There are only 135 companies world wide that have made the list of the World’s Most Ethical Companies for 2018. Only two of them are from Michigan, and one of them is in our own back yard.
Benton Harbor-based Whirlpool Corporation, the world’s leading major home appliance company, has been recognized by the Ethisphere Institute, a global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices, as one of the 2018 World’s Most Ethical Companies.
This marks the second such recognition for Whirlpool Corporation and more importantly within their sector they are the only honoree in the appliance industry, underscoring the company’s commitment to leading with integrity and prioritizing ethical business practices.
Whirlpool CEO Marc Bitzer says, “We are proud of this recognition,” and adds, “For over a century, Whirlpool Corporation has lived its values, honoring our mission to earn trust with all stakeholders. This acknowledgment of integrity reflects our commitment to doing business the right way, and we will continue that practice for decades to come.”
In 2018, only 135 honorees have been recognized, spanning 24 countries and 57 industries. Kellogg Corporation of Battle Creek is the only other Michigan corporation on the list. The twelfth class of honorees had record levels of involvement with their stakeholders and their communities around the world. Measuring and improving culture, leading authentically and committing to transparency, diversity and inclusion were all priorities for honorees.
Timothy Erblich is CEO at Ethisphere. He says, “While the discourse around the world changed profoundly in 2017, a stronger voice emerged. Global corporations operating with a common rule of law are now society’s strongest force to improve the human condition. This year we saw companies increasingly finding their voice. The World’s Most Ethical Companies in particular continued to show exemplary leadership.” He adds, “I congratulate everyone at Whirlpool Corporation for being recognized as one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies.”
The World’s Most Ethical Companies assessment is based upon the Ethisphere Institute’s Ethics Quotient (EQ) framework, which offers a quantitative way to assess a company’s performance in an objective, consistent and standardized manner. The information collected provides a comprehensive sampling of definitive criteria of core competencies rather than all aspects of corporate governance, risk, sustainability, compliance and ethics.
Scores are generated in five key categories:
- Ethics and compliance program (35-percent)
- Corporate citizenship and responsibility (20-percent)
- Culture of ethics (20-percent)
- Governance (15-percent)
- Leadership, innovation and reputation (10-percent)
All companies that participate in the assessment process receive their scores, providing them with valuable insights into how they stack up against leading organizations.
Once again, the 2018 World’s Most Ethical Companies have proven that operating with integrity leads to greater financial performance. Research has found that, when indexed, listed World’s Most Ethical Companies outperformed the U.S. Large Cap Index over five years by 10.72-percent and over three years by 4.88-percent. Ethisphere refers to this as the Ethics Premium.
The full list of the 2018 World’s Most Ethical Companies can be found at the link below:
https://worldsmostethicalcompanies.com/honorees
Best practices and insights from the 2018 honorees will be released in a report and webcast in March and April of this year.
Whirlpool Corporation is the number one major appliance manufacturer in the world, with approximately $21 billion in annual sales, 92,000 employees and 70 manufacturing and technology research centers in 2017.
The Ethisphere Institute is the global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices that fuel corporate character, marketplace trust and business success. Ethisphere has deep expertise in measuring and defining core ethics standards using data-driven insights that help companies enhance corporate character and measure and improve culture. Ethisphere honors superior achievement through its World’s Most Ethical Companies recognition program and provides a community of industry experts with the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance (BELA). More information about Ethisphere can be found at: https://ethisphere.com.
