Rich -
Here are my quick thoughts. Four possible options come immediately to mind,
not all equally reliable, simple or accurate.
1. Rankings in Business Ethics Magazine's annual 100 Most Responsible
Companies (not the exact name)list, prepared by Sandra Waddock and Samuel
Graves at Boston College, using data from KLD. Strengths - most quantifiable,
multi-stakeholder approach. Weaknesses - doesn't list all firms in an
industry and only 100 overall.
2. Co-op America's Responsible Shopper <www.responsibleshopper.org> Strengths -
lists multiple companies in an industry using a similar format. Weaknesses -
largely anecdotal, makes no attempt at weighting.
3. Compare companies social reports using the Global Reporting Initiative
guidelines. Strengths - common format, relatively small number of metrics to
compare. Weaknesses - use of GRI is not yet widespread, its still self-
reporting.
4. Compare each company's own social/environmental/sustainability report,
supplemented by web searches about each company's social & environmental
performance. Strengths - more data than any of the other approaches.
Weaknesses - a lot more time and the difficulty of the reliability of the
information (both pro or con)
Gordon
Gordon Rands
Associate Professor of Management
Western Illinois University
Macomb, IL 61455
Quoting "Leimsider, Rich" <
Rich.Leimsider@ASPENINST.ORG>:
> [Please excuse the cross posting]
>
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> Hi all-
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> I'm working on a project with the national MBA Career Services Council,
> and they've asked if there are fairly simple resources that provide
> briefings on a firm's overall social/environmental impact record.
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> The idea is to encourage graduating students to better understand a
> firm's level of engagement on a host of issues, prior to deciding where
> to take a job. (For example, if a student knows they want to work in
> consumer marketing in the beverage industry, and they really care about
> the environment, should they go to Coke or Pepsi?)
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> Feel free to reply to me directly.
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> Rich
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>
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> --------------------
>
> Rich Leimsider
>
> Senior Program Associate, MBA Curriculum Change
>
> Aspen Institute Business and Society Program
>
> 212.895.8010
>
>
www.aspenbsp.org
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www.caseplace.org <http://www.caseplace.org>
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www.beyondgreypinstripes.org
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