3 county companies make list of ‘most ethical’

 

General Electric Co., Pitney Bowes Inc. and Xerox Corp. were lauded among the world”™s most ethical companies, and several more companies with operations in the region were on the list.

The New York City-based Ethisphere Institute publishes an annual list of what it deems the 100 most ethical companies in the world, taking into account corporate disclosures on citizenship as it relates to community involvement and principles of sustainability; governance issues; innovation that contributes to public good; leadership on ethics across a range of practices; executives”™ adherence to ethical practices; and legal and regulatory track records.

In a separate list of the 100 most influential people in business ethics, GE CEO Jeff Immelt and Xerox CEO Anne Mulcahy were included, as was Ben Heineman Jr., the former general counsel of GE and author of “High Performance with High Integrity;” and posthumously, Westport philanthropist and actor Paul Newman.

In addition to GE, Pitney Bowes and Xerox, Ethisphere included Thomson Reuters Corp., which has its operational headquarters in Stamford. The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. was included on the list, as was Unilever plc, which is among the largest employers in Fairfield County with some 1,500 workers in Trumbull where it has a large research and test laboratory.

In Westchester County, N.Y., Purchase-based PepsiCo Inc. made the list (its general counsel Larry Thompson was cited on the most influential people in business ethics), as did Swiss Re, which has its North American headquarters in Armonk.