March 06, 2009 14:05 ET

IBM Outranks All Information Technology Companies on 100 Best Corporate Citizens List by CRO Magazine

IBM Ranks #3 Out of All Companies on the 2009 List

ARMONK, NY--(Marketwire - March 6, 2009) - IBM (NYSE: IBM) announced that it has ranked #3 overall on the 100 Best Corporate Citizens List, outranking all other information technology companies on the list. The annual list is published by the Corporate Responsibility Officer (CRO) Magazine.

CRO's 100 Best Corporate Citizens List is the only such list based on 100% publicly-available information and ranks Russell 1000 companies on their performance in seven key areas: Environment, Climate Change, Human Rights, Philanthropy, Employee Relations, Financial and Governance.

"Some believe the current economic climate dictates corporate citizenship efforts be put on hold. At IBM we believe just the opposite. A strong commitment to corporate citizenship strengthens our brand and increases shareholder value," said Stanley S. Litow, vice president of Corporate Citizenship and Corporate Affairs at IBM. "Improved environmental performance, intelligent community partnerships and investments make us competitive. They are not separate; they are an integral part of business strategy."

IBM's 2007-2008 Corporate Responsibility Report was issued in November reflecting how social and business strategies are connected and integrated and includes performance and results in the areas of governance, supply chain, environmental performance, employment policies and practices, client solutions and community engagements.

"The performance of IBM reflects its newly-energized corporate responsibility, transparency and public disclosure efforts that build on consistently high levels of corporate citizenship practice, as it has made the List for nearly all of the past 10 years," said Jay Whitehead, publisher, CRO.

For more information about IBM, please visit www.ibm.com

For more information about CRO, please visit: www.thecro.com