Milliken & Company: one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies® for 14th Year

Published On: February 25, 2020

A capstone recognition for the diversified global manufacturer, Milliken & Company now celebrates its 14th year among the World’s Most Ethical Companies. Selected by the Ethisphere Institute, a global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices, the esteemed designation honors companies with purpose-driven strategies that strive to create positive change throughout their global communities.

Milliken & Company, Spartanburg, N.C., a materials science expert with a portfolio of industry-leading specialty chemical, performance textiles and floor covering innovations, is one of eight industrial manufacturers to receive this designation in 2020. The company is one of only seven companies to receive this honor for 14 consecutive years—every year since the award was first introduced.

“At Milliken, we constantly raise the bar on the ethical business practices that guide our day-to-day operations and our long-term vision,” said Halsey Cook, president and CEO. “Doing the right thing is as important to us as reaching our goals.”

Over the past year, Milliken challenged itself to think bigger about what a relevant sustainable enterprise is in today’s world and embarked on aggressive sustainability goals—covering people, planet and products—to achieve by 2025. The company recently joined the U.N. Global Compact, signed a CEO pledge of inclusivity and has heavily invested in energy projects to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. Milliken views its robust ethics and compliance program as key to fostering trust among key stakeholders and advancing Milliken’s purpose to positively impact the world.

“For 14 years, Milliken consistently demonstrates the power of values-based business ideals in action,” said Ethisphere Institute CEO Timothy Erblich. “Whether it is by developing leading innovations that positively impact the world or by thoughtfully engaging with its communities to spark real change, Milliken embodies a holistic ethical mindset throughout its organization.”

Methodology and scoring

Grounded in Ethisphere’s proprietary Ethics Quotient®, the World’s Most Ethical Companies assessment process includes more than 200 questions on culture, environmental and social practices, ethics and compliance activities, governance, diversity and initiatives to support a strong value chain. The process serves as an operating framework to capture and codify the leading practices of organizations across industries and around the globe. Best practices and insights from the 2020 honorees will be released in a report and webcast in March and April of this year.

Ethisphere’s annual practice of tracking how the stock prices of publicly traded honorees compare to the Large Cap Index found that listed 2020 World’s Most Ethical Companies outperformed the large cap sector over five years by 13.5 percent, confirming that ethics is a competitive differentiator.

About Milliken & Company

Milliken has been solving everyday problems with innovative solutions for more than 150 years. The company’s research, design and manufacturing expertise reaches across a breadth of disciplines including specialty chemicals, floor covering, health care and performance and protective textiles. An unwavering commitment to ethics guides company leadership and employees to redefine how to add strength and protection to products, how to infuse vibrancy and color into area surroundings, and how to care for the environment. According to Milliken, success is when discoveries are made that help the company have more meaningful connections with the world. For more, visit www.milliken.com, and on  Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.

About the Ethisphere Institute

The Ethisphere® Institute is the global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices that fuel corporate character, marketplace trust and business success. Ethisphere has deep expertise in measuring and defining core ethics standards, using data-driven insights that help companies enhance corporate character and measure and improve culture. Ethisphere honors superior achievement through its World’s Most Ethical Companies recognition program and provides a community of industry experts with the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance (BELA). For more information, visit https://ethisphere.com.

 The full list of the 2020 World’s Most Ethical Companies, which includes 132 honorees, representing 21 countries and 51 industries, can be found at https://worldsmostethicalcompanies.com/honorees.