Posted March 13, 2017

 

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Milliken, a global innovation company with textile, specialty chemical, and manufacturing expertise, 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®.

 

Milliken has been recognized as a World’s Most Ethical Company for 11 years, every year since the award was first given in 2007 – a consecutive distinction given to only 13 companies. This year, it is one of only 20 privately owned companies receiving the honor. 

 

The decade-long distinction underscores Milliken’s commitment to leading ethical business standards and practices.

 

“How Milliken grows is equally as important as how much we grow – this is an integral belief that each Milliken associate holds, and that directs their work daily. It is an honor to be annually recognized for this perspective on a successful, values-based business,” said Milliken & Company President, CEO and Chairman J. Harold Chandler. 

 

The 150-year-old company has developed a long-standing reputation of engaged corporate citizenship throughout its headquarter community of Spartanburg, S.C., with a combined associate and company foundation donation of more than $500,000 to local nonprofits in 2016 alone. As environmental stewards, Milliken diverts waste from landfill, utilizes renewable energy and maintains a 600-acre corporate arboretum, where it hosts numerous community events. Moreover, Milliken locations around the world each engage in their local communities through philanthropic activities and meaningful career opportunities for associates and their families.

 

This is the 11th year that Ethisphere has honored those companies that 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 11 years we have seen the shift in societal expectations, constant redefinition of laws and regulations and the geo-political climate,” said Ethisphere CEO Timothy Erblich. “We have also seen how companies, such as Milliken, honored as the World’s Most Ethical respond consistently 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, Congratulations to everyone at Milliken for being recognized as a World's Most Ethical Company for more than a decade."

 

Methodology and 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 here.

 

Best practices and insights from the 2017 honorees will be released in a series of infographics and research throughout the year. Organizations interested in how they compare to the World’s Most Ethical Companies are invited to participate in the Ethics Quotient.

 

Source: Milliken