CP Group wins World’s Most Ethical Companies honour for 4th year running

The company was awarded the prestigious title as World’s Most Ethical Company by Ethisphere for the fourth year running thanks to its ethical business operations that have had a positive impact on society and promoted sustainable growth.

Ethisphere, a global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices, announced a list of 136 companies on Monday that have earned the coveted designation of the World’s Most Ethical Companies in 2024. This year’s winners span 20 countries and 44 industries.

Ethisphere has been handing out the award for the 18 years now, recognising companies for their commitment to ethical business practises through robust programmes that positively impact employees, communities and broader stakeholders, as well as contributing to sustainable, long-term business growth.

Apart from Thailand’s CP Group, other world-class companies that have won the World’s Most Ethical award this year include PepsiCo, Kellanova (Kellogg), Hershey's, IBM, Allianz Life, MasterCard, and ManpowerGroup Inc from the United States; Sony and Kao Corporation from Japan; and the French firm, L’Oréal.

According to Ethisphere, the Five-Year Ethics Premium for 2024 is 12.3%. The ethics premium refers to the margin by which publicly traded companies recognised in this year’s World’s Most Ethical Companies outperformed a comparable index of global companies over a five-year period from January 2019 to January 2024.

Erica Salmon Byrne, chief strategy officer and executive chair of Ethisphere, said: “Every day, businesses must earn and keep the trust of stakeholders, from employees and investors, to regulators, and others. By leading with business integrity – and investing in strong governance, an ethical culture, corporate citizenship, and compliance – organisations not only build trust, but also outperform.”

She added that the fact that this year’s awardees outperformed peers by 12.3%, indicated their commitment to ethical business practices that have created positive impacts on employees, communities, and stakeholders, while ensuring the business’ sustainable growth in long term.

Suphachai Chearavanont, CEO of CP Group, said the company strongly believes that all business practices must be based on ethics and integrity. In its 103 years of operation, CP has expanded into 14 business groups in 21 countries and territories, employing more than 450,000 people worldwide.

“All business groups of CP are committed to achieving corporate excellence through ethics and good governance to ensure benefits of the society and country,” he said. “Business leaders have a crucial role as a coach. A good coach adapts and develops ethical standards and transparent governance, uses new technologies, establishes monitoring and evaluation systems, as well as promotes awareness in good governance and ethical culture within the organisation.

“We have set a target that by 2030, all CP’s business groups must be evaluated by international organisations to ensure that their ethical and governance aspects meet international standards.

“Good ethics and governance are a crucial foundation that leads an organisation toward excellence and sustainability. All business groups must work together under the same goal, while integrating partners and customers as a part of their operations. These factors have earned CP Group international recognitions, and we aim to continue developing and improving our corporate governance even further to ensure sustainable business growth and continued benefits of the country,” Suphachai said.

This year, CP Group has passed Ethisphere’s evaluation for World’s Most Ethical Companies, which has been performed under rigorous standards, and earned highest scores in three aspects. They are: Environment and Social Impact, Ethics and Compliance Programme, and Third Party Management. The latter is a newly added category for this year that has the highest weight, covering organisation’s participation in governance of all supply chain network and management of risks from third party.

First started in 2007, the World’s Most Ethical Companies assessment is grounded in Ethisphere’s proprietary Ethics Quotient (EQ). The EQ is an extensive questionnaire that requires companies to provide over 240 different proof points on their culture of ethics; environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices; ethics and compliance program; diversity, equity, & inclusion efforts; and initiatives that support a strong value chain. This process serves as an operating framework to capture and codify truly best-in-class practices from organisations across industries.

Currently, World's Most Ethical Companies has over 300 members who are leading corporations worldwide. There are six companies – Aflac, Ecolab, International Paper, Kao Corporation, Milliken & Company, and PepsiCo – that have been recognised 18 times, or every year since the programme was launched. CP Group, meanwhile, has been on the list every year since 2021.

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