Recognition honors Eastman's commitment to lead with integrity and responsible corporate behavior
Kingsport, TENN., March 13, 2017 - Eastman (NYSE: EMN ) announced today it has been recognized by the Ethisphere Institute as a World's Most Ethical Company ® for the fourth consecutive year. The prestigious honor underscores Eastman's commitment to leading with the highest ethical business standards and practices.
"At Eastman, we understand that, to be successful, we must build trust and confidence with our stakeholders," said Mark J. Costa, Eastman's chairman and chief executive officer. "I'm beyond proud of our Eastman team for their commitment to conducting business with honesty and integrity every day and for earning this recognition once again this year."
"To enhance the quality of life in a material way, conducting business within a culture of the highest ethical standards is more important than ever before," said David A. Golden, Eastman's senior vice president, chief legal & sustainability officer, and corporate secretary. "As we look for innovative ways to positively impact all of our stakeholders, we operate through a lens of ethics and engagement. Our team is continuously proving this philosophy true every day."
This marks the eleventh year that Ethisphere has honored those companies who recognize their role in society to influence and drive positive change, consider the impact of their actions on their employees, investors, customers and other key stakeholders and use their values and culture as an underpinning to the decisions they make.
"Over the last eleven years, we have seen the shift in societal expectations, constant redefinition of laws and regulations and the geo-political climate. We have also seen how companies honored as the World's Most Ethical respond to these challenges. They invest in their local communities around the world, embrace strategies of diversity and inclusion, and focus on long term-ism as a sustainable business advantage," explained Ethisphere's Chief Executive Officer, Timothy Erblich. "Congratulations to everyone at Eastman for being recognized as a World's Most Ethical Company."
Eastman has a number of policies and initiatives in place that allow its team members to cultivate a culture of integrity and ethical standards. The company has an Office of Global Business Conduct, led by Eastman's chief legal and sustainability officer, which establishes the Code of Business Conduct. The Code outlines the laws, principles and guidelines all employees follow regarding honesty, integrity and responsible corporate behavior. Regular training on the Code of Business Conduct is required for all employees. Additionally, the Business Conduct Helpline is a confidential, 24-hour-a-day hotline and is staffed by communications specialists employed by an independent, globally recognized service provider.
Methodology & Scoring The World's Most Ethical Company assessment is based upon the Ethisphere Institute's Ethics Quotient (TM) (EQ) framework developed over years of research and vetted and refined by the expert advice from Ethisphere's World's Most Ethical Company Methodology Advisory Panel. The EQ offers a quantitative way to assess a company's performance in an objective, consistent and standardized way. The information collected provides a comprehensive sampling of definitive criteria of core competencies, rather than all aspects of corporate governance, risk, sustainability, compliance and ethics.
Scores are generated in five key categories: ethics and compliance program (35%), corporate citizenship and responsibility (20%), culture of ethics (20%), governance (15%) and leadership, innovation and reputation (10%) and provided to all companies who participate in the process.
Honorees The full list of the 2017 World's Most Ethical Companies can be found at http://worldsmostethicalcompanies.ethisphere.com/honorees/.
About Eastman Eastman is a global advanced materials and specialty additives company that produces a broad range of products found in items people use every day. With a portfolio of specialty businesses, Eastman works with customers to deliver innovative products and solutions while maintaining a commitment to safety and sustainability. Its market-driven approaches take advantage of world-class technology platforms and leading positions in attractive end-markets such as transportation, building and construction and consumables. Eastman focuses on creating consistent, superior value for all stakeholders. As a globally diverse company, Eastman serves customers in more than 100 countries and had 2016 revenues of approximately $9.0 billion. The company is headquartered in Kingsport, Tennessee, USA and employs approximately 14,000 people around the world. For more information, visit www.eastman.com .
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. Ethisphere honors superior achievement through its World's Most Ethical Companies ® recognition program, provides a community of industry experts with the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance (BELA) and showcases trends and best practices in ethics with the publication Ethisphere magazine. More information about Ethisphere can be found at: http://ethisphere.com.
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Media Contacts: Eastman Amanda Allman, Corporate Communications 423.229.1025 aallman@eastman.com
Ethisphere Clea Nabozny, Director Media & Marketing 480.397.2658 Clea.Nabozny@ethisphere.com
