PRESS RELEASES
Phoenix, AZ – March 2022 – Ethisphere, a global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices, has announced the 136 honorees representing 22 countries and 45 industries that have earned the coveted designation of World’s Most Ethical Companies® in 2022.
This is the 16th annual recognition of companies that have demonstrated a commitment to ethical business practices through programs that positively impact employees, communities, and broader stakeholders, and contribute to sustainable and profitable long-term business performance. In 2022, 14 companies are first-time honorees, while six have been recognized 16 times – every year since the inception of the awards in 2007.
“The moment is now, and the data is clear – companies must lead on sustainability, social issues, and governance. The World’s Most Ethical Companies understand that the capitalism of today and tomorrow is one that demonstrates how we turn our ideals into action,” said Ethisphere CEO, Timothy Erblich. “Congratulations to the 2022 honorees for their dedication to advancing business integrity, for leadership on tough issues, and demonstrating that doing good is key to successful, long-term performance.”
- Recipients in the building design, engineering, manufacturing and real estate fields include AECOM, Parsons, WSP, Schneider Electric, Johnson Controls, Honeywell, CBRE, JLL, and U.S Steel.
"Respect, integrity, diversity and inclusion, and sustainability are at the core of our culture and behind our company values. Our commitment to always do the right thing is what fuels employee engagement and productivity to drive business performance," said George Oliver, chairman and CEO of Milwaukee-based Johnson Controls, now recognized for the 15th time.
“This recognition by Ethisphere reflects the dedication by our people to deliver excellence through their work and maintain the highest levels of ethics in our business,” said Troy Rudd, AECOM CEO. This is the sixth time the firm has been so cited. “As a trusted partner to our clients, our commitment to ethics is core to prioritizing ESG in all that we do and leading our industry toward a more sustainable and equitable future,” he added.
“We’re very proud of how our program has evolved over the past five years," said Julianna Fox, Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer. at WSP. "We’ve really been able to transform our ethics and compliance function into key strategic business partners.”
Ethisphere’s 2022 Ethics Index, the collection of publicly traded companies recognized as recipients of this year’s World’s Most Ethical Companies designation, outperformed a comparable index of large-cap companies by 24.6 percentage points over the past five calendar years.
“The outperformance, which Ethisphere refers to as the Ethics Premium, has remained consistent since we began tracking the equity performance of honoree companies. We believe this outperformance is the result of the kinds of practices that lead a company to be on our list – practices that demonstrate investment in their people, culture, and communities. We see in this data that those practices, over time, lead to stronger financial performance,” Erblich added.
Ethisphere will host a Virtual Honoree Gala on April 12, 2022. It will feature keynote addresses by Matthew McConaughey, Academy Award®–winning actor, New York Times bestselling author, and founder of the just keep livin Foundation; and Ernie Johnson, six-time Sports Emmy Award winner, New York Times bestselling author of Unscripted: The Unpredictable Moments that Make Life Extraordinary, and founder, with his wife Cheryl DeLuca-Johnson, of the Love You Too Foundation.
Methodology & Outcomes
Grounded in Ethisphere’s proprietary Ethics Quotient®, the World’s Most Ethical Companies assessment process includes more than 200 data points on culture; environmental and social practices; ethics and compliance activities; governance; diversity, equity, and inclusion; and initiatives that support a strong value chain. The process serves as an operating framework to capture and codify the leading practices of organizations across industries and around the globe.
This year, the evaluation was updated to include questions inquiring about programmatic changes made in response to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic. It also included a new area around risk assessment, to better address the U.S. Department of Justice’s recent focus on effectiveness of a company’s risk assessment efforts; more detailed questions around key impact assessment processes; and a range of other updates to reflect the evolving landscape as it relates to those in ethics, compliance, and governance.
All companies that participate in the assessment process receive an Analytical Scorecard that provides insights into key trends among honoree companies, and where their programs stand compared to the class of honoree companies. Applicants also receive a three-month Associate membership to the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance (BELA).
Honorees
The full list of the 2022 World’s Most Ethical Companies can be found at https://worldsmostethicalcompanies.com/honorees/.
Follow the conversation on Twitter: 2022 #WorldsMostEthicalCompanies.
###
About Ethisphere
Ethisphere® 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). https://ethisphere.com.