Talk:Ethisphere

To Do: Link pages to here

I created this as as I wondered what sort of thing it was; there are many pages that refer to Ethisphere without being linked. It would be great if people found time to link them. PJTraill (talk) 13:39, 30 September 2013 (UTC)

To Do: More background wanted

I wonder if anyone can provide more information: news, criticisms, answers, organisation, connections etc. PJTraill (talk) 13:39, 30 September 2013 (UTC)

Hi! I am Bill Coffin, Editor in Chief of Ethisphere. I produce Ethisphere Magazine, and our podcast, Ethicast, as an employee of the company. So before I go any further, I wanted to be crystal clear with that disclosure. My interest here is to improve this page's depth of information, provide relevant links and citations, and correct any erroneous or out of date details. I want to do this, first and foremost, within the parameters of the Wikipedia community's guidelines and expectations, so my intent is to use text with a neutral, non-promotional tone. Long before I worked for Ethisphere, I was a heavy Wikipedia user. I respect the process here.

I have drafted an expanded Infobox, Opening, History, Services, See Also, Further Reading, and External Links sections for this article. It is my intent to offer recommendations for this pages editors to then implement, rather than to change the page directly (because of my aforementioned COI).

I also have some text revisions to recommend around the Criticism section, with the understanding that this is a very sensitive topic, and the point here isn't to make this article a piece of marketing. That said, there are factual errors in the Criticism section that are worth discussing and addressing.

If I could get somebody's acknowledgement on this, I'll proceed. Thanks for your help and any guidance you can offer. Bill Coffin (talk) 17:53, 13 June 2025 (UTC)

You should use the Wikipedia:Edit requests process for this to put your suggested revisions on this talk page. It may be helpful to break them up into different sections of the talk page. WhinyTheYounger ※ Talk 19:38, 13 June 2025 (UTC)

Many thanks! I'll do just that. Appreciate the response. Bill Coffin (talk) 14:05, 16 June 2025 (UTC)

Previous article deleted / why notable

I see on User_talk:Thendral_Muthusami#Speedy_deletion_nomination_of_Ethisphere_Institute that a previous article under this title (started at 12:57, 1 July 2010) was nominated for deletion, and, presumably deleted; I don’t know where the discussion – if any – is. Oddly enough, when I created the article, I saw no warning of the previous article.

It seems notable to me, as many companies refer (in Wikipedia and elsewhere) to their ranking by the Institute, so that one wants to know what sort of organisation it is, how it works, and how seriously one can take it. I therefore created the article supplying at least a start to providing that information.

It is also mentioned on Wikipedia:Requested_articles/Business_and_economics/Companies and Wikipedia:WikiProject_Academic_Journals/Journals_cited_by_Wikipedia/E13 (“academic”!?); Wikipedia:WikiProject_Spam/COIReports/2007,_Oct_10 also refers to a non-existent User:Ethisphere blocked on 2007-10-11T04:47:16, which could mean that there was a previous spammy form of the article, in which case I feel it a good thing that we replace that with a neutral and informative one.

PJTraill (talk) 11:49, 2 October 2013 (UTC)

I totally agree. I myself got to this article because I was reading about Thrivent Financial for Lutherans and saw its ranking by Ethisphere Magazine mentioned, so I Googled that to see how reputable it was. Thus, this subject definitely seemed noteworthy to me, and this article at least provided the key piece of info I wanted to know (which is that Ethisphere Magazine is at least more substantial than just some local Lutheran magazine from the same area as Thrivent's HQ). BreakfastJr (talk) 00:40, 3 June 2014 (UTC)

Guff reverted

This was very reasonably tagged as sounding like a press release, being full of guff bigging up the company. I have therefore reverted it to the last serious revision (since then it was only editted to tag it and to date the tag). If User:Smarzec has anything useful to contribute they are welcome to add it in a neutral tone — but I doubt it, as this was their only contribution. Of course anyone else is also welcome to wade through their prose in search of encyclopaedic information. PJTraill (talk) 21:08, 30 October 2014 (UTC)

Info about the organization is needed.

Specifically, the management of the organization needs to be explained, and, most importantly, the funding of the organization needs to be explained. Absent this information the organization could be a Russian gang or a front for US underworld organizations. drh (talk) 13:45, 15 July 2018 (UTC)

COI edit requests

• What I think should be changed (include citations):

The article page name should be changed from "Ethisphere Institute" to "Ethisphere."

