Ricoh Given World's Best Rating for Corporate Social Responsibility
On February 2, 2005, Ricoh was given a B+ for corporate social responsibility for 2004/2005, which was the best comprehensive rating among those given to 13 producers of IT/computers, peripherals, and office electronics. The survey was conducted by oekom research AG of Germany (headquartered in Munich).
oekom research evaluates social/cultural and environmental aspects of the social responsibilities of respective companies, weighing as many as 200 factors in accordance with the characteristics of respective industries and giving comprehensive ratings based upon that. In the rating for 2004/2005, Ricoh's environmental aspect was given an A- (first among 13 surveyed companies) and its social/cultural aspect was given a B- (third among the surveyed companies), which resulted in the best comprehensive rating of B+. Second place went to Toshiba, which received a B-.
In the previous survey conducted in 2002, Ricoh was given a B+ (first among 16 surveyed companies).
The 13 surveyed companies are as follows:
Japanese companies: Ricoh, Canon, Fujitsu, NEC, and Toshiba
Companies outside of Japan: Apple, Dell, EMC, HP, IBM, Lexmark, Sun Microsystems, and Xerox
About oekom
oekom research, established in 1989, rates the social responsibilities, including environmental efforts, of respective companies. oekom research uses a 12-point rating scale, ranging from A+ to D-.
The social/cultural aspect consists of three categories: (1) staff relations, (2) social/cultural management, and (3) external relations. The environmental aspect comprises (1) environmental management, (2) products and services, and (3) eco-efficiency. Companies are evaluated in each of the six categories using the 12-point rating scale. Weighted averages are calculated from the results, giving a comprehensive rating.
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