordingly.”

Google hasn’t even celebrated its 10th birthday yet, and it’s already one of the most influential companies in the technology industry. From the beginning, however, Google has been dedicated to conducting business responsibly and reducing our impact on the environment. The most prominent example is Google.org, the company’s philanthropic arm, which is committed to using the power of information and technology to address some of the world’s most challenging problems: Climate change, poverty, disasters and disease. As of January 2008, the organization had already committed over $75 million in investments and grants around the world.Google encourages its staff to become involved in these efforts at all levels and routinely communicates the importance of ethics and compliance to its employees. Additionally, Google is working with a group of other companies, NGOs and academics to help develop a global code of conduct for how to deal with governments that suppress free expression and privacy. As Andy Hinton, Google’s global ethics & compliance officer, puts it, “World class technology is only the tip of the iceberg at Google. Google wants to change the world for the better in very fundamental ways. That’s part of what makes us a ‘different’ kind of company.”

Speaking with David Frishkorn, Director of Business Ethics & Compliance at Xerox, reveals a unique approach that Xerox employs in their ethics program. Many companies will place a strong emphasis on tone from the top, and stop there. Frishkorn prefers a different approach. “When everyone focuses on tone from the top, you can have somebody standing there, yelling and shouting, but if they’re not respected, or if the message isn’t properly received, or if the environment is one that is contrary to what the words from the top are, it’s not going to be effective,” says Frishkorn. “The real test of the tone from the top is that it’s received well and that the employees commit to the program.” To that end, Frishkorn says that Xerox helps employees get involved in the ethics program through a basic monthly survey that asks simple questions such as, “Do you think it’s an ethical environment?”, “Do you know about the helpline?” and “Would you call the helpline?” These fundamental questions help the compliance team get an accurate reading of the corporate environment. “There is ample opportunity and space in that survey for people to write in comments, and that’s where we actually get a lot of the ‘good’ data,” Frishkorn says. “So when something monumental happens that is either good or bad from the employees’ perspective, relative to the ethics at Xerox, we can pick up on that pretty quick in the write-in comments.”

Starbucks isn’t just a household name when it comes to coffee, but it’s also synonymous for outstanding CSR practices. David Landau, the company’s chief compliance officer, notes that Starbucks has a long history of ethical leadership. “Starbucks was founded upon notions that all people should be treated with respect and dignity, that diversity is to be respected and embraced,” explains Landau. He notes that these principles are instilled in employees at every level, from barista to the board. “Even during times of transition, Starbucks partners are focused on doing what’s right by each other, customers, farmers, vendors and shareholders; and we are driven by our mission statement and guiding principles.”Landau points out that a successful ethics program is one that “provides key, clear policies and expectations, and is also flexible enough to move with the business. It adapts to support and promote appropriate decisions and outcomes in an ever-changing and complex business environment.”So, what part of Starbucks’ ethics program is Landau most proud of? The way that it enhances everyday life at the company. “Our program supports and promotes an amazing corporate culture,” he says. “Our business ethics and compliance program is truly global and has helped not only Starbucks partners, but business partners as well, to operationalize the company’s values and guiding principles. We’re proud that partners regularly show their trust by contacting us to share concerns or broach questions.”

Dan Amos, CEO of Aflac, joined the company in 1973, and during his tenure the company has grown into an international powerhouse in the insurance industry. Amos inherited a company that was founded on ethical principles, like many of the World’s Most Ethical Companies. “This company was founded with the premise that if you take care of your employees, they will take care of the company. This principle has proven true for more than 50 years as Aflac has grown from a small family business to a Fortune 500 company,” says Amos.One of the aspects that helps the company continue to thrive is Amos’ transparent leadership. “As a public company there is a responsibility to tell people what is happening regardless of whether the news is particularly good or bad,” Amos admits. “At Aflac, it is our custom to tell the people what we are doing and why we are doing it to limit any surprises in the future. As a publicly traded company, our actions impact the lives of shareholders and since they own our company, they have a right to know what lies ahead.” This isn’t just rhetoric—Amos can regularly be heard around the office telling employees, “Bad news does not improve with age.”Amos notes that Aflac’s ethics program isn’t just intended for upper levels of management. Rather, an ethical culture is taught from the top down. “Our ethics program is company-wide,” says Amos. “It extends from the call center worker to the IT technician to the board room. You cannot work at Aflac without having taken an online course on ethics and privacy and every employee receives constant reminders of the Aflac way of doing business, which is to treat customers, stakeholders and colleagues with respect and dignity. We are proud that our program impacts all who enter our doors and that it is embraced by our employees.”

What began as a soap company in the late 19th century, Kao Corporation has since become a leading international manufacturer of cosmetics. Based in Tokyo, Japan, the company has operations in Europe, North America, Asia, the Middle East and Australia.Shunichi Nakagawa, the executive vice president in charge of legal and compliance for Kao, told us that the company was founded with the concept of integrity. “One of our key values written in Kao Way, ‘Integrity’ has been long shared among employees since the foundation of the company, 120 years ago,” Nakagawa told us. “We have Kao’s Business Conduct Guidelines as a code of conduct in our daily activity.” This concept is spread through all employees. “Kao Way and Kao’s Business Conduct Guidelines are introduced and communicated to the employees of the whole group. Programs for ethics and compliance trainings are conducted by various means like internal seminars, intranet, etc. to the employees,” he said.“With this corporate culture, ethics and compliance programs are thoroughly carried out to the employees and each employee fully understands the importance of ‘Integrity.’ This makes Kao stand out among its peers and it is what we are most proud of.”

Thank You

The World’s Most Ethical Companies Methodology Committee is comprised of leading attorneys and government officials, professors and organization leaders who care about ethical and honest business practices.

Ethisphere would like to thank the following individuals for their invaluable assistance in creating the methodology for 2008’s World’s Most Ethical Companies ranking.

Note: The methodology committee is only involved in reviewing and commenting on WME’s Methodology and is not involved in selecting companies.

2007 World's Most Ethical Companies Winners