World’s Most Ethical Companies?: What it Takes to Gain Recognition

Every year when we announce a new class of the World’s Most Ethical Companies, we are proud of the companies that have earned this recognition, and also of our team’s dedication to making the process valuable, aligned with the latest guidance, and a process that we can stand behind.

Inevitably we hear from some quarters that “it’s pay to play.” This is not the case. To clear up any confusion, here’s an overview of our approach.

It’s Not Pay to Play

There is no connection between an organization’s business relationship with Ethisphere and its selection as one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies. Organizations are honored for their programs, practices, policies, and reputations as measured by the Ethics Quotient methodology.

Ethisphere receives revenue from our membership group (The Business Ethics Leadership Alliance) as well as a broad range of solutions and advisory services, licenses, conferences, and sponsorships. No company that is honored with the World’s Most Ethical Companies designation is responsible for more than 1.02 % of Ethisphere’s revenue. And no honoree may place advertising in the issue of Ethisphere Magazine that announces and highlights new honorees.

We do charge a fee to apply to the World’s Most Ethical Companies, which offsets the thousands of hours our team spends reviewing all of the applications and the significant associated documentation. This fee does not guarantee that an applicant will receive the World’s Most Ethical Companies honor. It does guarantee the applicant company a scorecard that shows them how they performed at a category level against the honoree companies to help identify areas of strengths and opportunities. Many companies tell us that the scorecard is a helpful tool that assists them in understanding how their program maps to evolving ethical business practices, and we believe this sets our process apart from many of the “best of” processes out there that do not charge a fee but also do not provide feedback on how you performed in the process.

A Comprehensive Application

Grounded in Ethisphere’s proprietary Ethics Quotient?, the World’s Most Ethical Companies assessment process includes more than 200 data points. We evaluate a company’s (i) Ethics and Compliance Program, (ii) Culture of Ethics, (iii) Corporate Citizenship and Responsibility, (iv) Governance, and (v) Leadership and Reputation.

Each category is evaluated through a combination of answers to our Ethics Quotient? questionnaire, submitted supplemental documentation, and where necessary, independent research and follow up with a candidate.

Evaluation of the Leadership and Reputation category also includes a review of publicly available information with a bearing on a company’s reputation for acting ethically (e.g., public filings, media review). You can learn more about our methodology here.

A Valuable Process for Organizations

Every year, our team and advisors update the World’s Most Ethical Companies Ethics Quotient? application to reflect new regulatory guidance and evolving best practices. This provides organizations with the opportunity to understand what ‘best-in-class’ looks like today. It also requires organizations to continually improve their program to meet current standards and expectations.

As noted, all companies that participate in the assessment process receive an Analytical Scorecard providing them an overview of where their programs compare to World’s Most Ethical Companies honorees in each of the key categories and on 17 key data points. This interactive Scorecard experience takes place in The Sphere, where applicants can view their benchmarking along with relevant regulatory guidance, expert insights, and improvement resources.

Ultimately, as our data shows, strong ethics is good business, so any and all work put into developing a robust ethics and compliance program, will reap rewards. Learn more about the World’s Most Ethical Companies here.