Company Profile Directory

3M is a leading manufacturer of adhesives, tapes, and a variety of industrial and medical products. There are six divisions: consumer and office supplies; industrial and transportation, electro and communications (connecting, splicing, and insulating products); display and graphics (specialty film, traffic control materials); health care (dental and medical supplies, and health IT); and safety, security, and protection (commercial care, occupational health and safety products).

Abbott is a health care products manufacturer whose products extend from nutritional products and laboratory diagnostics to medical devices and pharmaceuticals. The company conducts business in at least 130 countries around the world.

Accenture Ltd. is the largest consulting firm in the world, incorporated in Bermuda with its main U.S. office in Chicago, Illinois. It has made the outsourcing of jobs into big business.

The company was established as the consulting wing of Arthur Andersen, Andersen Consulting, splitting off in 2000, when it changed its name to Accenture.

Advanta Seeds is a joint venture between chemical/pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca and seed company VanderHave. In 2000 it was the world's 6th largest seed company. In the UK and EU it has been involved in field trials of a range of GM crops. Elsewhere in the world it markets GM crop lines as well as conventionally bred crop lines. In the EU they have been involved in a major scandal when conventional seed stock they had supplied was found to have substantial levels of GM contamination. They have also been involved in the intimidation of UK anti-GM activists.

Headquartered in Atlanta Georgia, AFC Enterprises operates the #2 fast food chain specializing in chicken, the infamous "Popeye's Chicken and Biscuits". Currently, there are over 1,900 Popeye's locations in the United States and and over 2 dozen locations in other countries. AFCE owns 55 locations themselves and franchises the rest.

Alliance One International Inc a joint owner of Limbe Leaf Tobacco (with Swiss-registered Continental Tobacco Company), which buys its tobacco leaf from growers around the world, including farms that support child labor. The company made the US Fortune Global 500 in 2007, and is based out of North Carolina but operates globally.

Allianz is a large financial service provider headquartered in Munich, Germany. By revenue, it is the largest FSP in the world. Its core and focus is on the insurance business. Allianz is the biggest insurance company in Germany and one of the largest in the world.

Aluminum Corporation of China Limited (Chalco) has masterminded its way into mixing alumina and aluminum. Chalco is the only maker of alumina -- which is refined from bauxite and a key material in producing aluminum -- in China. The company produces about 9 million tons of alumina products (including alumina, alumina hydrate and alumina chemicals), which makes it the second-largest maker of alumina in the world. Chalco also produces a million tons of primary aluminum annually. In 2007 the company agreed to acquire sister company Baotou Aluminum for about $2 billion.

AMEC plc is a British company formed from the amalgamation of the Fairclough Group and the William Press Group. AMEC operates as a high value consultancy company providing services in engineering and project management for the oil, gas, petrochemical, power generation, nuclear, pharmaceutical, defense, chemical, mining and water industries. AMEC is a member of the FTSE 100 Index after a promotion on Dec. 20th, 2007 when ICI went private.

American Express (NYSE: AXP), sometimes known as "AmEx" or "Amex", is a diversified global financial services company, headquartered in New York City. The company is best known for its credit card, charge card and traveler's cheque businesses.

Apple Computer, based in Cupertino, CA, manufactures and retails personal computers and software. In 2006, the company employed 16,820 people and generated revenues of $19.3 billion. Former Vice President Al Gore is a member of the company's board of directors.

Arysta produces chemicals and recently registered the new fumigant, methyl iodide with the EPA. Methyl iodide has been proven to cause cancer in lab rats, and is now proposed to be used as an insecticide on "strawberries, tomatoes and peppers, ornamentals, turf, trees, and vines." The approval of this chemical has been widely opposed.

The Atlas Group established Atlas Investment Bank in 1990 as a joint venture between Atlas Group and the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, Japan. With an associated company, Atlas Lease Limited formed in 1989 as a joint venture between the Atlas Group, the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, Japan and the National Investment Trust, Pakistan was merged into the Bank in February, 2002. After the merger, the shares of the joint venture partners were taken over by the Group. The head office of the Bank is situated in Karachi with branch offices in Lahore, Islamabad and Faisalabad.

BAE Systems plc is the world's third largest defence contractor, the largest in Europe, and a commercial aerospace products manufacturer. BAE is a British company headquartered at Farnborough, England, which has worldwide interests, particularly in North America through its subsidiary BAE Systems Inc.

