Transparency is an asset

Transparency is an asset. That's what we believe here at Beyond Business and at the CSR-Reporting Blog. That's why, back in 2009, we developed the Transparency Index of leading publicly traded companies, analyzing the quality of sustainability transparency on their corporate websites. In 2009, 2010 and 2011, we analyzed the top 100 companies in our home market, Israel. However, the Transparency Index is a globally applicable index, which is equally valid for all companies in all sectors, providing complete comparability on what matters equally as much as what companies are doing to advance their own sustainability and that of the planet: how effectively their corporate websites make this information available and accessible to their local and global stakeholders. Therefore, in 2011, we formed a partnership with the Center for CSR Development in Ukraine, and, after updating the methodology to include some modifications reflecting our experience of performing the analyses over several years, we have started to analyze the leading companies in several additional countries around the globe. We are on our way to developing the first truly Global Transparency Index.

In 2011, we published The Transparency Index for the largest publicly traded companies in South Africa and in the UK. This year, 2012, after slightly modifying the methodology to reflect an improved balance of the Transparency Index four dimensions (reporting, content, navigation, accessibility), we have published a Transparency Index for the largest publicly traded companies in two countries: Denmark and the U.S.

In Denmark, Novo Nordisk takes the trophy with a leading 92% transparency, reflecting top level reporting on sustainability issues and great performance in the other three transparency dimensions on the Novo Nordisk website.  A Twitter stream, with a clearly explained policy, video content and even sustainability games in business ethics, climate change and economics and health. Novo Nordisk is way ahead of the average transparency of the top 25 companies in Denmark which ranks at 57.3%.

Here is how the top ten in Denmark looks:

The full report of the Transparency Index in Denmark can be downloaded here.

In the U.S. our findings are that companies are a little more transparent. Average transparency for the top 25 in the U.S. is 69% . Intel takes the trophy here with 91.5% transparency, reflecting sustainability reporting, a highly informative sustainability website, video content, a great  CSR at Intel blog , a report builder and an online feedback form.

Here is the top ten in the U.S.:

The full Transparency Index Report for the U.S. can be downloaded here.

The full methodology is transparently (!) described in each report.

While it is true that transparency is only half the picture - it's an important half of the picture. Transparency does not substitute for good performance, but it is necessary as a tool to inform about performance. Transparency is a public statement of commitment to sustainability, encapsulating both a declaration and a promise, a demonstration of serious intent and most importantly, an invitation to stakeholders to read, review and react. As the world embraces digital formats and interactions,  web-based sustainability transparency has an important place in the shaping of sustainability practices.

Watch this space for more countries  to follow in the Global Transparency Index  (and for news of the launch of our new GTI website) and for further analyses as the more countries are added to the mix.

elaine cohen, CSR consultant, Sustainability Reporter, HR Professional, Ice Cream Addict. Author of CSR for HR: A necessary partnership for advancing responsible business practices  Contact me via www.twitter.com/elainecohen   on Twitter or via my business website www.b-yond.biz/en  (Beyond Business, an inspired CSR consulting and Sustainability Reporting firm)

10 ways to liberate the sustainability report

Yesterday saw the publication of the SMI-Wizness Social Media Sustainability Index, a must-read for anyone who wants to know who are the corporate movers and shakers of the social media cypermap and what they are doing and why.  According to the report, authored by the social-media master Matthew Yeomans, "a new landscape of social media sustainability has emerged. Today, at least 250 major corporates are engaged in some form of social media sustainability comms and more than 100 have a blog, YouTube, Facebook or Twitter channel dedicated to talking about sustainability."

The report ranks the social media practices of 100 top rated sustainable companies (selected from existing listings and green rankings) provided they have a blog, Facebook page, Twitter account or YouTube channel..  If you are serious about socmed, then at least one of these options is a must-have.

Companies today are using social media "to not just communicate their sustainability stance but also to involve the public in building a better world". The main ways in which they do this include hiring experienced filmmakers, writers and reporters to tell a complicated story well, crowdsourcing, crowdfunding, creating alliances with NGOs, charities and conservation watchdogs to support common goals and raise awareness, leveraging the public through campaigns and contests, and more. Twitter is the main platform used by corporates, followed by Facebook, YouTube and a Company blog. See the full report to see who does what best. But here's a hint. The top ten in social media.

The methodology of calculating the ranking for the 100 companies in the sample is based on a score of a maximum 100 points which include the following parameters:

• Useful communication: possible 20 points
• Commitment to community: possible 20 points
• Transparency (allowing comments and replying) - 10 points
• Communicating actions not beliefs - possible 10 points
• Social media shareable CR/Sustainability Report - possible 10 points
• Regular updates of social media communication - possible 10 points
• Creative storytelling - possible 20 points

GE came out as the overall best with a score of 93 points, retaining its first place from last year because of consistent leverage of social media channels to advance the Ecomagination and Healthimagination agendas, and also because of its "App". There are actually several companies who are using Apps to make their reports accessible to a wider audience, as I mentioned in my CSRwire.com article earlier this month. Apps will become commonplace for Sustainability Reports, I have no doubt. Pretty soon we will need an App to track the Sustainability Report Apps. VF corporation made it into 7th place with 84 points (from nowhere last year) , mainly because of its Timberland acquisition. The Top Ten SocMed Swingers' best practices are profiled in the report which makes for fascinating reading and offers inspiration for companies which haven't yet staked their claim.

