10 Most ‘Accountable’ Companies

Along with other large tobacco companies, Philip Morris (alias Altria) was found guilty of violating the RICO Act. Its PR has grown more sophisticated (and legally prudent) but that can’t be what that puts it in the Top 100 for “accountability,” is it?

A rapidly emerging issue for media conglomerates is the tobacco content of their motion pictures marketed to young people. The tobacco and film industries have a long, documented history of marketing collaboration. Sony (Columbia) currently has one of the gravest impacts, yet has no known policy to reduce kids’ exposure to imagery that, according to the National Cancer Institute, causes teens to become smokers.

Intro to this issue at this University of California web site: http:smokefreemovies.ucsf.edu.

Thanks for your provocative list.

23rd May 2008

Pollution is wasted resources. If an enterprise recycles and reuses, then it can become environmentally benign or at least start the long trek towards that goal of perfection.

Please read my article: http://www.wesnetindia.org/fileadmin/newsletter_pdf/Aug06/Waste_Management.pdf

The key enabling technology is from India: http://www.wastetohealth.com/

A socially responsible company is one that care for the environment as well of the local community, or is doing tangible efforts to achieve it and taking real steps toward that direction. It’s a company that gives the same weight to environmental issue as to generating profit. workonline

BP accountable? For what? What the heavy metals are dumpimg into Lake Michigan? And BP now asking to be allowed to dump even more? How in the right mind anyone selected BP, scary if this is ture, very frightening.

Even though it likely surprises many people, I personally was not surprised to see several of the major global oil companies on this top 10 list. In fact, prior to reviewing the list, I fully expected BP, Royal Dutch Shell and Chevron to be on that list. Their work in alternative energy is publicly known and appreciated. My hope is that they focus even harder in the Hydrogen Economy arena. An area that has the potential to unleash renewable energy sources in a way that cannot be compared. Using our renewable energy resources efficiently will result in resource conservation as well as environmental cleansing. Some of their present work in this area is impressive, and hopefully is just the tip of the iceberg. Their participation, along with needed participation of the other major oil companies, is crucial to our energy, resource conservation, and environmental future.

Let’s save the oil and gas we have to make things. And be smarter about the methods we use to produce energy. We only have so much to work with.

Where are State Street

*ANY* company they select; someone will come on here and blast them, not one company is immune.

In response to Paul Begley’s post on Nov 2.

I think I didn’t phrase myself well enough here. What I would like to see is a “Least accountable Top 10.” Tell the public what Fortune 100 companies are doing that damages the planet. Preferably compared to other companies in their sector who are making an effort to be “green”. There’s nothing like a healthy dose of negative publicity to get a company’s attention.

Picking up herb’s query, my understanding is that Cargill is not included in the Global 500 list because of uncertainty about its revenue data, as a privately held company. It would evidently be big enough to feature in our Accountability Rating and it would be interesting to see how it performs.

BP’s effort to gain approval to dump more toxins into Lake Michigan makes the company less than admirable. Despicable is more like it.

“Rather than advertising why don’t you look at percentage investment in Green energies as oppposed to traditional carbon producing energies?” – Posted By Michael T. Thousand Oaks Ca

How does using Green energy make a company accountable?

I do not care about corporate accountability. Corporations do not owe anything to anyone. They are in existence simply to provide goods and services to paying customers. Any incentive or charitable gift they give is done just for the heck of it. The environment is only the government’s responsibilty, not citizens and corporations. As long as a company is profitable, they are totally accountable.

Picking up a point many have made, the public outcry in Illinois about BP’s Whiting Island refinery pollution permits since July 2007 will surely be picked up in the controversies section of the 2008 Rating (our assessment year runs July-June). We would also expect to see big changes in 2008 resulting from the Daimler sale of Chrysler. Both groups have very high smog and carbon emitting vehicles in their range, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists, but Daimler is more aggressively targeting emissions from its diesel engines, both in the US and in Europe. But bear in mind, ‘accountability’ is a broader concept than ‘low fleet emissions’ as measured by UCS.

why not cargill

Citi, out of 100 listed, should be 101.

I see many stupid responses here.

