For many liberals like me, one of our favorite targets are corporations. Specifically, I and others routinely rail on corporations for the various examples of greed, fraud, and other forms of inhuman contempt that many of them personify, always at the cost of human lives and livelihoods. At the same time, I recognize that not all corporations are evil and that I need to give credit where credit is due. With that in mind, Ethisphere Magazine recently came out with their ranking of the World’s Most Ethical Companies for 2007:

The best lens through which to view a company’s ethical leadership behavior is to examine a company compared to other companies in the same industry. Are they leading, are they following, or are they ignoring? And to be a leader, the company needs to have or build a competitive edge, such as size or technology, which allows it to be influential.

In assembling the 2007 rankings of the World’s Most Ethical Companies, the researchers and editors of Ethisphere examined more than 5,000 companies across 30 separate industries looking for true ethical leadership. . . . We looked for absolutes. We examined companies in relational context of their industries. And we looked for influential leadership that moved others to change or follow.

Companies were measured in a rigorous eight-step process and then scored against nine distinct ethical leadership criteria. Some may ask, “How can McDonald’s be on the list?” The answer is that the food service industry is the largest industry in the world—and McDonald’s has clearly stood apart in introducing healthier food fare, sustainable packaging, food safety, and ethical purchasing practices.

The winners of the World’s Most Ethical Companies are the standouts. Each of these companies has materially higher scores versus competitors in their industries. Each forces other companies to follow its leadership or fall behind. Each uses ethical leadership as a profit driver.

I am not surprised to see companies such as Patagonia, Timberland, and Xerox make the list -- for each of them, I have heard about various programs and practices they have that reflect an ethical and sustainable philosophy. However, I am surprised to see companies such as Nike and General Electric make the list of “World’s Most Ethical” companies. Perhaps I haven’t been kept up-to-date on the latest developments but the last time I checked, there were still concerns over labor conditions in foreign factories where almost all of Nike’s products are made. Regarding GE, again maybe I need to update my information, but I thought that despite they were still the target of much criticism over their environmental record.

Nonetheless, it is nice to see that there are corporations out there that have something resembling a social conscience and who are using some of their power and resources to make a positive contribution to the international community, rather than just to the pocketbooks of their shareholders and executives.