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