Ethisphere Institute is a US-based think tank that aims to advocate best business practice in areas such as corporate ethics, including sustainability, and corporate social responsibility.
This is the fifth year in a row that the institute has recognised Japanese global beauty player Shiseido for its efforts in this field, confirming the company’s reputation for pushing forward an ethical business model.
“We will not only promote management with even more transparency but also contribute to society through various corporate activities,” Shiseido said in a statement.
This year the list honours 131 companies, spanning 21 countries and five continents, and representing over 45 industries; and alongside Shiseido, L’Oréal, Kao, Natura, Henkel, and Colgate have all also been acknowledged.
Shiseido’s profile
Shiseido’s corporate ethics profile centres around its ‘Our Way; mission statement, launched in 2011.
The statement lays out various action standards that each and every employee should take to earn the trust of the company’s five key types of stakeholders: ‘customers’, ‘business partners’, ‘shareholders’, ‘employees’, and ‘society/Earth’.
“As for social contribution activities,” the company explained in its statement, “Shiseido is also promoting various initiatives by designating women and beauty, culture and the environment as the three priority domains in which Shiseido is able to leverage its strengths.”
The Ethisphere list
The Ethisphere Institute compiles the list of the ‘World’s Most Ethical Companies’ each year, judging corporations on criteria it has devised over years of research.
The annual list was first released in 2007, and the institute considers over 1000 companies from over 100 countries globally each year to determine the top, ‘ethical’ organisations.
The institute considers companies against five core categories: concept of corporate ethics and legal compliance; activity contents as a corporate citizen; evaluation by society, top management leadership, and communication with stakeholders; establishment of corporate ethics; and corporate governance.