To assess corporate citizenship, Forbes partnered with Just Capital and surveyed thousands of actual citizens “about what they want America’s businesses to focus on,” explains Maggie McGrath in a Forbes.com post about the list.
Good corporate citizenship as defined by the survey results entails “producing quality goods, treating customers well, minimizing environmental impact, supporting the communities businesses operate in, committing to ethical (and diverse) leadership, and above all, treating workers well,” according to a blurb introducing this year’s list.
And that intro concludes with a description of the effect corporate citizenship can have on the economy at large: “These are the 100 companies that are setting the standard in just behavior; if more corporations follow their lead, short term profits could translate into long term wealth for more Americans.”
At the top
P&G is the top ranked personal care corporation on the 2018 Forbes Just 100 list. The Cincinnati, Ohio – based company ranks number 15.
Commenting on the achievement, David Taylor, CEO of P&G, tells the press, “We’re grateful that P&G’s leadership in responsible governance, ethical behavior, community support and environment stewardship is being recognized.”
“Consumers,” he says, “care about the company behind the brands they purchase and use. They want to know that the products they are buying come from a trusted source, and we’re working to build on that trust every single day.”
Rounding it out
The other cosmetics and personal care industry players on the list include Colgate-Palmolive at number 16; Johnson & Johnson at number 35; Clorox at 36; and Estée Lauder at number 84.
Industry suppliers Eastman Chemical Company and Air Products & Chemicals also made the list, ranked at 33 and 98 respectively.
And the only retailer on the list this year is Amazon, which came in at 55.
The reasoning behind the list, as Martin Whittaker, CEO of Just Capital, explains, is that, “Business can and should be a unifying force for good in America today, but what it needs is a new North Star. That is what these rankings represent. By trusting in the American people to define what really matters when it comes to measuring business performance, we think we can help breathe life into the vision of a more just economy that better serves the broader best interests of society.”