• Why it should be changed:

Ethisphere Institute is a defunct branding name which Ethisphere dropped in 2012. Since then, it has referred to itself simply as Ethisphere. In the company's incorporation documents, it is incorporated as Ethisphere. See: https://ethisphere.com/

Bill Coffin (talk) 14:27, 24 June 2025 (UTC)

 Done Rusalkii (talk) 19:59, 24 June 2025 (UTC)

• What I think should be changed (include citations):

The Infobox should be updated and expanded as follows:

INFOBOX Name: Ethisphere

Logo:

Ethisphere corporate logo

Formerly: Ethisphere Institute Company Type: Private company Industry: Data Services Date Founded: 2006 Founder: Alex Brigham HQ Location: Scottsdale, Arizona Area Served: Global Key People: Tom Bubeck, Chief Executive Officer Erica Salmon Byrne, Chief Strategy Officer and Executive Chair, Business Ethics Leadership Alliance Udit Pillay, Chief Operating Officer Leslie Benton, SVP & Deputy General Counsel Services: Program, Culture, Private Equity Compliance, and ESG Assessments Benchmarking Conferences

1. Employees 66 (as of 2025)

Website www.ethisphere.com

• Why it should be changed:

This reflects current, key details about the company for anyone looking for a high-level overview of it. This new infobox section would also provide details common to other company infoboxes on Wikipedia.

Bill Coffin (talk) 15:01, 24 June 2025 (UTC)

@Bill Coffin, please provide more specific sources than the home page of the company website, which does not list most of this information. Rusalkii (talk) 20:01, 24 June 2025 (UTC)

https://pitchbook.com/profiles/company/224212-87#overview

https://leadiq.com/c/ethisphere/5a1d8a6f240000240063d72c

https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/ethisphere-institute (this one's still using the company's old name) Bill Coffin (talk) 20:42, 26 June 2025 (UTC)

Hi, just following up on this. Are these links sufficient to update the company Infobox? Bill Coffin (talk) 16:21, 14 July 2025 (UTC)

References

Go ahead: I have reviewed these proposed changes and suggest that you go ahead and make the proposed changes to the page. AlphaBetaGamma (Talk/report any mistakes here) 04:06, 27 August 2025 (UTC)

Replacement text for article introduction

• What I think should be changed (include citations):

I propose that the introductory text of the Ethisphere article be changed from this:

<<The Ethisphere Institute is a for-profit company that, for a fee, defines and measures corporate ethical standards, recognizes companies that do well in those stated metrics, and promotes best practices in corporate ethics.[1] The company is located in Scottsdale, Arizona.

The company publishes Ethisphere Magazine and announces its World's Most Ethical Companies award once a year. The company also offers verification services for corporate ethics under such names as "Ethics Inside Certification" and "Compliance Leader Verification".[citation needed] It hosts the Global Ethics Summit every March in New York City and manages a community of compliance, ethics and legal professionals known as BELA, the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance.[2]>>

to this:

<<Ethisphere is a data services company dedicated to advancing ethical business practices.[1] It provides a range of assessments, benchmarking, and data services for ethics and compliance programs and overall organizational culture.[2][3]

The company publishes Ethisphere Magazine[4]; hosts the annual Global Ethics Summit[5] and other ethics and compliance forums; manages the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance (BELA),[6][7] a member organization for ethics and compliance professionals; and runs business integrity recognition programs, such as the World’s Most Ethical Companies® recognition.[8][9]>>

[1] https://pitchbook.com/profiles/company/224212-87#overview [2] https://leadiq.com/c/ethisphere/5a1d8a6f240000240063d72c [3] https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/ethisphere-institute [4] https://magazine.ethisphere.com/ [5] https://ethisphere.com/global-ethics-summit/ [6] https://bela.ethisphere.com/ [7] https://www.ainvest.com/news/unum-group-ethical-leadership-esg-commitment-drive-long-term-2504/ [8] https://www.merca20.com/what-are-the-worlds-most-ethical-companies-ethispheres-2025-ranking/ [9] https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250311245122/en/Ethisphere-Announces-the-2025-Worlds-Most-Ethical-Companies

• Why it should be changed:

"The Ethisphere Institute is a for-profit company that, for a fee, defines and measures corporate ethical standards, recognizes companies that do well in those stated metrics," is non-neutral language reflecting edits in the criticism part of the article. Ethisphere is a business and is inherently a for-profit organization; other business articles do not typically identify as "for profit." More importantly, Ethisphere's business structure will be apparent in the article's updated infobox.

"The company is located in Scottsdale, Arizona." should be removed, as that is information better reserved for the article's updated infobox.

