VF Corp. has been recognized as a 2017 World’s Most Ethical Company by the Ethisphere Institute, a leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices. VF is one of only three apparel companies to make the list, underscoring the company’s commitment to leading its industry through ethical business standards and practices.

“At VF, we strive to lead by example by embedding responsible practices and behaviors into everything we do,” said Steve Rendle, VF’s president and chief executive officer. “We are honored to be recognized by the Ethisphere Institute for the work our associates lead across VF and our brands to manage our global business with integrity.”

The World’s Most Ethical Company assessment is based on the Ethisphere Institute’s Ethics Quotient (EQ) framework, which 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 in the areas of corporate governance, risk, sustainability, compliance and ethics.

“Over the last 11 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 VF for being recognized as a World’s Most Ethical Company.”

Scores are generated in five key categories: ethics and compliance program (35 percent), corporate citizenship and responsibility (20 percent), culture of ethics (20 percent), governance (15 percent) and leadership, innovation and reputation (10 percent). Full scores are provided to all companies who participate in the process.

2017 is the 11th year that Ethisphere has honored those companies that 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 every day. The full list of the 2017 World’s Most Ethical Companies can be found at http://worldsmostethicalcompanies.ethisphere.com/honorees/.