H&M Named as One of the World's Most Ethical Companies in 2016

The World’s Most Ethical Companies program honors companies that excel in three areas – promoting ethical business standards and practices internally, enabling managers and employees to make good choices, and shaping future industry standards by introducing tomorrow’s best practices. H&M has been recognised by the Ethisphere Institute as one of the world’s most ethical companies for the sixth year.

This year marks the tenth anniversary of Ethisphere and the World’s Most Ethical Companies designation. Apart from H&M, there was one other company in the apparel industry were honoured this year.

“We are very proud that H&M is named as one of the world’s most ethical companies. Being an honouree for the sixth time recognises our commitment to set ethical standards and practices in the fashion industry. We will continue our efforts to lead the fashion industry towards a more sustainable future where ethical and sustainable standrads is a prerequisite for success, says Anna Gedda, Head of Sustainability at H&M.

"Companies rely on Ethisphere to continually raise and measure the standards of corporate behavior. Those that demonstrate leadership in areas like citizenship, integrity and transparency create more value for their investors, communities, customers and employees, thus solidifying a sustainable business advantage," explained Ethisphere’s Chief Executive Officer, Timothy Erblich. "Congratulations to everyone at H&M for being recognized as a World's Most Ethical Company."

In 2016, 131 honorees were named spanning 21 countries and 5 continents and representing over 45 industries. The full list of the 2016 World's Most Ethical Companies can be found at http://worldsmostethicalcompanies.ethisphere.com/honorees/.

Methodology and scoring
The World's Most Ethical Company assessment is based upon the Ethisphere Institute’s Ethics Quotient™ (EQ) framework developed over years of research to provide a means to assess an organization’s performance in an objective, consistent and standardized way. The information collected provides a comprehensive sampling of definitive criteria of core competencies, rather than all aspects of corporate governance, risk, sustainability, compliance and ethics. The EQ framework and methodology is determined, vetted and refined by the expert advice and insights gleaned from Ethisphere’s network of thought leaders and from the World’s Most Ethical Company Methodology Advisory Panel.

Scores are generated in five key categories: ethics and compliance program (35%), corporate citizenship and responsibility (20%), culture of ethics (20%), governance (15%) and leadership, innovation and reputation (10%) and provided to all companies who participate in the process