Bank of America is the largest commercial bank in the United States in terms of deposits, and the largest company of its kind in the world. It is the largest American company (by market capitalization) that is not part of the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Barrick Gold Corporation is the largest pure gold mining company in the world, with its headquarters in Toronto, Ontario, Canada; and four regional business units (RBU's) located in Australia, Africa, North America and South America. Barrick is currently undertaking mining and exploration projects in Papua New Guinea, the United States, Canada, Australia, Peru, Chile, Russia, South Africa, Argentina and Tanzania. On January 20, 2006, Barrick acquired a majority share of Placer Dome.

Bayer AG is credited as inventing aspirin as well as many controversial drugs such as heroin, Ciproxin and Baycol. Bayer AG is a massive German based chemicals and pharmaceuticals manufacturer. It has operations in most countries worldwide and had global sales for 2007 of 32.4 billion euro. Its operations are divided into three sectors: Health, Agriculture and Polymers (plastics, synthetic rubber).

Berkshire Hathaway is a conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, U.S., that oversees and manages a number of subsidiary companies. Berkshire Hathaway's core business is insurance, including property and casualty insurance, reinsurance and specialty nonstandard insurance. The Company averaged a 25%+ annual return to its shareholders for the last 25 years while employing large amounts of capital and minimal debt.

According to the company Boeing is "the world's leading aerospace company and the largest manufacturer of commercial jetliners and military aircraft combined. Boeing designs and manufactures rotorcraft, electronic and defense systems, missiles, satellites, launch vehicles and advanced information and communication systems. As a major service provider to NASA, Boeing operates the Space Shuttle and International Space Station. ... Boeing has customers in more than 90 countries around the world and is one of the largest U.S.

A recent deal between Booz Allen and the Carlyle Group has been deemed a national security threat by the Service Employees Union International. The government of Abu-Dhabi holds high stakes in the Carlyle group, and this new union of Booz Allen with the Carlyle Group risks allowing the foreign government access to national security information.

Braskem S.A. is the largest Brazilian petrochemical company with head office in São Paulo. The company was formed in 2002 as part of a major restructuring of the Brazilian petrochemical industry which saw Copene merge with petrochemical companies controlled by Odebrecht, a heavy engineering and construcution company owned by the Odebrecht family, and another family-owned conglomerate, the Mariani Group.

Bridgestone Corporation is based in Tokyo, Japan. The largest subsidiary of Bridgestone is the Bridgestone Americas Holding Inc., which is based in Nashville, TN and includes Firestone. The company is most well known for the production of tires. Bridgestone/Firestone has been the focus of an international campaign related to labor and environmental problems on its rubber plantation in Liberia.

Bunge Limited (formerly Bunge International and prior to that Bunge Y Born) is a Bermudan food conglomerate with its headquarters in White Plains, New York. As well as being a leading global soybean exporter it is also involved in food processing, grain trading, and fertilizer. It competes with Cargill and Archer Daniels Midland.

CACI, founded in the early 1960s as California Analysis Center Inc., is almost entirely a Beltway Bandit—some 94 percent of its revenue is derived from contracts with the U.S. government. About two-thirds of that revenue comes from the Pentagon, but CACI also enjoys the patronage of the Departments of Homeland Security, State, Commerce, Justice and Transportation. At the end of its last fiscal year, CACI had a contract backlog worth some $6.4 billion.

Canadian Oil Sands invests in Alberta's oil sands in partnership with the Syncrude Project. Using controversial methods, Syncrude dredges crude oil from the ground and is being protested by multiple civil society organizations.

Carrefour SA is a French international supermarket chain, with a global network of outlets. It is the second largest retail group in the world in terms of revenue and sales figures after Wal-Mart. Carrefour operates mainly in the European Union, Brazil, Argentina and Colombia, but also has shops in North Africa and Asia.

Caterpillar Inc. is the world's largest manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, and industrial gas turbines. Famous for their products featuring caterpillar tracks and a distinctive yellow paint scheme, Caterpillar produces a wide range of heavy equipment, mainly engineering and demolition vehicles, including the Caterpillar D9 bulldozer. Among other controversies Caterpillar has been accused of human rights abuses in the Israeli Palestinian conflict by selling demolition equipment to the Israeli Defense Force.

