Ricoh Americas Corporation, the leading provider of digital office equipment, announced that its parent company, Ricoh Company, Ltd. has been named one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies by the Ethisphere Institute. Ricoh’s inclusion within the 2009 list acknowledges the company’s continual commitment to corporate citizenship and sustainability throughout its operations.
This year marks the third year that the Ethisphere Institute, a leading international think-tank dedicated to the advancement of best practices in business ethics, corporate social responsibility and sustainability, has published the World’s Most Ethical (WME) list. Ricoh joins a select group of companies that have demonstrated superb marks within seven broad categories that constitute a company’s ethics quotient. As a result of Ricoh’s sustained ethical leadership, the company, along with the other WME winners, has been deemed as one of the most ethical companies worldwide.
“Ricoh has proven to be one of the world leaders in upholding high ethical standards, making it a true standout in its industry, especially as unethical business actions and decisions grab headlines each day,” said Alex Brigham, executive director of the Ethisphere Institute.
Through a rigorous, multi-step evaluation process, Ethisphere’s researchers and analysts reviewed more than 10,000 companies in order to determine the finalists.
“It is a great honor to receive recognition from the Ethisphere Institute for our efforts as CSR has always been an integral part of Ricoh’s business. We’ve made steps to further expand upon our practices since 2002 when Ricoh became only the second Japanese company to sign the UN Global Compact and then the following year established the Ricoh Group CSR Charter and the Ricoh Group Code of Conduct,” said Kirk Yoshida, chairman & CEO of Ricoh Americas Corporation. “In collaboration with our constituents around the world, we’ll continue to work towards bringing our longstanding sustainable environmental management to an even higher level.”
The methodology for the WME ranking includes reviewing codes of ethics, litigation and regulatory infraction histories, evaluating the investment in innovation and sustainable business practices, looking at activities designed to improve corporate citizenship, studying nominations from senior executives, industry peers, suppliers and customers, and working with consumer action groups for feedback.
Information about Ricoh's complete range of products and services can be accessed on the World Wide Web at http://www.ricoh-usa.com.
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