NEWSWEEK.COM 25
Methodology
Our corporate ranking was
a four-phase process.
First, we created a pool of
candidates. We selected the
000 largest public companies
by revenue in the U.S.Ŝbanks
and insurance companies
were measured by total assets
more than $50 billion.
Next we screened. Only
companies that had published a
document the same or similar to a
Corporate Responsibility Report
were considered (Corporate
Citi]en Report or Sustainability
Report, for example). Some
companies whose primary
business is in the defense
industry were eliminated as were
companies involved in lawsuits or
government regulatory actions.
Part three of the process was a
detailed analysis of the companies
consisting of two parts. The ɿrst
We focused on publically available
performance data in the envi-
ronmental, social and corporate
governance categories. We also
conducted a survey, asking ,500
US citi]ens about their percep-
tions of the companies related to
corporate social responsibility.
All elements were weighted
to produce a ɿnal score. For the
methodology in detail please
visit http://www.newsweek.com.companies, we all know, need to make a profit to
prosper and survive. Making a buck, after all, is import-
ant to investors, employees and vendors. But over the
years, executives have come to realize that they need to
do much more. That is, by giving back to the communi-
ties they operate in and standing up as good neighbors
and citizens. As one expert said in our opening essay(See page 12): “No public company in the world would
last a week if the only people they cared about were shareholders.” With that
mind, we partnered with global data research firm Statista Inc. to publish
our first ranking of America’s Most Responsible Companies. As you will see
from our description of the methodology, Statista worked from a universe
of 2000 public companies to determine which firms were tops when it came
to doing good. Here are the 300 best. ƹ Nancy Cooper, Global Editor-in-Chief