Chevron is the world's fifth largest global energy company and engages in oil exploration and production; refining, marketing and transport; chemicals manufacturing and sales; and power generation. The company is implicated in corruption regarding the "Food for Oil" program in Iraq, agreeing to over 25 Million USD in fines.

Chipotle is a burrito chain who has made a name for itself as a company that aspires to be a leader in the sustainable food movement. Its motto is "Food With Integrity" and claims that by "working back along the food chain" it encourages healthy production of vegetables and raising of animals.

Coca-Cola manufactures ice cream, frozen deserts, flavored syrups and its well-known line of carbonated beverages. Based in Atlanta, the company employs 71,000 people. Coca-Cola’s sales for 2006 were $24 billion. Co-op America

Comcast is the largest cable provider and the second largest internet service provider in the United States. It has had a reputation for abysmal customer service and is being investigated by the FCC for blocking customer's access to internet content.

Costco is a big box store retailer that sells bulk household items. It has more than 490 stores throughout the world and sells jewelry that violates international labor and human rights standards. Many communities oppose the opening of new Costco stores in their neighborhoods because they argue that the store puts locally owned stores out of business and funnels money out of the local economy.

Crédit Agricole SA is the largest banking group in France, second largest in Europe and the sixth largest in the world by Tier 1 capital according to The Banker magazine. It is also part of the CAC 40 stock market index.

The Suisse Group is based in Zurich, Switzerland and is the second-largest Swiss bank. If you know more about the bank, feel free to edit this page.

CSAV, Compañía Sud Americana de Vapores, is a Chilean shipping company that is currently the largest in Latin America. CSAV, one of the oldest shipping companies in the world, was founded in 1872. The company’s business initially consisted exclusively of coastal shipping services but these were rapidly extended along the whole west coast of South America to the Panama Canal before this was opened to regular traffic.

See CVS Caremark.

Dell Computers manufacturers computers and computer-related equipment which it sells directly to the public by phone or internet. The company employed 66,100 people and recorded sales of $55.91 billion in fiscal 2006.

Deutsche Post AG is a German post, logistics and courier headquartered in Bonn, previously the German state-owned mail monopoly. Today Deutsche Post AG is the world's largest logistics company operating under the tradename "Deutsche Post World Net".

Dexia is a Belgian-French financial institution, specialized in public finance. It was founded in 1996 through the merger of Crédit Communal de Belgique/Gemeentekrediet van België (founded 1860) and Crédit Local de France (founded 1987). The Dexia Group was founded as a dual-listed company, but in 1999 the Belgian entity took over the French entity to form one company. Dexia is a member of the BEL20, CAC 40, and LuxX indices. The company is headquartered in Brussels, Belgium.

Dole Food Company, Inc. is the world's largest producer of fruits and vegetables such as bananas and pineapples, and also produces cut flowers and nuts. Dole has a history of operating plantations in the US and across the globe, often creating poor working conditions and unsafe environmental conditions such as pesticide use, soil erosion and deforestation.

The Dow Chemical Company is the world’s second largest chemical company, behind only BASF. Dow’s primary industries are chemicals, herbicides, pesticides, agricultural sciences and plastics. In 2005 Dow sold $46.307 billion worth of goods and employed 42,413 people.

DRS Technologies is not well known outside military circles, but the company has grown from a niche supplier of sonar signal processing technology to the U.S. Navy into a $3 billion provider of a wide range of high-tech defense electronic products, systems and military support services.

DuPont is the third-largest chemical maker in the U.S., behind only Dow and Exxon Mobil Chemicals. In addition to chemicals, Dupont produces genetically modified seeds, synthetic fibres, coatings, electronics and security devices. DuPont's revenues totalled over $26.6 billion in 2005.

Électricité de France (EDF) is the main electricity generation and distribution company in France. It was founded on April 8, 1946 as a result of the nationalization of a number of electricity producers, transporters and distributors by the Communist Minister of Industrial Production Marcel Paul. Until November 19, 2004 it was a government corporation, but it is now a limited-liability corporation under private law (société anonyme). The government plans to float 30% of its shares on the stock market by the end of 2005, and retain 70% government ownership.

