Few U.S. utilities recognized as "World's Most Ethical"
March 24, 2014 | By
Barbara Vergetis Lundin
Failure to establish the highest ethical business standards and practices throughout an organization can result in negative consequences to operations, investors, employees and more. The Ethisphere Institute, an independent researcher, has recognized several energy organizations for their ethical business standards and practices, including five U.S. energy and utility companies. "In today's complex global economy, it can be increasingly challenging for companies to meet performance expectations, while addressing the varying regulatory, compliance and sustainability needs across geographies and cultures," said Tim Erblich, CEO of the Ethisphere Institute. "Global economic and social challenges from anti-corruption to security and privacy are accelerating the need for companies and organizations to embrace ethics and governance as critical business imperatives. This year's honorees… understand that outstanding compliance programs, investment in a corporate culture of integrity, and sound business ethics have key roles in attracting and retaining talent, expanding business globally and driving financial performance." The World's Most Ethical Company assessment is based on the Ethisphere Institute's Ethics Quotient framework, which provides a means to assess an organization's performance in an objective, consistent and standardized way. Rather than measuring all aspects of corporate governance, risk, sustainability, compliance and ethics, Ethisphere collects a comprehensive sampling of definitive date in core competencies. Scores are generated in five key categories: ethics and compliance program (25 percent), reputation, leadership and innovation (20 percent), governance (10 percent), corporate citizenship and responsibility (25 percent), and culture of ethics (20 percent). Among the World's Most Ethical Companies is NiSource Inc. -- for the third consecutive year. "The entire community of World's Most Ethical Companies believe that customers, employees, investors and regulators place a high premium on trust and that ethics and good governance are key in earning it," Erblich said. "NiSource joins an exclusive community committed to driving performance through leading business practices." NextEra Energy, Inc. has also been named -- for the seventh time in the history of the awards -- based on its corporate governance structure, as well as its compliance and ethics program oversight, written policies, training and communications, monitoring and auditing, and enforcement and response. NextEra Energy has also recently been ranked as number one electric and gas utilities for the eighth consecutive year in Fortune magazine's annual Most Admired Companies. Other U.S. utilities recognized by Ethisphere include Sempra Energy and National Grid. For more:
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