Companies and businesses are evaluated as good or ethical based on several factors which may differ depending on the purpose and criterion used by the evaluators or the evaluation body. Perhaps the factors that need to be taken into consideration when evaluating a business are as follows: business ethics, corporate social responsibility, leadership reputation, governance and corporate culture (Ethisphere, 2013). In fact, these factors are the indicators used by the Ethisphere movement which identifies the most ethical companies in the world (WME). To define each criterion, business ethics is primarily concerned with the company's best practices in terms of adopting an effective program and complying with standard ethical rules. as outlined by the Federal Sentencing Guidelines. Reputation and leadership, on the other hand, look at the legal compliance and ethical track record of companies. It also takes into account the company's reputation in the market and how its leadership promotes ethical and responsible operations. Subsequently, governance mainly concerns the systems that the company has in place in terms of risk management, correct assessment and compliance with the rules promulgated by the guidelines released by the Security and Exchange Commission and other federal or national authorities (Ethisphere, 2013). Corporate social responsibility, on the other hand, was first proposed by Oliver Sheldon in 1923 to encourage companies to assume social responsibility in pursuing their activities and to keep in mind the repercussions on public welfare of every economic decision (Wang, 2010 ). Finally, culture is taken into consideration as it speaks more about the work environment and how the business or company reinforces ethical conduct, how it develops its values and...... middle of paper.... ..s.REFERENCES:Gogo, H. (2013). Responding to negative publicity from celebrity endorsers: The case of Nike. Academia.edu. Retrieved April 6, 2014, from http://http://www.academia.edu/6315776/Responding_to_Negative_Celebrity_Endorser_Publicity_The_Case_of_NikeHillsberg, A. (n.d.). The 10 most expensive Nike shoes sponsored: from Kobe Bryant to Tiger Woods. Online finances. Retrieved April 8, 2014, from http://financesonline.comRoberts, S. (August 2, 2006). Sports of the times; Coaches like Graham still have their sponsors. The New York Times. Retrieved April 6, 2014, from http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D06E5DA103FF931A3575BC0A9609C8B63Tan, L. & James, B. (2013). Effects of doping behavior on brand image in Australian sport. Macquire University. Retrieved April 6, 2014, from http://anzmac.org/conference/2013/papers/anzmac2013-263.pdf
tags