Applied Materials, Inc. today announced that it was named a 2014 World’s Most Ethical Company by the Ethisphere Institute, an independent center of research promoting best practices in corporate ethics and governance.

“Ethical business practices are foundational to Applied Materials’ success,” said Tom Larkins, senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary at Applied Materials.  “We recognize that ethics are a shared responsibility and would like to thank our employees for their continued commitment.”

This is the third consecutive year Applied Materials has received the annual award, which recognizes organizations that continue to demonstrate ethical leadership and corporate behavior.

“The entire community of World’s Most Ethical Companies believe that customers, employees, investors and regulators place a high premium on trust and that ethics and good governance are key in earning it,” said Ethisphere’s Chief Executive Officer, Timothy Erblich.

Now in its eighth year, the World’s Most Ethical Company List is derived from the Ethics Quotient framework developed by the Ethisphere Institute, which provides a means to assess an organization’s performance in an objective, consistent and standardized way. The information collected provides a comprehensive sampling of definitive criteria of core competencies, rather than all aspects of corporate governance, risk, sustainability, compliance and ethics. The Ethics Quotient framework and methodology was determined, vetted and refined by the expert advice and insights gleaned from Ethisphere’s network of thought leaders and from the World’s Most Ethical Company Methodology Advisory Panel. Scores are generated in five key categories: ethics and compliance program (25 percent), reputation, leadership and innovation (20 percent), governance (10 percent), corporate citizenship and responsibility (25 percent) and culture of ethics (20 percent).