Only one company from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region has been ranked among the list of world’s Most Ethical Companies.
And this is first time that any company from the Gulf region has made into the ranking in the last 7 years, published by the Ethisphere Institute, an independent centre of research promoting best practices in corporate ethics and compliance.
Saudi Arabia-based International Hospitals Construction Company (IHCC) is the only firm the region among the 144 global companies which have been rated on the ethical front. IHCC has accomplished numerous projects in Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Egypt, UAE, Bangladesh and Sudan.
In the UAE, its projects include 315-bed $115 million (Dh422 million) hospital, Medical Complex Dubai and 75-bed hospital in Ajman. All contracts for the UAE projects were awarded by Emirates Healthcare Development Company, according to the company’s website.
The ranking is based on a company applying for nominations, and a lack of regional firms in the rankings does not necessarily suggest that the firms are not ethical enough to be listed, but that they may not have applied to be nominated in the rankings.
The World’s Most Ethical Company rankings recognise companies that go beyond making statements about doing business ethically and translate those words into action.
This year’s 144 honourees represent 41 industries and include 21 first-time honourees. In this eighth year of recognising companies, Ethisphere has honoured the largest group of organisations based outside the US – 38 from 21 countries and 5 continents.
The list includes one each from Italy, New Zealand, Panama, Ireland, Guatemala, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Poland, Singapore, Belgium and Hong Kong; 2 from Switzerland, Brazil, Canada, Portugal and India; 3 from Sweden, Japan and Australia; 4 from France and UK and 105 from the US. Click here for the full list of companies.
Ethisphere Institute CEO Tim Erblich said: “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.
“Global economic and social challenges from anti-corruption to security and privacy are accelerating the need for companies and organisations to embrace ethics and governance as critical business imperatives. Failure to establish the highest ethical business standards and practices throughout an organisation can result in unacceptable consequences that include both human impacts and operational risks.
"These organisations have taken this challenge head on and recognise that leading ethical business practices present an unprecedented opportunity to deliver significant tangible and intangible organisational benefits.”
The World’s Most Ethical Company assessment is based upon the Ethisphere Institute’s Ethics Quotient framework. 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 programme (25 per cent), reputation, leadership and innovation (20 per cent), governance (10 per cent), corporate citizenship and responsibility (25 per cent), and culture of ethics (20 per cent).
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