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.
[2] The Executive Chairman of Ethisphere, Alex Brigham, created the institute in 2007, as part of Corpedia, a compliance training company.
Ethisphere has been criticized for its business model and the possible conflict of interest created when other companies pay for an assessment.
[1][5][6] Companies dubbed "most ethical" by Ethisphere include Eastman Chemical and Blue Shield of California, despite the involvement of both in major public scandals at the time.
[5] Ethisphere also awarded Elbit Systems of America, a branch of a large Israeli weapons manufacturer that has been widely protested for its role in the Israel–Hamas war, with the title of "one of the World's Most Ethical Companies".