The World’s Most Ethical Companies is an annual recognition, honoring organizations that lead with integrity, prioritize ethical business practices, and demonstrate a commitment to doing what’s right.

Earning this recognition involves collaboration with your Ethics and Compliance team to complete a comprehensive evaluation through Ethisphere’s proprietary Ethics Quotient® (EQ), which assesses a company’s ethics and compliance program, culture, and governance practices.

As part of the application process, participating companies receive a scorecard with exclusive insights and benchmarking data, allowing them to compare their scores to those of honorees and gain further guidance on enhancing their ethical practices.

This recognition not only helps stakeholders identify companies that genuinely prioritize ethics and integrity but also provides organizations with valuable feedback to strengthen their ethical frameworks.

Being one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies gives organizations a competitive advantage, enhancing trust with customers, employees, and partners while reinforcing their reputation as leaders in ethical business practices.

This is the 20th year Ethisphere will honor organizations with the designation of World’s Most Ethical Companies.

Yes. We evaluate an organization’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 (EQ) 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 an organization’s reputation for acting ethically (e.g., public filings, regulatory activity, media review).

An organization’s final Ethics Quotient (EQ) score is evaluated relative to those of its peers within the context of its structure, size, and operating environment. Those organizations demonstrating the strongest application across our methodology receive the designation of being one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies. As applicant organizations come from a variety of industries with significant differences in regulatory and operating environments, the overall EQ score is used to understand an organization’s performance in context of similar organizations, not to set a floor. However, reputation and legal issues are carefully evaluated. Receiving a materially deficient score in the category of Leadership and Reputation will prevent an organization from being selected as one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies.

Past participants consider completing the World’s Most Ethical Companies process to be extremely valuable, regardless of the recognition that may or may not come from it. The application process enables organizations to understand the elements of an effective program and to also compare their approach to leading practices. It also provides opportunities for ethics and compliance teams to collaborate with other key stakeholders across business functions and work together to answer certain questions.

Upon completing the process, applicants receive a scorecard which outlines their evaluation scores as they compare to honorees and documentation scores. Companies have found this information to be valuable for establishing priorities, celebrating their strengths, building a business case for additional budget, and focusing their teams. The scorecard also includes exclusive data and insights only available to applicants, and links to valuable, curated resources to help improve their programs.

Applicants with exceptional program elements may be featured in Ethisphere Magazine, Ethicast, and other Ethisphere platforms, such as our Global Ethics Summit or webinars.