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World's Most Ethical Companies

Rodimus Prime said:
Apple does not belong on the list. They are far from ethical and are poor corporate citizens. Good profits does not mean good ethics. They do not relate. Also being legal does not mean good ethics.
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I wasn't implying / insinuating they should be. Just making a note. :)
 
I see Microsoft is listed there. Mind you they don't actually produce anything. I guess its harder to be ethical when you have to employ a manufacturing workforce.
 
v66jack said:
I see Microsoft is listed there. Mind you they don't actually produce anything. I guess its harder to be ethical when you have to employ a manufacturing workforce.
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Why does having a manufacturing workforce make it harder to be ethical? I ask because I work for a manufacturing company. I have found that ethics is directly related to the core business vaules and how those are applied across the company.
 
belvdr said:
Why does having a manufacturing workforce make it harder to be ethical? I ask because I work for a manufacturing company. I have found that ethics is directly related to the core business vaules and how those are applied across the company.
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Plus there are other companies on the list who are manufacturers.
 
Ethisphere's proprietary rating system, which it calls the Ethics Quotient, is based on a series of multiple-choice questions in a survey that is designed to capture a company's performance in an objective and standardized way. The winnowing process includes reviewing codes of ethics and litigation and regulatory infraction histories; evaluating investment in innovation and sustainable business practices; looking at activities designed to improve corporate citizenship; and studying nominations from senior executives, industry peers, suppliers and customers.
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I guess "ethical" can have many meanings. :rolleyes:
 
I find it amusing that 3 out of 4 of Australia's 'Big 4' banks is on that list. And the biggest of them all is missing (of which I am customer). Is it because they raised their interest rates too much? Make too much profit?
 
If this was conducted as a survey, then this is about the perceptions of others. I don't think Apple is perceived as a company that does good for humankind. Whereas, the Gates foundation definitely helped and continues to help Microsoft's image in this light.

I'd love to see the survey questions though...
 
Rodimus Prime said:
Apple does not belong on the list. They are far from ethical and are poor corporate citizens. Good profits does not mean good ethics. They do not relate. Also being legal does not mean good ethics.
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Agreed nor does a cult-like following mean they're good citizens.
 
lol. ethics and corporate governance.

i knew quite a few accounting grads who joined the Big 4 in external audit positions. they went in thinking that post Enron and SOX, corporations would actually change their behavior or practices. 3 or 4 years later, none of them continued that line of thought.

there's quite a few on the list that have been involved with sketchy financing practices (Jones Lang LaSalle), questionable management practices (Xerox), alleged Yakuza involvement (East Japan Railway), class discrimination (Housing Development Finance) etc. that's just at a quick glance.

at the end of the day, most people just call it business :D
 
benzslrpee said:
lol. ethics and corporate governance.

[cut to save space]

there's quite a few on the list that have been involved with sketchy financing practices (Jones Lang LaSalle), questionable management practices (Xerox), alleged Yakuza involvement (East Japan Railway), class discrimination (Housing Development Finance) etc. that's just at a quick glance.

at the end of the day, most people just call it business :D
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Yep. So true. Ethics don't really apply when incentives are involved; there's inherently people who bend the rules and regulations in order to maximize personal gain through said incentives. Inherently businesses can never be ethical. Sounds a bit bleak, but true. This list should aptly be renamed to include a disclaimer about visibility-- just because you don't see it doesn't mean it's not happening.
 
Apple is a company and must make a profit. Being ethical wouldn't be high on my list, if on my list at all, if I owned a company.
 
benzslrpee said:
they went in thinking that post Enron and SOX, corporations would actually change their behavior or practices. 3 or 4 years later, none of them continued that line of thought.
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The issue is that ethics and morality cannot be legislated.
 
i did some liberal rounding up, those positions still only account for 20% of the equity. the remaining 80% is split between board, executive management and other parties. i'd say that very much is still owned by the "people".

OllyW said:
What do you mean by the People?
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most people stop at ethics and morality, which is fine, but it really doesn't paint the whole picture. there's a huge fundamental difference in business values in starting a business, maintaining a business and continuing a profitable business* .

start ups can sing about morals and ethics and not "being evil". a mature/maturing company suddenly realizes adulthood brings a much more complex set of problems into mix where previously hardcore ethical boundaries sudden seem much more... fluid.

if any of you get a chance, find a HBS case study (the title escapes me at the moment) that analyzed Microsoft's change in management strategy and attitude from startup till early 2000. the reality is that Google's progression almost mirrored MS's as if they were long lost twins. a simple fact that most tech bloggers avoid or don't know about.


*note: this is a very simplified statement as there many more scenarios such as financially distressed, bankrupt etc.
 
"Ethics" are always subjective in articles like this.

Usually, "donates to charity" will be considered to vastly supercede negatives like "steals from customers", "implements and enforces draconian policies on customers" *cough*ISPs*cough*, or "treats its customers like criminals" *cough*DRM*cough*, or positives like treatment of employees or enforcing workforce standards on their manufacturing partners overseas (which I've never heard of anyone other than Apple do).

I'm not saying Apple should be high on the list, but that the list itself should be taken with a grain of salt.

Telecom companies shouldn't even be on this list xD though I'd consider T-Mobile the most 'ethical' of U.S. providers, though they arguably haven't had the chance to strongarm anyone with marketshare yet.
 
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