"The World’s Most Ethical Companies designation recognizes companies that truly go beyond making statements about doing business “ethically” and translate those words into action. WME honorees demonstrate real and sustained ethical leadership within their industries, putting into real business practice the Institute’s credo of “Good. Smart. Business. Profit."

Marriott International was dropped from the 2010 Most Ethical Companies list. Amidst staunch industry competition, Marriott was the proud recipient of this award in 2007, 2008 and 2009.

There's a high correlation between ethical business leadership and customer loyalty and satisfaction. Ethical business leadership is about keeping your customers engaged, and your stakeholders informed.

When first named in 2007, a Marriott press release explained the methodology succinctly, "The process included reviewing companies’ codes of ethics, litigation and regulatory infraction histories". (http://www.marriott.com/news/detail....Article=171532)

Proud of its achievement, a 2008 report states, "Marriott’s Internal Audit Department conducts an annual Legal and Ethical Conduct survey of a broad cross section of employees, including all officers and senior managers, to determine compliance with the company’s Ethical Conduct policy." (http://www.marriott.com/Images/Text%...Engagement.pdf)

In 2009, Marriott was among 44 companies that were "three-peats"; but a year later, among the 24 companies that dropped, "These “drop offs” generally occurred because of litigation and ethics violations" W/o having to speculate, at least one case reached national headlines. (http://content.usatoday.com/communit.../08/68496944/1)

Ethisphere’s website - http://ethisphere.com/
2007 Rankings- http://ethisphere.com/wme-2007-rankings/
2008 Rankings - http://ethisphere.com/wme2008/
2009 Ranking - http://ethisphere.com/wme2009/
2010 Ranking - http://ethisphere.com/wme2010/