Stora Enso has been included in Ethisphere Institute’s 2013 list of the World’s Most Ethical Companies. The Ethisphere list recognises companies’ ethical leadership, compliance practices and corporate social responsibility. This is now the sixth time running that Stora Enso has been selected for the list, and it is the only Finnish company and one of only five Nordic companies in the 2013 list.
“Not only did more companies apply for the World’s Most Ethical Companies recognition this year than any year in the past, which demonstrates that ethical activity is an important part of many of these companies’ business models, but we are also seeing more companies be proactive and create new initiatives that expand ethics programmes and cultures across entire industries, such as industry-based ethics associations and other activities,” says Alex Brigham, Executive Director of Ethisphere. “We are excited to see the 2013 World’s Most Ethical Companies take these leadership positions, and embrace the correlation between ethical behaviour and improved financial performance.”
The record number of nominations and applications this year is evidence of increasing regard for the list of the World’s Most Ethical Companies among various stakeholder groups and the desire of companies to be recognised for their integrity and ethical culture. The 2013 list is the largest since the award’s inception in 2007.
“We are happy to receive this recognition again this year. Our commitment to global responsibility and ethical business practices will be further strengthened with the establishment of a Global Responsibility and Ethics Committee of the Board of Directors following our Annual General Meeting in April this year,” says Stora Enso’s Head of Global Responsibility Terhi Koipijärvi.
Through in-depth research and a multi-step analysis, Ethisphere reviewed nominations from companies in more than a hundred countries and 36 industries. The methodology for the World’s Most Ethical Companies list includes reviewing codes of ethics, litigation and regulatory infraction histories; evaluating the investment in innovation and sustainable business practices; looking at activities designed to improve corporate citizenship; and studying nominations from senior executives, industry peers, suppliers and customers.
Read about the methodology and view the complete 2013 list of the World’s Most Ethical Companies at http://ethisphere.com/wme.