This week, Ethisphere issued its annual list of the World’s Most Ethical Companies, and while there are several recognizable names (Starbucks, Gap, Ford, Nike, American Express), two of the 100 companies listed — Best Buy and Hewlett Packard — also got enough nominations from Consumerist readers to make it into the 2010 Worst Company In America tournament.

Ethisphere says they take into account seven factors when rating how ethical a company is —

1. Integrity Track Record & Reputation
2. Corporate Citizenship and Responsibility
3. Internal System and Ethics/Compliance Program
4. Executive Leadership an Tone from the Top
5. Innovation
6. Corporate Governance
7. Industry Leadership

I wonder if they consider things like misleading consumers into paying for unnecessary “optimization” on their computers or selling laptop batteries that burst into flames?

Best Buy is set to face off against GameStop in the first round of WCIA 2010 (I’m predicting Geek Squad wipes the floor with the gamers). Meanwhile, HP will go up against Dell in what could be one of this tournament’s closer first-round battles.

See the whole WCIA 2010 bracket here and follow all the action on our dedicated WCIA page.

2010 World’s Most Ethical Companies [Ethisphere]

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