The Just 100: America's Best Corporate Citizens In 2016

In his influential 1962 book, Capitalism and Freedom, economist Milton Friedman argued that there is "one and only one social responsibility of business--to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase profits." Any obligation to social good was up to private shareholders. Executives with a conscience who cared about job creation, employee treatment or the environment, Friedman wrote, were nothing more than "unwitting puppets" of a social responsibility doctrine that threatened free markets.

A half-century later, social impact is woven into the mission statements of nearly every major company on the planet. But which companies actually practice what they preach? FORBES has partnered with Just Capital, a nonprofit created by billionaire investor Paul Tudor Jones II, to determine which ones are the best corporate citizens--the Just 100.

"In a world where shareholders have become too dominant, we're giving other constituencies a voice," says Tudor Jones, whose research team surveyed 50,000 Americans on corporate behavior. "Companies depend on communities, workers and customers." In all, some 1,000 companies were scored and ranked within their industries according to ten metrics: worker pay and benefits, worker treatment, supply chain impact, community well-being, domestic job creation, product attributes, customer treatment, leadership and ethics, environmental impact and investor alignment. The accompanying list shows the top three or four in each industry. The very best in each sector are highlighted with a logo.

It comes as little surprise that Google's parent, Alphabet , which began its life with the motto "Don't be evil," scores well on worker treatment, with its high salaries and perks like gourmet food, massage rooms and nap pods. Fair treatment for workers also drove some lesser-known industry winners like Eastman Chemical , which introduced Leadership Learning Labs in 2015 with the explicit purpose of fostering diversity in their workforce.

"I think we might have seen a peak in unfettered, unconstrained globalization and technological disruption," says Tudor Jones, whose firm is preparing an ETF based on the ranking. From 2010 to 2015 a hypothetical portfolio of Jones' Just 100 averaged a 13.6% return versus just 9.9% for the other 797 companies in the Russell 1000 that were part of the universe.

"How can we use markets to drive prosperity in a way that benefits most of the people?" asks Martin Whittaker, CEO of Just Capital. "If we're going to usher in a new dawn of capitalism and prosperity there has to be a vision that goes beyond maximizing short-term profits."

Methodology

To compile the Just 100, Just Capital surveyed more than 50,000 Americans to determine what they consider to be the most important corporate traits. The survey results were used to derive 36 components that feed into 10 different drivers of company behavior. Nearly 900 companies were evaluated and ranked on those components, and their ensuing scores were utilized to come up with an overall score for their industry. For more, read The Just 100 Methodology: How The Rankings Work.

For the full Just 100 list, methodology, and insights on the 32 industry leaders -- including Ford Motor , Microsoft , American Express and more -- visit forbes.com/just100. For even more detail about how these companies rank on the issues that matter to Americans, check out the Just Capital data explorer.