When is the deadline for nominations and/or completed questionnaires?
The deadline for nominations and questionnaire completions is January 9, 2012.
How do I complete the Ethics Quotient (EQTM) questionnaire?
Nominate your company on the WME Nomination page. Once a company is nominated, Ethisphere will email them a personalized link to the complete the questionnaire.
Can I nominate another company?
Yes, but please provide contact details for that company if available.
Who can complete the EQ questionnaire?
Any authorized representative of an organization who has sufficient knowledge of the company and its compliance, ethics, governance and corporate social responsibility initiatives. Typically, the individuals with leadership or oversight responsibility for the legal, compliance, ethics sustainability or corporate communications functions submit questionnaires on behalf of their companies.
Can I download the EQ questionnaire before completing it online? I’d like to make sure that I have all the information.
Sure. The questionnaire can be downloaded here. You may wish to familiarize yourself with the questions before attempting it online. You may also find useful to have a copy of the questionnaire well in advance to the submission deadline in order to collect or coordinate any information that may be necessary to obtain from other stakeholders within the organization. Inconsistent and/or incomplete responses are not going to benefit the scores. Additional information on the methodology and criteria is available on the WME Methodology page.
Can any company participate?
Yes, any organization, public or private, large or small, for profit or not for profit, U.S. or foreign-based is eligible to participate.
Are there different criteria for companies of different industries or sizes?
The questionnaire is the same for everyone, as well as many of the evaluation criteria used. However, a portion of the evaluation criteria is modified to account for varying standards and regulations across different industries, geographic regions, etc.
Can I submit additional documents both in hard copy and/or digitally?
Certainly. We strongly encourage you to provide supporting documentation to substantiate your responses. While this is not mandatory, serious lack of validation may prevent your organization from getting full credit for good performance. The documentation we encourage to provide typically includes the type that is not easily obtainable from the public domain. This may include the documents concerning your compliance and ethics program, such as policy samples, a recent example of a training and communication plan, sample of training and/or communication materials, program reports, copies of Board minutes, conflict of interest certification form, high level org chart showing reporting lines, etc. Companies may redact information from these documents where appropriate.
Please email electronic materials to Chris Sindik at csindik@ethisphere.com or mail printed materials to:
Ethisphere Institute
Re: WME 2012 Supporting Docs
2020 N Central Ave Suite 1050
Phoenix, AZ 85004-4576
Will you be verifying the information provided by nominees?
Yes. What the questionnaire responses result in are initial, “unverified” EQ scores. It is important to understand that while the EQ score is the foundation for the WME selection process, the process does not end once the questionnaire is complete. The EQ scores and initial analysis simply help us to narrow the number of entrants to a more select group for further consideration. As indicated above, providing supporting documentation helps ensure that the candidate organization receives proper credit for the good performance. Once a company’s EQ score warrants additional consideration, a series of comprehensive due diligence efforts begin. This process may include multiple means of independent verification on as-needed basis that may include additional research, request for documentation (unless already provided) to support or add additional context to select answers and/or interviews with company leadership. A candidate’s “verified” score may be higher or lower than the initial “unverified” score once the research is complete, however if we are unable to verify certain aspects of your reported performance, the resulted scores may be discounted.
When will we know if we’ve made the list or not?
Organizations slated to be recognized as one of The World’s Most Ethical (WME) Companies will be announced publicly at the fourth annual Global Ethics Summit in New York City on March 15, 2012. Senior level management, the persons involved in the process and/or the person who filled out the questionnaire within those organizations will be notified prior to the announcement.
Those organizations which are not selected as a WME Company for 2011 will receive a formal notice from the Institute. General data regarding the company’s score will also be made available via a high level scorecard report.
How much does it cost to participate?
It’s FREE, provided the questionnaire is completed online. If you choose to return the answers in any other way (e.g. PDF or Word doc, hard copy etc), a small data processing fee of $150 will apply as the data will require re-keying by our staff.
Will my responses be confidential or my EQ score made public?
Responses are confidential as long they are not based on publicly available information. The EQ scores are not made public at this time, but aggregate or masked EQ scores are made available for benchmarking and research purposes.
Can I complete the questionnaire after the deadline?
The deadlines provided above reflect the amount of time needed by Ethisphere analysts to compute results and conduct research in addition to the questionnaire work. As such, we are not able to commit to honor any submissions past this date. Should you have significant concerns regarding the deadline, your company is encouraged to contact Ethisphere directly. Please email Chris Sindik at csindik@ethisphere.com.
Will you provide any report or analysis to a participating company?
Yes, all participating organizations are entitled to receive a complimentary, high-level benchmarking scorecard. View the redacted scorecard here.
I want a more in depth analysis of my performance with more detailed benchmarking. How can I get it?
Ethisphere Institute offers a range of premium analytical and benchmarking services to participating organizations. Please refer to Additional WME Services page for further details.
Is there an awards ceremony or dinner to announce or honor the 2012 World’s Most Ethical Companies?
Yes, there will be an awards celebration! The companies listed as the 2012 World’s Most Ethical Companies will be announced on the first day of the Global Ethics Summit in NYC on March 15 and honored at a dinner and awards ceremony that very same night. Additional information and details regarding the dinner are forthcoming.
What if our company is nominated by a third party?
We do accept third party nominations. Companies being nominated for WME will be contacted directly by a staff a member from Ethisphere requesting the company complete the online questionnaire.
Does past performance affect future results (i.e., are past winners advantaged in any way)?
Past winners are given no inherent advantage throughout the process over non-winners or companies applying for the first time. Typically, companies that have participated in the questionnaire in previous years (both winners and non-winners) are more familiar with the process and are therefore more aptly prepared when it comes to completing the questionnaire.
Are there specific criteria (e.g., compliance, governance, CSR) Ethisphere considers during the evaluation process?
Yes. The process is quite robust with over 100 criteria applied. The main evaluation categories are: Corporate Citizenship and Responsibility; Ethics and Compliance Program; Corporate Governance; and Reputation, Leadership and Innovation. Please refer to the WME Methodology page for more detailed information on the categories and their weighting in the evaluation process.
I feel that some of the questions do not precisely reflect our situation. Can I provide additional clarification?
As expected with standardized multiple choice questions, you should choose the answer that best fits your organizational situation. We have done our best to provide a wide range of plausible choices for most questions. If you feel you wish to clarify your response, you may enter comments at the end of the questionnaire and/or send your comments to Chris Sindik at csindik@ethisphere.com.
Does each question carry the same weighting?
No. Some questions are for validation purposes only and carry no weight on how the questionnaire ultimately fares in the EQ scoring process. Some questions are more significant for certain industry sectors, while certain others more relevant for companies of a particular size.
