The Aerospace Corporation Recognized as One of World’s Most Ethical Companies by The Ethisphere Institute
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (June 4, 2008) — The Aerospace Corporation has been named to The Ethisphere Institute’s second annual list of the World’s Most Ethical Companies.
Ethisphere, a think-tank dedicated to the research and promotion of profitable best practices in global governance, business ethics, compliance, and corporate responsibility, announced its list of honorees at the joint Ethisphere-Forbes conference, “Driving Profit through Ethical Leadership,” held June 3 in New York, NY. The list of the World’s Most Ethical Companies also is featured in the second-quarter issue of Ethisphere Magazine.
“We are very pleased to be recognized by Ethisphere for our ethics program,” said Dr. Wanda M. Austin, president and CEO of The Aerospace Corporation. “This is an affirmation of our work in this important area. Our ethics program goes to the heart of what we do as an organization, which is dedicated to objective and impartial assessments of technical programs and must be free of conflict of interest.”
“We applaud The Aerospace Corporation,” said Alexander Brigham, executive director of Ethisphere Institute. “Aerospace is among the companies honored this year because they have developed impressive and meaningful ethical business practices, making them true standouts within their industries. They go well beyond legal minimums, opting instead to bring about innovative ideas that contribute to the public well being.”
Ethisphere researchers and analysts reviewed several thousand companies and employed a rigorous, multi-step evaluation process to determine finalists in the competition and arrive at the list of 93 companies honored. The 2008 World’s Most Ethical Companies methodology committee is made up of leading attorneys and government officials, professors, and leaders who care about ethical and honest business practices, according to Ethisphere.
The extensive research process included reviewing more than 10,000 of the world’s leading companies on six continents, Ethisphere said. Their analysts reviewed codes of ethics, litigation and regulatory infraction histories; evaluated investment in innovation and sustainable business practices; looked at companies’ activities to improve corporate citizenship; studied nominations from senior executives, industry peers, suppliers, and customers; and worked with consumer action groups for feedback and rating.
While The Aerospace Corporation’s ethics program goes back more than two decades, it became more formalized eight years ago with the publication of the company’s “Standards of Ethics” handbook distributed to all employees, said Gordon Louttit, senior vice president, general counsel, and secretary of the company, whose office recently assumed responsibility for ethics training.
Louttit said that besides the handbook, which helps define ethical practices in easy-to-understand language, annual training exercises keep the focus on ethical behavior.
This year Aerospace introduced online training comprising three separate courses offered at different times. These include two general courses covering the importance and philosophy of sound-ethics practices and a third course that depicts specific situations Aerospace employees might encounter at work.
This training is supplemented by instruction that new employees receive and by information offered at various educational courses and company briefings, Louttit said. The company also maintains a hotline that employees can use to report practices that might be in conflict with tenants of the company’s ethics program.
In addition to the “world” list, Aerospace was included on Ethisphere’s recently released list of ten private U.S. government contractors with top-ranked ethics programs.
The day-long Ethisphere-Forbes conference -- which featured Forbes editors and executives from world-renowned corporations, universities, and ethics organizations -- focused on ethical culture and leadership. It highlighted companies’ experiences and ethical challenges, provided advice on preparing for ethical dilemmas, and gave viewpoints from an investor’s perspective.
The conference culminated with recognition at an evening awards dinner of Ethisphere Magazine’s 2008 World’s Most Ethical Companies
Contact Dave Jonta, 310-336-5041, david.l.jonta@aero.org.
