Publix Super Markets, Google and UPS top list of 50 U.S. companies with best CSR reputations

By Tim Wilson, Editor & Writer, Boston College Center

Publix Super Markets earned the No. 1 spot followed by Google and UPS in the 2011 ranking of the 50 companies with the best corporate citizenship reputations among the U.S. public as compiled by the Center for Corporate Citizenship and Reputation Institute.

The Corporate Social Responsibility Index (CSR Index) was developed by researchers at the Center in conjunction with the Reputation Institute to understand how companies’ reputations are affected by public perceptions of performance related to citizenship (the community and the environment), governance (ethics and transparency) and workplace practices. Rankings in the 2011 CSR Index are based on a survey conducted in January 2011 of 7,790 online consumers in the United States.

An employee-owned supermarket chain with headquarters in Lakeland, Fla., Publix topped the rankings with a score of 80.59 on a 100-point scale, followed by Google at 77.10 and UPS at 76.16. Three other Center members made the top 10 of the CSR Index rankings: FedEx (75.73), Campbell Soup Company (75.40) and Baxter International (75.18), ranked seventh, eighth and ninth respectively.

Among the 286 companies measured in the 2011 CSR Index, 10 rated scores of 75 or higher to place them in the excellent category and another 57 scored 70 or more to reach the strong category. Among the top 50, every company scored 71.1 or higher. With less than 10 points separating No. 1 from No. 50, it’s clear that all 50 represent an elite group of brands.

Read more on CCC report.