As part of our ongoing effort to identify the hallmarks of the best leaders and companies in the world, Ray and I examined five U.S. companies reputed to be the best corporate citizens. In the aftermath of corporate fiascos like Enron and Tyco, good corporate citizenship has risen to the forefront of America's consciousness and we wanted to take a closer look.

We wanted to find out whether being a good corporate citizen really paid off. In other words, does good citizenship mean high profits and solid returns? Our research gave us a resounding, "Yes!"

To give you some specifics, we've narrowed the list to five top companies: Whole Foods, Starbucks, FedEx, Wal-Mart, and Southwest Airlines. Here's how these companies benefit each of their stakeholders:

• Community Charity: Give an average of almost 3% of after tax profits to charity (an average of $43 million per company)
• Environmentally Green: Have environmental programs (buy from green energy sources, use of recycled material, hybrid trucks)
• Shareholders: Returned an average of 27.4% in 2003
• Employees: Offer stock options and health benefits to both full and part time employees
• Jobs: Have continuous job growth, no layoffs
• Consumers: Offer lower prices, healthier products, faster service, or top customer service.
• Vendors: Invest in suppliers by offering guaranteed fair prices, upgrading facilities and living conditions, working for higher product standards
• Ethics: Has a stringent ethics program in place that governs the Board, executive officers, employers, and even vendors.

As the best of the best in their industries, these companies provide excellent role models for good corporate citizenship. They demonstrate with continuous growth and healthy profitability that it does indeed pay to be good.