Report, Review, Retweet

Report Reviews: here is a selection of the recent CSR report reviews that have been penned (keyboarded ?) by yours truly and appear on CorporateRegister.com. In reverse order (last published first).

Wal-Mart 2009: Did you know that Wal-Mart saves the average American household the sum of $3,100 per year, whether they shop at Wal-Mart or not! This, and more interesting insights in the review, or if you have the energy, the report itself. Careful, though, if you are looking for anything other than good news, best go to Wal-Mart Watch !

Marks and Spencer plc 2009 : Plan A, 100 commitments, 49 pages. You all know that Plan A is the Ultimate Plan. "because there is no Plan B". Notwithstanding (dont you love that word ?) , this review suggests that Plan B could come in quite useful to address those aspects of M&S activities which fell thru the Plan A cracks. The report can be viewed here.

Jumeirah Group 2008 : A first report by this hotel and resorts group in Dubai which succeeded in producing a charming report albeit a basic self-declared GRI C level. (that's CRspeak for CRfreaks) . A key area of materiality for this company is Emiratisation, given the 162 locals employed in a total of over 10,000 personnel in Dubai. View the report here.

Barclays plc 2008 : Bit of a disappointment this time around from Barclays whose Chief Exec describes the most significant financial crisis since forever as "distracting". However, the report contains positive content though there are some reporting GAPS. What are they? You can work them out for yourself or read the review. Want the whole report ? Here.

Aviva plc 2009 : How does an insurance company incentivize consumers to behave sustainably? Tough question. Another tough question is what happened to 3,000 missing employees? Read my review or try to locate the answers yourself in full the report here.


Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) 2008: Seriously successful fashion company with 76% of women in management positions. What can be wrong with that !? But still, I say, H&M needs to come off the fence. How ? Check out the review or read the report here.

You can also check out reviews by respected colleagues :

HSBC 2008 and Motorola Inc 2008 review by Michelle of True Blue Communications
and Total S.A. by Zoe of Context.

Whew! That's a lot of reviews. And a lot of questions. So clear your desk, order in the CM's (Chunky Monkeys, but you know that by now, right?) and seek the answers.

elaine cohen is the joint CEO of BeyondBusiness, a leading reporting and social-environmental consulting firm . Visit our website at: www.b-yond.biz/en