Ethisphere Announces an Updated Ethics Quotient™ Survey and Launch of the 2016 World’s Most Ethical Companies® Process
Companies Cite Multiple Advantages by Participating in the Process, Regardless of Program Maturity
New York, NY – August 31, 2015– Ethisphere, the global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices, announced today the kick-off of the 2016 World’s Most Ethical Companies program. The program, now entering its tenth year, is designed to recognize organizations that understand the value that permeates throughout an entire community of employees, customers, investors and the public at large when words about ethics, compliance and good governance are translated into action.
“There is great value in participating in this process whether or not the company is eventually named as a World’s Most Ethical Company,” said Katherine A. Lawler, Senior Vice President, Inclusion and Employee Relations, U.S. Bank. She added, “For example, the process provides a holistic assessment of where we stand in our program, we can compare ourselves against a gold standard of leading companies both in the U.S. and in our industry, and we become aware of areas that we can change or enhance. Additionally, by pulling our internal team together to work on the project, we forge and deepen relationships that allow us to mature our program going forward.”
Compare Leading Practices and Outcomes
As part of its mission to promote ethical corporate behavior and help companies move their programs forward, Ethisphere has analyzed data from 2015 and published a whitepaper that compares World’s Most Ethical Company honorees to others, and identifies developing trends for leading companies. “Actionable Insights from the 2015 World’s Most Ethical Companies” offers a robust analysis far different from other surveys and demonstrates for all companies the clear value in participating in the confidential process, whether or not the outcome is the World’s Most Ethical Company designation.The whitepaper can be downloaded here.
Additionally, Ethisphere’s longstanding belief that there is a correlation between ‘ethics’ and ‘the bottom line’ has been confirmed in a recent independent analysis. When publicly-traded companies named as World’s Most Ethical Companies during 2007-2014 are compared relative to the MSCI ACWI, World’s Most Ethical Companies demonstrated attractive returns (see the comparison) with the excess return not explainable by any risk factor tested thus far.
Insights and Company’s Experiences
Ethisphere will host two webcasts for those interested in learning more about the EQ and World’s Most Ethical Company process. The first webcast on Wednesday, September 9, 2015 at 2:00 PM covers how participating in the process impacts and changes your organization. The guest speaker for this webcast is Gregory C. Vamos, Assistant General Counsel – Manager of Office of Legal Compliance, Microsoft Corporation. Register here.
The second webcast will include information about the methodology behind the EQ and why participating in the process provides meaningful feedback to companies, and is scheduled for Thursday, September 17, 2015 at 1:00 PM ET. Michael Gioffre, Chief Compliance & Ethics Officer, Voya Financial, is the guest speaker. Register here.
Starting the Process and the Resulting Analytical Scorecard
Companies wishing to participate complete a brief form naming who should receive a custom link to the EQ. The completed survey along with documentation supporting the self-reported answers is due to Ethisphere before December 1, 2015. Ethisphere analysts score the surveys and conduct needed legal and reputational reviews.
In April, 2016, all participants receive a scorecard comparing their overall EQ and scores on a set of key questions and 5 categories to those of the honorees. Honorees will be announced on March 7, 2016 and celebrated at a gala dinner in New York City on March 8, 2016.
To start the process, visit: http://web.ethisphere.com/worlds-most-ethical/2016-process/. Ethisphere will send EQ survey links beginning September 2.
More information is available at http://web.ethisphere.com/worlds-most-ethical/wme-faq/.
The Ethisphere® Institute
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. Ethisphere honors superior achievement through its World’s Most Ethical Companies® recognition program, provides a community of industry experts with the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance (BELA) and showcases trends and best practices in ethics with the Ethisphere Magazine. Ethisphere is also the leading provider of independent verification of corporate ethics and compliance programs that include: Ethics Inside® Certification and Compliance Leader Verification™. More information about Ethisphere can be found at: www.ethisphere.com.
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Ethisphere Media Contact
Clea Nabozny
480.397.2658
[email protected]
