<p>The most recent report, out late last month from the nonprofit <a href="http://thefulcrum.us/center-for-political-accountability" target="_blank">Center for Political Accountability</a> and the Zicklin Center for Business Ethics Research at the University of Pennsylvania, assesses two dozen different behaviors by each company, including their direct giving to sway elections, who runs their political operations and how easy it is to learn about the company's political behavior.<br></p><p><p style="text-align: center;" id="sufn"><a style="font-weight: bold;margin:40px auto;font-size:2rem" href="https://thefulcrum.us/st/newsletters">Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter </a></p></p><p>The companies are rated on a 70-point scale. The average score this year was 47.1, a three-point bump from a year ago.</p>
<p>Seventy-three companies were dubbed "trendsetters" this year for scoring 90 percent or higher on their disclosure and accountability policies — 16 more than last year. The four who received perfect scores were computer make Hewlett Packard, defense contractor Northrop Grumman and medical device companies Edwards Lifesciences and Becton Dickinson. Others in this top tier included Google parent Alphabet, AT&T, Bank of America, Coca-Cola, Johnson & Johnson and Visa.</p>
<p>At the other end of the scale were the 59 with a score of zero. Well-known brand names on this list included Netflix, TripAdvisor, Expedia and MGM Resorts International.</p>
<p>The CPA-Zicklin Index also singled out 16 companies for big improvements in their transparency, including Ford Motor, Lowe's, Chubb and Kohl's.</p>
<p>Only a dozen companies in the S&P 500 say they spend nothing to directly influence elections — among them Accenture, Goldman Sachs Group, IBM and Ralph Lauren. Several dozen others said they limit their participation in politics to certain types of giving.</p>
<p><div class="x12"><div class="htlad-Desktop_Content_Banner"></div></div></p><p>Some of this increase in disclosure can be attributed to companies aiming to repair reputations after public backlash for political involvement. There was a <a href="https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2019/8/8/20759190/equinox-soulcycle-boycott-trump-stephen-ross-fundraiser" target="_blank">boycott of SoulCycle</a> this summer, for example, after customers learned a major investor in the company intended to hold a fundraiser for President Trump. This reactive political atmosphere "will only become more volatile" in the year before the presidential election, the report says.</p><br>"With election spending again expected to set new records and the shadow of anonymous or so-called political '<a href="http://thefulcrum.us/dark-money" target="_self">dark money</a>' growing, U.S. companies will further be in the crosshairs, whether under attack from the White House or under scrutiny by media, shareholders, workers and consumers," the report says.From Your Site Articles
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