In this article, we discuss the 22 most ethical companies in the US. You can skip our detailed analysis of the free market as it pertains to ethical conduct in the US and go directly to 5 Most Ethical Companies in the US.
Young people are becoming increasingly awake to the social, historical, climate and financial injustices and choose to give business to, and invest in companies that share their values. Many corporations have responded positively to the development.
“Ethical” Capitalism
To give you a quantitative perspective on the corporate ethical turn, Yale School of Management has compiled a list of 138 corporations with extended women’s benefits, not offered by other corporations.
Out of these, nearly a third are tech corporations. The most prominent ones are Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) and Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN).
In terms of doing business in Russia, over a 1,000 corporations (majority of them American) have left the country after it invaded the neighboring Ukraine. Evidence indicates that the equity market’s reward to the companies for the action far outweighs the potential loss from leaving Russia. On the other hand, companies that are still engaged in business with Russia are being punished by investors.
At the sustainability front, many companies have adopted “planet friendly” policies to lower the burden on Earth’s ecosystem and climate. However, most of the corporate sector has been called out several times for “greenwashing” and not actually doing enough. Regardless, the companies we’ve discussed are doing their part for sustainability as well as social and financial justice.
ESG’s Impact on a Company’s Financial Performance
ESG refers to the Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance. It’s a set of standards that impact-investors look at when investing based on values.
Stern School of Business carried out a meta-analysis of a 1,000 studies on ESG, done between the period of 2015-2020, and concluded that ESG and corporate financial performance had a statistically significant positive correlation for 58% of the studies. The analysis also discovered that corporate investments in sustainability were actually advantageous in the long-term while having no impact on financial performance in the short-term.
Now that we have the perspective on the ethical free market, let’s move on to the list of 22 most ethical companies in the US.
Photo by Feri & Tasos on Unsplash
Our Methodology
For our list of the 22 most ethical companies in the US, we’ve ranked them based on how many times they’ve been hailed as honorees for being ethical up until 2022 by Ethisphere Institute, a global leader in assessing ethical businesses.
We’ve also mentioned each company’s ESG-risk scores from Sustainalytics, a premier ESG grader. Sustainalytics’ ESG-risk metric measures the risk to a company’s financial value due to the disregard of ESG factors.
It assigns quantitative risk scores between 0 and 50 to corporations and based on the scores, it classifies them into any of the five risk categories: Negligible (0-10) Low (10-20), Medium (20-30), High (30-40), and Severe (40-50).
22. V.F. Corporation (NYSE:VFC)
Ethisphere Honoree: 6 Times
V.F. Corporation (NYSE:VFC)’s ESG-Risk Score: 12.9
V.F. Corporation (NYSE:VFC) is the 22nd company on the list. It has had the privilege of being an Ethisphere Honoree six times as of 2022. Its ESG-risk score is also low at 12.9, making it one of the best ESG companies in the US.
21. Oshkosh Corporation (NYSE:OSK)
Ethisphere Honoree: 7 Times
Oshkosh Corporation (NYSE:OSK)’s ESG-Risk Score: 19.4
Oshkosh Corporation (NYSE:OSK) is an American machinery company that manufactures military vehicles, fire apparatus and truck bodies among others. It has been honored by Ethisphere Institute 7 times for being one of the most ethical companies in the US. The ESG-risk of Oshkosh Corporation (NYSE:OSK) is also low at 19.4.
20. Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)
Ethisphere Honoree: 7 Times
Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)’s ESG-Risk Score: 17
Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) is one of the two biggest digital-payments processors in the world, the other one being Visa Inc. (NYSE:V).
Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) has a low ESG-risk, quantified with a score of 17, meaning that the company is performing well in terms of environmental, social and corporate-governance standards.
Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)’s debit and credit cards are widely used across platforms of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) and Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), among many others.
19. The Allstate Corporation (NYSE:ALL)
Ethisphere Honoree: 8 Times
The Allstate Corporation (NYSE:ALL)’s ESG-Risk Score: 19.1
The Allstate Corporation (NYSE:ALL) is one of the biggest insurance companies in the United States. The company is known for inclusivity and equity in employee recruitment and has thus been granted the honoree status by Ethisphere for the eighth time in 2022. The ESG-risk of The Allstate Corporation (NYSE:ALL) is low at 19.1. The Allstate Corporation (NYSE:ALL) is a member of the CDP “B List” for climate change.
18. Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY)
Ethisphere Honoree: 8 Times
Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY)’s ESG-Risk Score: 14.2
Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) is a global American retailer of consumer electronics. The company is based in Richfield, Minnesota. Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) has been honored for the eighth time by Ethisphere in 2022 for being one of the most ethical companies in the US and in the world. It has a significantly low ESG-risk score of 14.2, indicating its commitment to social, environmental and corporate-governance causes.
