The World’s Most Reputable Companies For Corporate Responsibility 2019
Some of the world’s biggest businesses were in crisis management mode last year, picking up the pieces of reputations shattered by scandal. While many corporations have yet to regain the trust of stakeholders, others have made significant strides, propelled by a commitment to corporate responsibility.
“In 2018 we saw an erosion of trust, and now companies are being more transparent and are adhering to higher ethical standards,” says Stephen Hahn-Griffiths, chief reputation officer of the Reputation Institute, a reputation measurement and management services firm. Since 2011, RI has published the CR RepTrak, an annual study of companies with the best corporate responsibility reputations in the world. This year’s ranking revealed a 1.6-point increase, just enough to offset the average 1.4-point decline recorded in 2018.
“It’s not necessarily that companies have done anything dramatically different, but they’re doing a better job of providing reasons to believe that they have good intentions,” Hahn-Griffiths says. “Companies have chosen to pick one thing that matters, rather than trying to address all things, and that has caused an increase in corporate responsibility scores.”
In today’s world, corporate responsibility is as essential to business success as financial performance, and organizations that have adopted a more thoughtful approach to corporate responsibility have undoubtedly positioned themselves to win hearts and minds in the court of public opinion. “That is the strategic opportunity for any given business today,” Hahn-Griffiths says. “Explain to the world what you’re doing to have a positive impact on society in a way that’s unique to your organization—that can make a big difference.”
No company has demonstrated its commitment to corporate responsibility quite like Lego. The Danish toymaker rose two spots to claim the No. 1 position on this year’s list thanks to its steadfast environmental sustainability efforts, evident even in the colorful building blocks with which the business has become synonymous. Last year, Lego started producing pieces made from plant-based polyethylene, the first of many steps toward achieving its mission of making all bricks sustainable by 2030. The company also came within seven percentage points of reaching its goal of recycling 100% of its operational waste by 2025. It also was ahead of schedule in meeting its target of generating as much renewable energy as its business consumes—doing so by means of investments in offshore wind farms in Germany and the United Kingdom. “Lego has raised the bar in its commitment to the planet of tomorrow,” Hahn-Griffiths says. “It has made corporate responsibility a priority for the company, and it’s implicit in everything it does.”
Another organization that has made sustainability a business priority is Danone. The 100-year-old food conglomerate may be based in France, but evidence of its “One Planet. One Health” initiative—which, as the name suggests, looks to improve the health of the world and all those who inhabit it—is as omnipresent as the yogurt for which it is best known. In Argentina, for example, Danone has collaborated with nonprofit organizations and local government officials to build the city of Salta’s first early childhood center, one where nutritionists and pediatricians are available to guide parents during the first 1,000 days of their children’s lives. And in New Zealand, the company has taken steps toward its goal of reaching carbon neutrality by 2050, investing $20 million in a factory that converts raw milk to baby formula to reduce the plant’s CO2 emissions by 20,000 tons each year. Danone’s U.S. business, Danone North America, became a certified B Corp last year, and as the organization works to ensure all its entities receive the same distinction by 2030, it may not be unreasonable to think that the company ranked No. 19 will continue to climb the reputation rankings. “Danone is truly a company that stands for a movement,” Hahn-Griffiths says. “Not only is it established as a B Corp, but it has truly embraced the ESG goals that the United Nations set out.”
The goals to which Hahn-Griffiths is referring are the UN Sustainable Development Goals, a list of 17 economic, environmental and social targets that signatories aim to achieve by 2030. Just as Danone has aligned its sustainability objectives with that of the UN, so too has ExxonMobil, and that’s made all the difference in the eyes of the general public. While the American oil and gas giant has yet to break into the top 100 of this ranking, it has shown enough of a commitment to the UN goals to earn the title of most-improved company, its reputation for corporate responsibility increasing 4.9 points since last year. And having recently invested $100 million in lower-emissions research and development with the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory and National Energy Technology Laboratory—one of $16.5 billion worth of investments the company has made in energy-efficient technologies since 2000—ExxonMobil may very well be on its way toward bucking the trend of energy companies being among the least reputable. “A big part of why we’re seeing a lift in energy industry companies is them understanding that the real story is not about petroleum—it’s about other sources of energy, what they’re doing to respect the planet,” Hahn-Griffiths says. “Corporate responsibility is no longer optional—it is critical for any business, but especially important for companies looking to improve their reputations.”
While 2019 was certainly a better one for the global business community than 2018, with its collective reputation on the upswing, most organizations still have a long way to go. Those companies with any hope of making progress cannot afford to consider corporate responsibility simply a concern of the C-suite. “The reality is every employee who works at a company has a role to play in delivering on corporate responsibility. Otherwise, it can actually create risk for the company,” Hahn-Griffiths says. “Commitment to corporate responsibility can define the legacy of a company.”
Methodology
To determine the list, RI surveyed more than 230,000 individuals in 15 countries from January to February 2019. Companies considered typically have revenue in excess of $1 billion, a presence in all surveyed countries and brand familiarity among at least 20% of the general population.
To see the full ranking for top 100 most reputable companies for corporate sustainability 2019, follow this link to the original article.
The World’s Most Reputable CompaniesFor Corporate Responsibility 2019
1 LEGO Group
2 Natura
3 Microsoft
4 Google
5 The Walt Disney Company
6 The Bosch Group
7 Havaianas
8 Intel
9 Lavazza
10 IKEA
11 Cisco Systems
12 Sony
13 Honeywell International
14 Colgate-Palmolive
15 Toyota
16 Visa
17 Adidas Group
18 Canon
19 Danone
20 Netflix
21 Michelin
22 Rolex
23 Barilla
24 Kimberly-Clark Corporation
25 3M
26 Philips Electronics
27 Rolls-Royce Aerospace
28 Caterpillar
29 Bridgestone
30 HP Inc.
31 Nintendo
32 Campbell Soup Company
33 Hershey Company
34 Whirlpool
35 IBM
36 InterContinental Hotels Group
37 Honda Motor
38 Siemens
39 Deutsche Lufthansa
40 LG Corporation
41 Marriott International
42 Ferrero
43 Pirelli
44 Dell
45 Mastercard
46 Panasonic
47 The Kraft Heinz Company
48 Oracle
49 Roche
50 Goodyear
51 Virgin Group
52 Anheuser-Busch InBev
53 SAP
54 The Estée Lauder Companies
55 Hilton Worldwide
56 Boeing
57 Ralph Lauren Corporation
58 Kellogg's
59 Airbus
60 FedEx
61 ING
62 Carlsberg Group
63 Mars, Incorporated
64 Mary Kay
65 Levi Strauss & Co.
66 Heineken
67 L'Oréal
68 Giorgio Armani
69 Electrolux
70 BMW Group
71 Daimler
72 LinkedIn
73 GlaxoSmithKline
74 Peugeot
75 Nokia
76 DHL
77 Nike
78 Xerox
79 Fujifilm
80 Hugo Boss
81 Procter & Gamble
82 Emirates
83 Fujitsu
84 British Airways
85 Accenture
86 Johnson & Johnson
87 Unilever
88 DowDuPont
89 General Electric
90 Samsung Electronics
91 Bayer
92 eBay
93 Air France-KLM
94 Toshiba
95 Ford Motor
96 American Express
97 Hitachi
98 LVMH Group
99 H&M Group
100 Starbucks Coffee Company