10 Most Ethical Companies In The US

What have the 10 most ethical companies in the US done to earn the title? Who gets to decide that these companies are ethical or not?

Ethics is a system of moral principles which define how people should make decisions and lead their lives. It refers to standards of right and wrong that prescribe what an entity ought to do, usually in terms of rights, obligations and benefits to society. Ethical companies have a specific way of conducting their business in a manner that they do not cause any damage to the environment or exploit their employees or consumers. The most ethical companies in the US are known for promoting high quality business standards and practices  that enable employees to make good choices and in turn shapes a better future for the company. Good ethical practices include a moral code of conduct, a transparent way of doing business and incorporating corporate social responsibility practices. You can also check out our list of 10 most socially responsible companies in the US.

According to a research paper in the International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, the importance of ethics in the business world is both superlative and global. Proper ethical behavior has become fundamental in organizations to avoid any possible lawsuit. Globalization and free trade policies have further stressed upon the importance of ethical behavior in organisations.

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Ethisphere Institute is an organization that ranks companies based on their ethics every year. Their methodology involves scoring companies according to five parameters – ethics and compliance program (35%), corporate citizenship and responsibility (20%), culture of ethics (20%), governance (15%), and leadership, innovation and reputation (10%). We present the list of the 10 most ethical companies in the US on the following pages ranking them based on their market capitalization values. All these companies were recognized as most ethical in 2016 by Ethisphere Institute, but no scores were disclosed openly.