If you guys have problems with oil companies and car companies, you should not use gasoline or drive cars. I see that none of you have any solutions to the “problems” that these companies cause. This is because these companies do not cause problems. Auto and oil companies directly and indirectly provide the human race with energy, food, clothing, shelter and opportunities for advancement.

I bet that none of you that are complaining really care about the environment. If a new SUV, truck, or car was $5,000-$7,500 or if gas was $1.00-$1.70 a gallon, you would have no complaints. Stop giving in to the trend of ‘going green’. The environment is not in a bad condition. You all are only up in arms because you have seen so many news reports on environmentalism.

American corporations can do no wrong as long as they are profitable.

I am intriuged by Michael T’s suggestion. We will have a look at hard data indicators like this in 2008.

Dear Accountability Staff:

Please reconcile how the BP attempts to increase their toxic dumping into Lake Michigan this summer factor into your #1 ranking. No mention of it in the article means 1) you did not know of it; or 2) you knew of it and thought it a small issue. Or perhaps, (hopefully) there is a reasonable #3 answer.

So HBOS is now so powerful that it’s a country – Alex Salmond is its First Minister apparently.
He is of course First Minister of Scotland!!

Daimler Chrysler, according to a report by the Union of Concerned Scientists, has the worst fleet-wide fuel efficiency of the major auto manufacturers. It’s hard to picture such a company rating highly in any “responsibility” evaluation.

There is a lot of vehemence towards many of the companies at the top of the list.

However, some objectivity has been provided by other posts.

The bottom line is there are companies that are in the business of providing goods that are, unfortunately, negatively impacting our world. Because of the nature of their business does not disqualify them from inclusion.

Also, considering what they do and the volume in which they conduct their business, the law of averages will produce some incidents. Now, I’m not agreeing that they can do better, but understanding the nature of these companies businesses is a consideration of their CSR.

HBOS is one of racist banks in scotland… what you see is not what really is..try to experience by yourself.

What were the factors that were used to score?

I do not think this most accountable companies makes any sense when there are most of the top oil companies in this indiex. For some companies you praise its advertizsing programs. Rather than advertising why don’t you look at percentage investment in Green energies as oppposed to traditional carbon producing energies?

The whole thing is BULL. What about Berkshire-Hathaway!

Thanks Nick, it is worth looking outside the top 10 to see the major themes in the Rating. One of the interesting aspects this year is how the three main regions perform: companies headquartered in Europe lead the way and there are good performances from the 15 companies headquartered in Asia. Is this a pattern that you have been able to observe from Japan?

Good observation, Dave. Clearly, risk management is a major driver for many companies to invest in strong accountability systems. HSBC is a great example here, with its work on understanding climate change risks and opportunities. But General Electric and HP also come high up the G100 list with strong offerings in responsible innovation (GE with Eco-imagination, HP with Halo videoconferencing).

We all know companies are in business to make money. And we all recognize that without oil our entire infrastructure would quickly come to a screeching halt. We “blockheads” are simply stating our surprise and shock that BP would be ranked number one. I agree, change should start at a personal/local level, but I do not see the prudence in rewarding companies who have failed miserably in maintaining their end of the bargain. If past performance is any indicator of future performance, Beyond Petroleum has a long way to go before anyone really takes them serious.

Hello Simon,

You know I’m a fan of AccountAbility in general, and while I haven’t studied the methodology for this list in detail, I have to admit it seems an odd Top 10. Banks, Petrochem and Automotive? They have to be paying attention from a risk management perspective. What about the companies doing this out of a sense of responsibility or opportunity? I give it up for Vodafone on your list.

BP = Pipeline problem in Alaska b/c of a lack of pipe line integrity programs; $320MM fine for manipulating propane market and others; Texas City refinery tragedy b/c of flawed safety/mgmt procedures that resulted employee deaths and another large fine. Fortune this ranking really highlights a flaw in your procedure. There are better examples in the energy industry of accountable companies.

Isn’t it interesting how the companies in one list of top ten ’saints’ can overlap with other people’s view of the top ’sinners’? But, of course, as Gary from San Francisco says it is companies in the most dangerous, dirty and high profile industries that have most incentive to clean up and to be seen to do it, so perhaps it is not so surprising.