Moreover, the Global Ethics Summit is no longer held each March, or in New York City.

The proposed replacement language is written to AP style and is neutral in tone.

Bill Coffin (talk) 17:02, 14 July 2025 (UTC)

References

Not done: The changes are not supported by neutral, independent, reliable sources. Please provide reliable sources that support the change you want to be made.  Encoded  Talk 💬 11:27, 10 September 2025 (UTC)

Create History section directly beneath introduction

• What I think should be changed (include citations):

I propose the addition of a History section to this page, as follows:

HISTORY

Ethisphere was founded in 2006 by Alex Bingham [1] as a sister organization of Corpedia, a regulatory compliance training company. Ethisphere and Corpedia operated side-by-side as sister companies that shared a single management team until 2012, when Corpedia was acquired by NYSE Euronext. [2]

In 2007, Ethisphere launched the World's Most Ethical Companies [3] [4] [5], an annual recognition program that evaluates organization's overall commitment to ethics, compliance, and business integrity.

In 2008, Ethisphere launched its Ethics Inside Certification methodology for assessing the quality corporate compliance and ethics programs. In 2023, the Ethics Inside Certification was replaced by the Compliance Leader Verification. [6]

In 2009, Ethisphere launched the Ethics Compliance Forum (later changed to the Global Ethics Summit [7]), an annual educational and networking conference for ethics and compliance professionals.

Also in 2009, Ethisphere launched the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance (BELA) [8], a professional membership organization for corporate compliance, ethics, and legal professionals. The BELA South Asia chapter opened in 2017, and the BELA Asia Pacific chapter opened in 2018.

In 2022, Ethisphere launched The Sphere [9], its ethics and compliance benchmarking database. That same year, Ethisphere was acquired by Alpine Investors[10], a San Francisco-based private equity firm that specializes in software and services investments in the United States and Canada.

[1] https://web.archive.org/web/20110925080530/http://ethisphere.com/ethisphere-history/ [2] https://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/news/2012/05/24/corpedia-purchased-by-nyse-euronext.html [3] Ethisphere Institute (8 May 2007). “'World's Most Ethical Companies' Ranking Issued by Ethisphere Magazine”. CSRwire. Retrieved 30 June 2025. https://www.csrwire.com/press_releases/16820--world-s-most-ethical-companies-ranking-issued-by-ethisphere-magazine [4] Jacquelyn Smith (1 March 2012). “The World’s Most Ethical Companies”. Forbes. Updated 30 July 2012. Retrieved 30 June 2025. https://www.forbes.com/sites/jacquelynsmith/2012/03/15/the-worlds-most-ethical-companies/ [5]“Petro-Canada Named to List of World's Most Ethical Cos.” Convenience Store News. 5 June 2008. Retrieved 30 June 2025. https://csnews.com/petro-canada-named-list-worlds-most-ethical-cos [6] Ethics Everywhere Report. 2023. JLL. Retrieved 30 June 2025. https://www.jll.com/content/dam/legacy/jll-com/documents/pdf/company-information/ethics-everywhere-annual-report.pdf#:~:text=The%20Compliance%20Leader%20Verification%20process%20involves%20a,Ethical%20Companies%C2%AE%20recognition%20every%20year%20since%202008. [7] https://ethisphere.com/global-ethics-summit/ [8] https://bela.ethisphere.com/ [9] https://ethisphere.com/solutions/the-sphere/ [10] “Alpine Investors acquires Ethisphere.” Private Equity Wire. Updated 7 October 2022. Retrieved 14 July 2025. https://www.privateequitywire.co.uk/alpine-investors-acquires-ethisphere/

• Why it should be changed:

The page is flagged for not providing a history of the organization, and this provides a detailed background of the organization's history. It also corrects a number of outdated and incorrect details currently within the article.

The various sections of the history were chosen because they reference business units or public-facing products and services that are mentioned elsewhere in the article. This is not meant as any form of promotion. If these mentions of specific products and services are deemed either non-neutral or excessively detailed, then I promote we include the first paragraph of the proposed text as an abbreviated history of the company.

Bill Coffin (talk) 17:17, 14 July 2025 (UTC)

References

Not done: The changes are not supported by neutral, independent, reliable sources. Please provide reliable sources that support the change you want to be made.  Encoded  Talk 💬 11:26, 10 September 2025 (UTC)

Services

• What I think should be changed (include citations):

I propose the addition of a Services section, below the proposed History section, with proposed text as follows:

SERVICES Ethisphere provides a variety of products and services around business ethics and integrity.