One thing that was of particular interest to reporting geeks like me was Matthew Yeoman's analysis entitled "10 ways to liberate the sustainability report". This year, 36% of the 100 companies reviewed in the index have used social media to "liberate their reports from the dungeons of disinterest" (wow, a little harsh, maybe? Remind me to take a look in my local dungeon for the 64% which have apparently stayed there). Anyway, 36% is more more than double the number of companies which were reported to be dungeon-free  last year. The ones who are picked out for commendation are:

• GE : for their iTunes App
• Alstom : with a shareable microsite
• Timberland: for use of social channels
• SAP: for an interactive materiality matrix
• North Face: for use of video
• Alcatel Lucent: for publishing their report on Scribd
• Danisco: for publishing on Slideshare
• UPS and McDonald's: for use of infographics
• Ford: for a sharable digital map

Finally, the report also lists the top 100 Sustainability Twitterers (among which I am proud to be counted) and I will now happily call myself a member of the Wizness Green Twitterati. 22 of the 100 are company twitter handles and 20 are NGO's. A good a #CSR #FF list as ever there was.

By now it is clear that Sustainability without Social Media is like Ice Cream without a Spoon. It's all in the delivery. The SMI-Wizness Social Media Sustainability Index will help you think about what companies are doing today to leverage their sustainability platforms through all the social media possibilities that are available. The author even offers a checklist to help companies get thinking about telling their social stories. The only thing that's missing is what flavor ice-cream the corporate bloggers prefer.

elaine cohen, CSR consultant, Sustainability Reporter, HR Professional, Ice Cream Addict. Author of CSR for HR: A necessary partnership for advancing responsible business practices Contact me via www.twitter.com/elainecohen  on Twitter or via my business website www.b-yond.biz/en  (BeyondBusiness, an inspired CSR consulting and Sustainability Reporting firm)

How transparent is your Company ?

This month saw the publication of the first Transparency Index in Israel.

This is the first ever Index of its kind in Israel (in the WORLD ?) and uses a proprietary methodology aligned with the GRI Reporting Framework to measure the website transparency of the leading 100 publicly traded Companies of the Tel Aviv 100 Index. The research was conducted by Beyond Business Ltd, the leading CSR consulting and reporting firm in Israel. (Quite a coincindence, but this is the Company i co-founded and co-manage :)) )
Transparency is a core and critical element of a sustainable Company.

The four dimensions of TRANSPARENCY which were reviewed are:

Presence of a sustainability report (50% of total score):
The publication, the type and the transparency level of sustainability, CR or CSR report, including partial focused reports, on the Company website

Transparency (30% of total score):
The presentation and degree of transparency on the website of a range of reporting topics such as: business profile and strategy, governance, CR management, ethics and human rights, stakeholder dialog, presentation of material issues, workplace, customers, marketing and products, suppliers and supply chain, community involvement and environment.

Navigation (10% of total score):
The number of click to CR subjects, search facility, aggregation of CR information on the website, menu availability and site map

Accessibility (10% of total score):
Languages, facilities for those with disabilities, contact points, additional (interactive) blog or video materials

So what did we find ?

• the level of transparency of Israeli traded companies is 31%
• the level of transparency of the leading 20 companies with 80% market value is 34%
• only 5% of Companies had a score of 50% or more
• 7% of companies had ZERO transparency
• leading transparent sector was banks – 52% median transparency
• lowest transparent sector as fashion and apparel – 7% median transparency
• smaller companies have lower transparency – bottom 10 companies demonstrated 9% transparency – 0.6% of total market value
• navigation has the highest relative score (50%) , then accessibility (34%). Relatively only 24% of content is actual CR related disclosures.
  
  The most transparent companies:
  1. Bank Hapoalim
  2. Strauss Group
  3. Bank Leumi
  4. Partner Communications
  5. Oil Refineries

Transparency Awards were presented to these 5 Companies at the Third Israeli Reporting Conference on 4th May 2009 in Caesarea, Israel.

A full summary of the Transparency Index results will be published on the Beyond Business website within the next week. For further details, or to commission a transparency index for your Company or market, please contact me at elainec@b-yond.biz

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

What does transparency have to do with Blushing Apples ?

Quiz Number 1
What is an Apple Cinnamon scented candle made of ?

1. Apples and Cinnamon
2. Parrafin Wax, Stabilizer, Dye, Fragrance
3. All of the above
4. None of the above

Answer : here

Yes, a superb new website from SC Johnson called What's inside discloses the ins and outs (well, mostly ins) of the contents of all of their homecare products, with plain language explanations for the uninitiated (I did a semester of Chemistry at Open University, once, so of course it's all perfectly clear to me).

Quiz number 2:

What is Benzisothiazolinone?

1. An antibiotic for people suffering from fear of long words
2. An exotic vacation resort in Southern Argentina
3. A preservative that protects a product against microbial growth, to maintain product performance
4. An addictive beverage that enhances immortality

Answer: here

Quiz number 3:

What on earth is this quiz all about?

1. Elaine is bored
2. You are bored
3. Blogging is boring
4. The fact that SC Johnson has created a super website where everyone can take an interest in the ingredients that go into the household products we use evey day in our homes, and make considered consumer choices about what to purchase and what not. This represents a major step forward in transparency and I hope that consumers will reward SC Jonson with their purchasing power, and demand that other manufacturers do the same.

Answer : hint: not 1,2 or 3

So thumbs up to SCJ. Remains only for them to include more details on this website of their policies for responsible sourcing of all these ingredients and associated packaging components.

And a final quiz:

The final quiz:

Was this post of interest ?

1. Absolutely
2. Absolutely
3. Absolutely
4. Absolutely

elaine

PS: top marks to SCJ for a bold approach. I guess when you can name a candle Creamy Custard and Blushing Apple Candle, anything's possible. At least if it doesnt light up the room you can serve it on a plate with Apple Pie and hope for a new gourmet experience.

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