Business Ethics Magazine has released its annual survey of the "100 Best Corporate Citizens."
This year’s list is led by Green Mountain Coffee Roasters of Waterbury, Vermont, cited for its pioneering work in the fair trade of coffee (paying growers stable and fair prices) and its support of non-profits that save the environment or feed the hungry. Its Heifer Hope coffee blend, for instance, was created to support Heifer International’s fight against world hunger. It is one of four new "Partnership Coffees" that allow consumers to support good causes. Green Mountain has been among the top ten companies on Business Ethics’ list for four years running.
Now in its seventh year, the list for 2006 is striking because of the dominance of seven technology firms among the top ten….
Newcomers to the list of socially responsible businesses, Advanced Micro Devices, Dell, Cisco Systems and Texas Instruments, join Motorola, honored for the third time and Agilent Technologies for the second time. While 16 companies have made the 100 best list all seven years, corporate do-gooder, Hewlett-Packard is the only company that has made the top ten each year.
"Tech companies tend to do well on environmental issues," said Marjorie Kelly, Editor of Business Ethics. "They also tend to be active in their communities and score high in employee relations. They know that to attract and retain talent, it pays to be socially enlightened."
Companies considered for the list are ranked on their performance in eight categories: shareholders, community, governance, diversity, employees, environment, human rights, and product.
HP’s strengths include environment and community. HP’s Planet Partners recycling service for computer equipment and printing supplies has aimed to set a recycling standard and share it among their industry. The Digital Village program established computer centers in villages in Africa, Asia, and Latin America where kids and seniors together learned about technology and each other.