L’Oréal, the world’s leading beauty company, has been recognized by the Ethisphere Institute, a global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices, as a 2017 World’s Most Ethical Company®.
L’Oréal has been recognized for the 8th time and is one of only 2 in the Health and Beauty industry, underscoring their commitment to leading ethical business standards and practices.
“Culture is the foundation of a high performing, innovative and sustainable company” said Jean-Paul Agon, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of L’Oréal. “I am proud that ethics is the key pillar of our culture and leadership, requiring our teams throughout the world to always include ethics in the decisions they make”.
“Receiving this recognition from Ethisphere for the 8th time is a source of pride for everyone at L’Oréal. Ethics is the new decision-making framework and we are convinced that a strong culture of integrity is an essential component for long-term success” said Emmanuel Lulin, Senior Vice-President and Chief Ethics Officer.<
Twenty-seventeen is the eleventh year that Ethisphere has honored those companies who recognize their role in society to influence and drive positive change, consider the impact of their actions on their employees, investors, customers and other key stakeholders and use their values and culture as an underpinning to the decisions they make every day.
“Over the last eleven years we have seen the shift in societal expectations, constant redefinition of laws and regulations and the geo-political climate. We have also seen how companies honored as the World’s Most Ethical respond to these challenges. They invest in their local communities around the world, embrace strategies of diversity and inclusion, and focus on long term-ism as a sustainable business advantage,” explained Ethisphere’s Chief Executive Officer, Timothy Erblich. “Congratulations to everyone at L’Oréal for being recognized as a World’s Most Ethical Company.”
Methodology & scoring
The World’s Most Ethical Company assessment is based upon the Ethisphere Institute’s Ethics Quotient® (EQ) framework which offers a quantitative way to assess a company’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.
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.
Honorees
The full list of the 2017 World’s Most Ethical Companies can be found at http://worldsmostethicalcompanies.ethisphere.com/honorees/.
Best practices and insights from the 2017 honorees will be released in a series of infographics and research throughout the year (view or download the 2016 insights). Organizations interested in how they compare to the World’s Most Ethical Companies are invited to participate in the Ethics Quotient.
About Ethics at L’Oréal
A company’s behavior is as important as its economic performance or the quality of its products. L’Oréal was built on strong ethical principles that guide its development and contribute to building its reputation: Integrity, Respect, Courage and Transparency. These principles are namely the foundation of the Group’s policies in terms of compliance, responsible innovation, environmental stewardship, social and societal responsibility, and philanthropy. L’Oréal’s ambition is to be an exemplary company worldwide and integrate ethics into the very heart of its business practices.
- In 2000, L’Oréal was one of the first companies in France to establish a Code of Ethics and to appoint, in 2007, a Chief Ethics Officer.
- In 2008, L’Oréal’s Chairman and CEO, Jean-Paul Agon, received the prestigious Stanley C. Pace Leadership in Ethics Award.
- In 2014, L’Oréal launched the 3rd edition of its Code of Ethics, which is now available in 45 languages and in Braille in English and in French, as well as a new ethics e-learning in 22 languages.
- In 2015, L’Oréal’s Senior Vice-President and Chief Ethics Officer, Emmanuel Lulin, received the prestigious Carol. R. Marshall Innovation in Ethics Award
- L’Oréal is a Global Compact LEAD company, one of the 100 companies included in the Global Compact 100 stock index, a signatory of the Women’s Empowerment Principles, an initiative of UN Women and the UN Global Compact and supports the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
- L’Oréal organizes an annual Ethics Day where employees from around the world can chat online with L’Oréal’s Chairman and CEO and their country General Manager about ethics.
For more information on ethics at L’Oréal: http://www.loreal.com/group/governance/acting-ethically.aspx