Embraer, the Empresa Brasileira de Aeronáutica S.A., is a Brazilian aerospace conglomerate. The company produces commercial, military, and corporate aircraft, as well as providing related aerospace services. From 1999 to 2001 it was Brazil's largest exporter and is one of the three main exporters in Brazil. Among all aircraft manufacturers, it currently has the third largest yearly delivery of commercial aircraft (behind Boeing and Airbus) and the fourth largest workforce (behind Boeing, Airbus and Bombardier).

One of Italy's largest companies, Eni operates in the oil and natural gas, petrochemicals, and oil field services industries. Its main subsidiaries and affiliates include EniPower (power generation), Italgas (natural gas transmission), Saipem (oil field services), pipeline operator Snam Rete Gas, and Snamprogetti (contracting, engineering). As one of the world's leading oil enterprises, in 2006 Eni had proved reserves of more than 6.4 billion barrels of oil equivalent, most of it in Italy and in Africa. The Italian government owns about 30% of Eni but is considering selling the holding.

ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) is the largest publicly traded integrated petroleum and natural gas company in the world, and the world's largest company measured by revenues ($404.5 billion in 2007) and market capitalization ($517.92 billion on July 20, 2007).

Ford was launched in a converted factory in 1903 with $28,000 in cash from twelve investors, most notably John Francis Dodge and Horace Elgin Dodge who would later found the Dodge Brothers Motor Vehicle Company. During its early years, the company produced just a few Model T's a day at its factory on Mack Avenue in Detroit, Michigan. Groups of two or three men worked on each car from components made to order by other companies.

Fortis is a banking, insurance, and investment management company, and is the 20th largest business in the world by revenue.[1] The Benelux are Fortis' home base and its strength. Fortis' banking operations include network (retail), commercial, and merchant banking; its insurance products include life, health, and property/casualty lines. Products are sold through independent agents and brokers, financial planners, and through Fortis Bank branches. It is listed both on Euronext Brussels and Euronext Amsterdam stock exchanges.

In 2007 the retail clothing company, Gap, was chosen as one of the world's most ethical corporations by Ethisphere Magazine. However, the same year BBC (British Broadcasting Company) aired a clip of child labor occurring in a Gap factory located in India. Gap denied knowledge of such abuse, but this was not the first incident in which the corporation had been alleged of human rights violations in its overseas factories. In 2003, there was a class-action lawsuit against the company filed by sweatshop workers in Saigon.

Gelmart Industries , Inc. is one of the largest privately owned direct manufacturer of intimate apparel in the world. The company manufacturers and distributes lingerie that is sold in department stores, mass merchants and specialty stores nationwide. Gelmart also serves as a contract manufacturer for other brands, and has a showroom in Manhattan where it employs more than 20 workers. Its clients include Playtex, Wal-Mart and Liz Claiborne.

General Electric Co. manufactures electrical equipment, lighting products and household appliances. It also owns the broadcasting network NBC. In terms of market capitalization, GE is the world's second largest company and also second in the BrandZ ranking. In the 1960s, aspects of U.S. tax laws and accounting practices led to a rise in the assembly of conglomerates. GE, which was a conglomerate long before the term was coined, is arguably the most successful organization of this type.

GlaxoSmithKline plc is a British based pharmaceutical, biological, and healthcare company. GSK is a research-based company with a wide portfolio of pharmaceutical products covering anti-infectives, central nervous system (CNS), respiratory, gastro-intestinal/metabolic, oncology, and vaccines products. It also has a Consumer Healthcare operation comprising leading oral healthcare products, nutritional drinks, and over the counter (OTC) medicines.

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., or simply Goldman Sachs, is one of the world's largest global investment banks. Goldman Sachs was founded in 1869, and is headquartered in the Lower Manhattan area of New York City at 85 Broad Street. Goldman Sachs has offices in leading financial centers such as New York City, London, Boston, Chicago, Miami, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Frankfurt, Zürich, Paris, São Paulo, Bangalore, Mumbai, Hong Kong, Beijing, Mexico City, Singapore, Salt Lake City, Sydney, Dubai, Madrid, Milan, Melbourne, Auckland, Seoul, Tokyo, Taipei, Moscow, Toronto, and Monaco.

Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction was the first ship building company in Korea, established in 1937 at Youngdo, Pusan as "Chosun Heavy Industry Co., Ltd.", according to their website. The company builds everything from hospitals to apartment buildings through its construction segment and patrol boats to oil tankers through its shipbuilding segment.