| Press Releases |
Goodyear Named One of the “100 Best Corporate Citizens”
Only tire company to receive the CRO Magazine honor
SHAH ALAM, 5 March 2008 — The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company was named one of the “100 Best Corporate Citizens” in the February issue of CRO (Corporate Responsibility Officer) magazine. Goodyear came in at No. 72, the first time the Akron, Ohio-based company made the list in nine years of ranking the top corporate citizens among U.S.-headquartered public companies.
In compiling its “100 Best,” CRO, in partnership with IW Financial — a Portland, Maine, research and consulting firm in environment, social and governance issues — ranked the corporate responsibility efforts of large-cap companies in eight categories: climate change, employee relations, environment, financial, governance, human rights, lobbying and philanthropy. CRO determined the final ranking as a weighted average of the eight categories. Goodyear was the only tire company honored.
This award is the latest honor for Goodyear in the area of corporate citizenry and social responsibility.
In North America and Asia, Goodyear was voted Most Trusted Brand in 2007 based on a TNS Survey. The study was conducted simultaneously across 18 major automotive markets on four continents. The annual study revealed that corporations that rate highly on safety and environment are the companies generally perceived as most trustworthy. Goodyear received top marks for manufacturing safe products and promoting road safety.
In addition, Goodyear China was named one of the Top 20 CSR companies by Southern Weekly, and listed as one of the Top Employers in Shanghai for two years in a row by CRF.com. In the Philippines, Goodyear was awarded Platinum Most Trusted Brand by Reader’s Digest. Goodyear in Shanghai, China and the Philippines also recently gained top honors in a CSR competition conducted by the American Chamber of Commerce.
Goodyear is also the only tire company to promote driver education among women and empower them on the road with the “Women with Drive” program. In North America and in many parts of Asia, Goodyear honors heroic deeds performed by drivers with its Highway Heroes program.
“At the core of everything Goodyear does is safety and we fully understand our responsibility to promote road, driver, environmental and workplace safety,” said Pierre E. Cohade, President of Goodyear’s Asia Pacific Region. “Our safety record is a great credit to the men and women at Goodyear Asia, who ensure that our safety mantra, “No One Gets Hurt”, rings true.”
Cohade added, “We are likewise focused on helping preserve the environment where we manufacture tires by eliminating waste to landfills, minimizing emissions and reducing energy consumption.”
“We’re certainly pleased to be included with a number of corporations whose excellent reputations are well known and regarded highly by the international business community,” said Pat Gorbach, Goodyear’s director of corporate compliance and ethics. “Transparency is an important component of corporate responsibility, and Goodyear welcomes the opportunity for anyone to review the data documenting improvements in our governance, compliance and sustainability performance.”
IW Financial relies on publicly-available data from company financial disclosures, corporate responsibility reports, websites, EPA databases, and a number of other sources as part of its standardized research processes. All companies being evaluated are listed on the Russell 1000 index — which includes companies that represent the largest impact on B2B and consumer markets.
“Some companies have good environmental policies,” said Mark Bateman, IW Financial’s director of research. “Some companies have great employee relations. Some companies have exemplary human rights records. CRO’s ‘100 Best Corporate Citizens’ list answers the question: which companies do best across a wide variety of citizenship issues?”
Business Ethics magazine first published the “100 Best Corporate Citizens” in 2000. CRO has continued the tradition after acquiring the publication in 2006. CRO will honor the “100 Best Corporate Citizens” in a special reception on March 27, 2008 at the Union League Club in New York, following the conclusion of its spring conference. For details about CRO’s “100 Best Corporate Citizens 2008,” the methodology and CRO magazine, visit www.thecro.com.
About Goodyear
Goodyear is one of the world’s largest tire companies. The company employs about 70,000 people and manufactures its products in more than 60 facilities in 26 countries around the world. For information about Goodyear, go to www.goodyear.com/corporate.
About Goodyear
In Malaysia Goodyear is the leading brand of choice for consumers and OE manufacturers, such as Mercedes Benz, Volvo, Honda, Mazda, Toyota, Nissan, Ford, Hyundai, Proton, Perodua, Naza, Hino, Daihatsu, Inokom, Malaysian Truck and Bus and Isuzu.
Goodyear has also the largest network of one stop professional auto and tire service centres in the country with nearly 300 Goodyear Servitekar outlets.
Goodyear Malaysia is the first Goodyear plant to be certified ISO9002 in 1992, QS9000 and ISO14001 in 2002, and ISO/TS16949 certification in 2003.
Recently, Goodyear was awarded the World’s Best Brands in the Automotive – Tire category by the Asia Pacific Brands Foundation.
For more information on Goodyear and its products, visit www.goodyear.com.
About TNS
TNS is a market information group:
- The world’s largest provider of custom research and analysis
- A leader in political and social polling
- A major supplier of consumer panel, media intelligence and TV and radio audience measurement services.
TNS operates across a global network in over 70 countries, allowing us to provide internationally consistent, up-to-the-minute and high quality information and analysis.
The group’s employees deliver innovative thinking and excellent service to local and multinational clients worldwide. In the custom business, they combine in-depth sector knowledge with expertise in the areas of new product development, positioning and segmentation research, brand and advertising research and stakeholder management.
TNS’ strategic goal is to be recognized as the global leader in delivering value added information and insights that help the clients to make more effective decisions.
TNS is the sixth sense of business.
www.tns-global.com
Notes to the Editor:
About the TNS study
- Respondents: General public
- Survey method: TNS Online Access Panel
- Sample size: 1,000 respondents per each country; 4 corporations evaluated per respondent
- Fieldwork period: March – May 2006
- Survey frequency: Annually
Countries in which the study was conducted:
- Asia: China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand
- Europe: France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom
- North America: Mexico, United States
- South America: Brazil
Other tire companies evaluated in TNS study:
- Michelin Group
- Bridgestone
- Continental
- Pirelli Tires
- Hankook Tires
- Yokohama Tires
- Kumho Tires
- Major local brands
For further inquiries please contact:
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Caroline Chan Manager, Marketing Communications Goodyear Marketing & Sales Malaysia Tel: (603) 5516 6456 Email: caroline_chan@goodyear.com |
Carol Wong |
