A business that makes nothing but money is a poor kind of business, said Henry Ford, who believed that financial success alone is no guarantee of a company's survival. Behaving ethically in business by focusing on the social and environmental as well as the economic impact of a company is considered the key to sustainable development.
Every year, organizations that show leadership in promoting ethical business standards are honored by Ethisphere Institute, which reviews several thousand companies to select the finalists.
This year, 145 companies have made it to the list of "World's Most Ethical Companies" - with 43 winners based outside the U.S.
Twenty three companies including, Aflac, American Express, Fluor, General Electric, Milliken & Company, Patagonia, Rabobank and Starbucks, which are in the list of 2012 World's Most Ethical Companies (WME), are winning the designation for the sixth straight year.
Some of the other notable companies in the list of 2012 World's Most Ethical Companies are
Alcoa Inc. Becton, Dickinson and Co. Gap Inc.Intel Corp.Kellogg Co.Microsoft Corp.Salesforce.com Inc.Time Warner Inc.Texas Instruments Inc.United Parcel Service Inc.
The complete list is available at the Ethisphere website
Commenting on this year's honorees, Alex Brigham, Executive Director of Ethisphere said, "Each year the competition for World's Most Ethical Companies intensifies as the number of nominations submitted for consideration grows. This year's winners know that a strong ethics program is a key component to a successful business model, and they continue to scrutinize their ethical standards to keep up with an ever-changing regulatory environment. Corporate ethics has become much more important globally, as well, and that is reflected in the truly global nature of this year's honorees."
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Business News
June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.