United Parcel Service handily notched the highest corporate reputation among the largest US transport and logistics companies surveyed in Reputation Institute’s Third Annual Global Pulse Study.
Fed-Ex, Union Pacific and the US Postal Service followed UPS in The Global Pulse 2008 study, which measures the overall respect, trust, esteem, admiration, and good feelings consumers hold towards the largest 600 companies in the world, including the largest 150 US companies. The top rankings for transport and logistics companies are:
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| US Companies | 2008 Pulse Score | 2007 Pulse Score* | |
| 1 | United Parcel Service | 81.05 | 80.06 |
| 2 | FedEx | 76.28 | 79.39 |
| 3 | Union Pacific | 67.30 | N/A |
| 4 | US Postal Service | 62.37 | 71.6 |
Key findings include:
- As a whole, transport and logistics companies have a strong reputation with US consumers, with companies registering average to excellent reputation ratings.
- United Parcel Service rose almost a full point in improved consumer perception from 2007 to 2008.
- Newcomer to the analysis, Union Pacific, earned an average score from consumers.
- Survey results indicate that consumers make a clear distinction among these companies with a difference of 5 points or more between each company’s score.
Reputation Institute’s research model indicates that reputation is built on 7 pillars from which a company can create a strategic platform for communicating with its stakeholders on the most relevant key performance indicators. These dimensions are: Products/Services, Innovation, Workplace, Citizenship, Governance, Leadership, and Performance.
The 2008 Global Pulse survey indicated that consumers are most influenced by a company’s delivery of high quality products and services, followed by its policies on governance (how the company is run, its ethics) and citizenship (social and environmental causes the company supports).
Most Ethical Companies Ranked
The Ethisphere Institute, released its second annual World’s Most Ethical Companies list. Two logistics companies made the list.
Included on the 2008 list in the category of transportation and logistics are UPS and Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK).
Ethisphere's spotlight on UPS quotes Marc Burns, global compliance and ethics coordinator at UPS, saying “At UPS, we consider being a good corporate citizen a key ingredient that enables us to be a successful company, In fact, it is part of our overall corporate strategy.”
UPS is a global company with many different cultures, Burns continued. “Although languages and cultures around the world may be different, we do not change our ethical standards at UPS.”
Other companies, Google, PepsiCo, Kellogg, and American Express, spoke at an event sponsored by Ethisphere Institute and Forbes magazne on subjects which included Going Green and Supply Chain Sustainability; Human Capital and the Value in Values-Based Leadership; and Looking Ahead: The Future of Ethical Leadership.
“We were thrilled with the wealth of knowledge and anecdotes shared at the event, and believe that they will help advance the discourse on these important ethical business topics,” said Alex Brigham, executive director of Ethisphere Institute.
Researchers and analysts reviewed several thousand companies throughout the duration of the year. There were numerous companies who were repeat winners from last year’s inaugural list, including Duke Energy, Deere & Co, General Electric, Google, and McDonald’s, while General Mills, NYSE Euronext, Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), and Premier, Inc. were among many newcomers.
“The process was rigorous, and we are confident that the organizations included in the 2008 ranking are the standouts in their industries, forcing their competitors to take a long, hard look at their own efforts—and shortcomings,” said Brigham. “These companies make a concerted effort to ensure ethical practices remain a top business priority.”
The process included reviewing the companies’ 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.
Researchers further analyzed information provided by the companies themselves through questionnaires and conducted additional research for anything they might have missed.
