Covalence Ethical Ranking Q2 2009
16 07 2009
Press Release | Geneva (Switzerland), 16 July 2009
For the first time, IBM reaches the top position in Covalence quarterly ethical ranking, published today. Following are Intel and HSBC among 541 multinationals within 18 sectors.
IBM benefited from continuous improvement over the last 3 years as well as from its recent green supply chain logistics announcements and new water-cooled supercomputer.
Procter & Gamble enters the top 10, replacing Dell Inc. Telefonica SA, PepsiCo, Veolia Environnement, Toshiba Corp, and Nike enter the top 50.
Green initiatives, on the positive side, and working conditions and downsizing, on the negative, generated high volumes of news during the last quarter.
Despite belonging to controversial sectors (Basic Resources, Chemicals), Alcoa (9th) and Rio Tinto (14th), as well as of DuPont (11th) and BASF (12th) are ranked well. Technology places 4 companies in the top 10 : IBM, Intel, Xerox, and Cisco.
New sector leaders are: Johnson Controls (Automobiles), showing positive results in all criteria groups while previous leaders Honda, Toyota and Nissan saw their performance decline on Working conditions-related criteria (Labour standards, wages) and Downsizing; GlaxoSmithKline (Healthcare) stepped ahead of challenger Bristol Myers Squibb; IBM (Technology).
The Oil & Gas sector is concentrated in the lower part of the ranking with 5 companies within the last 10 : Total, Occidental Petroleum, ExxonMobil, Chevron, Halliburton. Caterpillar, General Dynamics, GKN PLC, Nortel Networks, Pioneer Corp, Total, Archer Daniels Midland, and Genuine Parts Company enter the bottom 50.
The most active criteria during Q2 2009 have been: Environmental Impact of Production, Social Sponsorship, Downsizing, International Presence, Eco-Innovative Product, and Information to Consumers.
Leaders Across Sectors | 1. IBM, 2. Intel Corp, 3. HSBC Holdings, 4. Marks & Spencer, 5. Unilever, 6. Xerox, 7. Cisco Systems, 8. General Electric, 9. Alcoa Inc, 10. Procter & Gamble. > More results across sectors
Sector Leaders (click on sector to view details): Automobiles & Parts: Johnson Controls; Banks: HSBC Holdings; Basic Resources: Alcoa Inc; Chemicals: DuPont; Construction & Materials: Holcim; Financial Services: Goldman Sachs; Food & Beverages: Unilever; Health Care: GlaxoSmithKline; Industrial Goods & Services: General Electric; Insurance: Swiss Re; Media: Walt Disney Co; Oil & Gas: StatoilHydro; Personal & Household Goods: Procter & Gamble; Retail: Marks & Spencer; Technology: IBM; Telecommunication: Vodafone; Travel & Leisure: Starbucks; Utilities: PG&E Corp.
Companies are ranked in each sector as well as across sectors. Built on web-based public information, this ranking runs from 2002 to 30 June 2009.
More information on Covalence Ethical Ranking Q2 2009:
> Communiqué de presse (français, .pdf)
About Covalence
Covalence ethical quotation system is a reputation index based on quantifying qualitative data, which is classified according to 45 criteria such as Labour standards, Waste management, Product social utility or Human rights policy. It is a barometer of how multinationals are perceived in the ethical field.
The system integrates thousands of documents found among media, enterprise, NGO and other sources, for producing the EthicalQuote score which serves as a base for calculating Covalence rankings. This score reflects the historical evolution of multinational companies’ ethical reputation.
This tool received the Cantonal Sustainable Development Prize (Geneva) in 2004 and prompted Covalence among the finalists of the Social Entrepreneur of the Year 2005 award organised by the Schwab Foundation. Covalence research is also distributed by Thomson Reuters, Bloomberg and Capital IQ.
Covalence is closely monitoring 18 sectors including 541 companies that are included in the Dow Jones Sector Titans. Covalence is a limited company that was founded in Geneva in 2001 by six persons with political science and finance backgrounds.
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