Most Admired Companies, But Are They Responsible?
This week, Fortune Magazine released their list of the world's most admired companies. It got me to thinking. Does social and environmental responsibility get factored into our judgement of companies, or are other things (like good product design and efficient service) simply more important?
Let's have a look TOP PERFORMERS on the list:
1. Apple - no outstanding CSR/sustainability track record, or am I wrong?
2. General Electric - launched Eco-Imagination a few years back.
3. Toyota - Leader in fuel efficient, low emission cars like the Prius.
4. Berkshire Hathaway - Not really on the radar screen for me.
5. Procter & Gamble - leaders in innovation, but what kind?
Fortune does have a COMMUNITY/ENVIRONMENT category. The best are:
1. United Parcel Service - I don't know enough to comment.
2. Anheuser-Busch - Ditto.
3. General Electric - Fair enough.
But are these really better than our other CSR/sustainability "hero" companies?
A look at the INDUSTRY SECTOR "winners" is even more worrying:
1. For Petroleum Refining, Exxon Mobil tops the list (as they do for Financial Soundness and Use of Assets, coming 2nd for Long-Term Investment). Well, we all know their reputation, built on the Exxon Valdez spill and their legacy of climate change denial and lobbying against the Kyoto Protocol.
2. In Mining, Crude Oil Production, Occidental Petroleum is first. So where are the multinationals with more of a CSR/sustainability profile, like BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto? They come in 3rd and 6th.
So what does this say about the importance of CSR/sustainability in the way we view companies? Clearly, it's a mixed bag. To me, these rankings show that "responsible" and "sustainable" companies can be among the most admired, but somewhat depressingly, so can the most irresponsible and unsustainable companies.
What do you think?
POSTED BY WayneVisser.com AT 3/15/2008 8:02 AM
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Name: WayneVisser.com
Location: UK
This is not so much a diary as (in the spirit of blogging) where I share random thoughts as and when I think I have something vaguely interesting to say.
This is also the place where I will flag what's new on my website - www.waynevisser.com - especially new writing, poems and art, as they are loaded.
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