The World’s Most Ethical Companies® The World’s Most Ethical Companies is an annual recognition program launched in 2007 that evaluates the overall quality of an organization’s ethics and compliance programs across 240+ datapoints, as well as the state of their overall culture and dedication to business integrity. [1]

Companies nominate themselves for this recognition, and Ethisphere charges a fee [2] both for evaluating applications and for honorees’ use of the World’s Most Ethical Companies logo in their corporate communications.

The core of the application process is an in-depth questionnaire on the various aspects of their ethics, compliance, and governance programs, as well as their overall culture. To date, only 26 companies have earned World’s Most Ethical Companies honors more than 15 times. [3]

World’s Most Ethical Companies honorees are typically announced within the first quarter of each year. [4]

The Business Ethics Leadership Alliance The Business Ethics Leadership Alliance (BELA) [5] is a membership organization for corporate ethics and compliance professionals, as well as those from allied functions (e.g., legal, internal audit, human resources, supply chain, etc.).

Program Assessments Ethisphere evaluates corporate governance systems and ethics and compliance programs to determine how well they align with Department of Justice Federal Sentencing Guidelines [6] [7], international regulations, and overall best practices. The company also provides advisory services on how to address areas of improvement. [8]

Culture Assessments Ethisphere facilitates organizational culture surveys, analyzes their results, delivers findings to executive leadership, helps craft action plans for how to address problem areas, and provides access to improvement resources.

Key Risks Assessments Ethisphere assesses an organization’s key compliance and regulatory risks, with a special focus on assessing third parties (supply chain), business units, portfolio companies, and acquisition targets. Key risks assessed also include anti-corruption, data privacy, and cybersecurity. Assessments also gauge the maturity of organization’s mental health programs and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs.

Benchmarking Ethisphere runs The Sphere [9], a subscription-driven database of its gathered program and culture assessment data, including that of World’s Most Ethical Companies applicants and honorees. Users of The Sphere can compare their own assessment results against industry peers and World’s Most Ethical Companies honorees.

Events Ethisphere hosts the Global Ethics Summit [10], an annual gathering of ethics and compliance professionals. It also hosts regional and international summits, forums, and webcasts throughout the year.

Media Ethisphere publishes Ethisphere Magazine [11], a weekly podcast [12] [13] [14], and periodic research reports on ethics and compliance data, trends, and topics.

[1] https://www.merca20.com/what-are-the-worlds-most-ethical-companies-ethispheres-2025-ranking/ [2] https://worldsmostethicalcompanies.com/why-apply/#faqs [3] https://worldsmostethicalcompanies.com/honorees/ [4] https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250311245122/en/Ethisphere-Announces-the-2025-Worlds-Most-Ethical-Companies [5] https://bela.ethisphere.com/ [6] https://www.ussc.gov/guidelines [7] https://www.ussc.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/amendment-process/public-comment/20110826/Ethisphere_USSC_PubCom_Letter.pdf [8] https://ethisphere.com/solutions/program-assessments/ [9] https://compliancepodcastnetwork.net/ethispheres-the-sphere-with-erica-salmon-byrne/ [10] https://events.ethisphere.com/e/2025-Global-Ethics-Summit [11] https://magazine.ethisphere.com/magazine/ [12] https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbaF22DTAwE-LRlAx4bvsHiHDSz5vfmA8&si=6T12QEZZP3LX-LBc [13] https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ethicast/id1691793595 [14] https://open.spotify.com/show/3KtUTglgbU22pr10scVcXA?si=51cc5ef1429b4db7&nd=1&dlsi=d09460cdc7484a10

• Why it should be changed:

This section would address basic understandings of what Ethisphere provides to its clients, which is common practice for Wikipedia pages about companies. Because Ethisphere provides a range of intersecting projects, what Ethisphere does is sometimes accidentally misrepresented in media coverage. This level of detail is meant to be a neutral and objective explanation of how Ethisphere operates as a business, since Ethisphere's business operations have been repeatedly misrepresented in both positive and negative media coverage . Bill Coffin (talk) 17:37, 14 July 2025 (UTC)

References

Not done: The changes are not supported by neutral, independent, reliable sources. Please provide reliable sources that support the change you want to be made.  AlphaBetaGamma (Talk/report any mistakes here) 04:08, 27 August 2025 (UTC)

@Bill Coffin: I recommend you review this format guide I wrote to see how to properly request changes. But most importantly, you need to use sources not connected to the company. If there's no source, the info isn't notable, in Wikipedia's eyes. STEMinfo (talk) 01:26, 3 September 2025 (UTC)