CMC's Roberts Environmental Center today released a detailed analysis of the social responsibility reporting efforts of California's top corporations. Titled, Analysis of Sustainability Reporting of Fortune Companies in California, the report contains a compilation of Pacific Sustainability
Index scores evaluating the environmental and social reporting of all California companies on the 2006 Fortune 1000 list.
The report scores companies based on the reporting, intent and performance of environmental and social sustainability efforts. The research found that companies such as Chevron, Hewlett-Packard and Walt Disney widely publicized their socially beneficial actions on their Web sites while noted socially conscious companies such as eBay, Google and Apple rarely mentioned the subject, if at all.
"We were surprised to see companies like Google with such low scores while many of the oil companies scored quite high," said Professor Emil Morhardt, Roberts Center director. "It's a lot like the tree falling in the forest conundrum---companies that perform admirably, but don't communicate their efforts, get the same scores as companies that don't even think about these issues. We hope this report encourages socially responsible companies to be more vocal about their efforts while encouraging companies that have not addressed sustainability issues to step up."
To create the report's rankings, Morhardt and his team evaluated each California based Fortune 1000 company's Web site using the Pacific Sustainability Index. The index uses a general systematic questionnaire to analyze the quality of sustainability reporting. The selection of questions was based on the most frequently-mentioned topics in over 900 corporate sustainability reports analyzed from 2002 through 2007 at the Roberts Environmental Center. The company's grades were assigned on a grading curve, giving an A+ to the highest scoring company in each sector.
"How businesses address issues of sustainability in the information age is critical," continued Morhardt. "The report is completely unique in that the grades are based solely on how these companies tell the public about themselves through their Web sites. I believe these rankings will compel a lot of companies to reevaluate how they position themselves in their external communications."
The detailed analyses also reveal what social and environmental themes these companies perceive to be most important to the American public today. Researchers noted Web site content patterns to determine the most frequently reported topics. Companies with environmental achievements tended to tout their accountability and energy efficiency efforts while socially responsible businesses highlighted their superior policies and care for human rights.
To view the complete report, visit: http://www.roberts.cmc.edu/PSI/SectorReports.asp
"Fortune Companies in California Analysis" Scoring Summary:
Highest Overall Scores:
Chevron
Cisco Systems
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
Highest Environmental Reporting Scores:
Applied Materials, Inc.
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
Walt Disney
Highest Social Reporting Scores:
Chevron
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
Cisco Systems
Intel
Lowest Overall Scores:
VeriSign
Intuit
Pacer International
Ross Stores Inc.