Fortune magazine has produced a list of the
World's Most Admired Companies. The ones to the left are the cream of their crop. I wonder what voting criteria they used? I mean really, who admires a company like
Apple that uses sweatshops in China to make their electronic glip-glop? And who thinks that the billionaires at Google give us things like this blog without the bottom line in mind? Amazon makes sense in a world that values cheap stuff. And who wouldn't vote for the sweetness of a Coke? Pepsi was thirty three lower on the list. Sad that poor old junk food king McDonald's missed the list and came in at number twelve. And if you can believe it Walmart was most admired at number twenty seven and evil banker Goldman Sachs at thirty four. Interesting to note that no telecom, gaming, health care or insurance company made the list.
I guess this top fifty list speaks to me of the ways that we value corporations. The top companies seem to be the ones that do something for us or make things that we like. Guess I am not all that surprised by the list. Doubtful that most of us would admire companies that are unsuccessful, losing business and laying off employees. Even so, are these really admirable companies?
No, they are not. Several of the companies on this list have reportedly been involved in labor disputes involving severe unfair treatment of employees. Some of them are known for poor consumer practices and not practicing fair-trade. If the list were about power and success, then I see it. But ethically? Not so much.
ReplyDeleteFrom a fair-trade and fair labor point of view, I admire Green Mountain Coffee, Trader Joes, Ben and Jerry's, Cadbury, 10,000 Villages, Dr. Bonner's, to name a few.
From a socially responsible perspective, I admire Blood: Water Mission, To Write Love on Her Arms, and Kiva, again, just to name a few. They considered the people involved, not just from a money standpoint, but from a "golden Rule" standpoint. I appreciate that.
Thanks for the great comment Stephanie. I have heard that CostCo has a good reputation with how they treat their employees but I do not know much more about them. Good to know that about Trader Joes as we shop there sometimes.
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