17. CBRE Group, Inc. (NYSE:CBRE)
Ethisphere Honoree: 9 Times
CBRE Group, Inc. (NYSE:CBRE)’s ESG-Risk Score: 6.9
CBRE Group, Inc. (NYSE:CBRE) is one of the most excellent companies in terms of its ESG-risk score, which is negligible at 6.9. It is an American commercial real-estate investment company based in Dallas, Texas. In 2021, CBRE Group, Inc. (NYSE:CBRE) announced that it is committed to achieving net-zero emissions by 2040.
16. Dell Technologies Inc. (NYSE:DELL)
Ethisphere Honoree: 10 Times
Dell Technologies Inc. (NYSE:DELL)’s ESG-Risk Score: 16.5
Dell Technologies Inc. (NYSE:DELL) manufactures, sells, and provides tech support and maintenance for computers and related equipment through its subsidiary Dell. Dell Technologies Inc. (NYSE:DELL) has announced that the company intends to have a 50% and 25% of its workforce made up of women and members of minority groups, respectively, in 2025.
15. Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)
Ethisphere Honoree: 10 Times
Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)’s ESG-Risk Score: 15.6
Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) is the largest digital-payments processor in the world. The company is committed to achieving net-zero emissions by 2040. The hiring process at Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) is also equitable in terms of gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity and race.
14. Henry Schein, Inc. (NASDAQ:HSIC)
Ethisphere Honoree: 11 Times
Henry Schein, Inc. (NASDAQ:HSIC)’s ESG-Risk Score: 13.5
Henry Schein, Inc. (NASDAQ:HSIC) is an American multinational supplier of healthcare products and services. The company has been hailed as an honoree for ethical business practices for the 11th time in 2022. Henry Schein, Inc. (NASDAQ:HSIC) also has a low ESG-risk score of 13.5.
13. Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAS)
Ethisphere Honoree: 11 Times
Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAS)’s ESG-Risk Score: 7.1
Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAS) is an American conglomerate company based in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. The company plans to reach net-zero emission targets through Science-Based-Target-initiative (SBTi) best practices, in the medium-term (2030) and in the long-term (2050). The inclusivity target of Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAS) is 25% racially and ethnically diverse workforce by 2025.
12. Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC)
Ethisphere Honoree: 12 Times
Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC)’s ESG-Risk Score: 17
Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) is one of America’s largest microprocessor manufacturers. Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) has been honored for the 12th time by Ethisphere for being one of the most ethical companies in the US and in the world in 2022. Its low ESG-risk score of 17 also shows Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) has an excellent track record in environmental, social and corporate-governance matters.
11. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)
Ethisphere Honoree: 12 Times
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s ESG-Risk Score: 15.2
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is the second biggest technology company in the US behind Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL). Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) has committed to net-zero for its scope 1 and scope 2 emissions by 2050.
The company’s inclusivity targets are aimed to double the workforce of minorities in managerial positions by 2025. Currently, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s workforce comprises 30% women and 6% African Americans.
10. ManpowerGroup Inc. (NYSE:MAN)
Ethisphere Honoree: 13 Times
ManpowerGroup Inc. (NYSE:MAN)’s ESG-Risk Score: 10
ManpowerGroup Inc. (NYSE:MAN) is an American corporation and the third largest staffing company in the world. It has been honored 13 times by Ethisphere as of 2022.
9. Teradata Corporation (NYSE:TDC)
Ethisphere Honoree: 13 Times
Teradata Corporation (NYSE:TDC)’s ESG-Risk Score: 17.4
Teradata Corporation (NYSE:TDC) is an American software corporation that provides analytics software. The company has appeared in the Ethisphere Index for a total of 13 times. Its ESG-risk score is a low 17.4.
8. Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)
Ethisphere Honoree: 13 Times
Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)’s ESG-Risk Score: 16.8
Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) is a waste management and environmental-services American company. It has been hailed as one of the most ethical companies in the world for the 13th time by Ethisphere in 2022.
7. Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)
Ethisphere Honoree: 13 Times
Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)’s ESG-Risk Score: 13.2
Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) is a major American software company based in San Francisco, California. It has been honored by Ethisphere for the 13th time as of 2022, for being among the most ethical companies in its index. Its ESG-risk is also one of the lowest, at 13.2.
6. Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)
Ethisphere Honoree: 14 Times
Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)’s ESG-Risk Score: 17.7
Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) is an American manufacturer and provider of industrial automation products. It has a low ESG-risk score of 17.7 and has been a 14-times honoree of Ethisphere.
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Disclosure: none. 22 Most Ethical Companies in the US is originally published on Insider Monkey.