I’m a former employee of AccountAbility. Still the outraged comments at BP coming top of this rating, are understandable – especially when you look at the
rating results themselves – which show that BP doesn’t even make it into the top ten on IMPACT rating, but does well on STRATEGY, GOVERNANCE and ENGAGEMENT.

Does this mean they are good at saying the right thing, but it makes no difference to their practises on the ground? Or does it mean that they are doing all the right things to improve their impacts in the future?

The Fortune100 represents the world’s largest companies by revenue. The accountability leaders on this list are the companies that have learned to balance their raison d’etre of creating value for shareholders and addressing the wider needs of their remaining stakeholders. Working for AccountAbility in China, I have seen a dramatic change in the number and quality of Chinese CSR reports. These reports are not perfect and are not uniform across sectors, but they go a long way in advancing transparency and fostering dialogue both within and outside corporations. This year’s Accountability Rating is also the first to integrate data from 3rd parties into the rating, which signals a new era for the standardization, measurability, and enabling of responsible corporate behavior. As with all of our work, AccountAbility welcomes comments about methodologies, but criticism of corporations who make this list might best be saved for their CSR departments or those in charge of stakeholder engagement. Those companies who have been the most heavily criticized are also the ones who respond most quickly to the threats posed by coordinated citizen action such as boycotts or other forms of negative publicity.

This has to be a joke, right? Five out of ten of the top ten companies are either oil companies or auto manufacturers and they are environmentaly accountable? Who’s paying off who here? Let’s face it, we are in a environmental “meltdown” with no end in sight at this moment. It seems socially irresponsible to rate these carbon producers/emmitters as environmentally accountable.

What about the bottom ten? Ever year we hear of executive-level initiatives to give oil-manufacturers a better image. What consumers want to know is who’s products and services should be avoided.

GEEZ what companies did you expect to find on this list…these of some of the world’s biggest…and maybe have bad past records.. BUT at least we are having the dialog…moving in a new direction. LIGHTEN up…OK you critics name some companies..I don’t mean your local grocer.

There seem to be some misunderstandings of the rating. This is a rating of the 100 largest companies. So there are probably more accountable companies out there, but they aren’t in the G-100.

There seems to be a real reluctance to accept oil (and auto) companies as accountable. Certainly these companies have some real issues that they need to deal with and I think the low scores reflect this. But I think probably all of the G-100 companies have real issues. Oil companies have more tangible impacts and so tend to get more coverage. So the challenge that the Accountability Rating has taken on is to get past the perception and media coverage, and to assess comparable, objective metrics.

I don’t think anybody cares, at least the majority do not. The reason you see oil companies and auto manufacturers on the list is because they are doing SOMETHING rather than nothing. The same cannot be said for the masses out there, including you blockheads that are claiming foul. Here’s a headline, companies are in business to make money. And they make money because we are addicted to oil. As a society, we don’t want to do anything about sustainability- and won’t until it’s too late (who do you think gave BP permission to dump more garbage into Lake Michigan? We, the people). Get a grip on reality. I guarantee, of the 40 some responses here, 75% of you have at least two cars that average less than 20 MPG, 50% of you don’t recycle. Instead of railing against big companies that are only giving you what you want why don’t you change yourself… and then work on your neighbor. Alas, you won’t do that because it’s too hard or you’ll have to give something up. It’s alot easier to blame somebody else, espeically big bad corporations.

Remarkable that the only mention of employee satisfaction has to do with the bonus paid to senior managers.

Just to clarify the point raised by Michael O of Bloomington. We set out to rate the accountability of all the Global 100 largest corporations. By definition this group includes the large oil and auto companies, as well as lower impact giants in banking. Take a look at the full G100 list and see how we rate all the companies.

RE: Exxon’s last quarter numbers require no comment regarding the so-called accountability ratings: “The company spent $5.4 billion on efforts to find new oil in the quarter” and “Exxon Mobil said net income fell to $9.41 billion”. Give me a break – accountability to the CEO’s pockets would be a more truthful description of this list.

Mark Twain, in Letters to the Earth had a brilliant letter from an archangel to a coal tycoon. It congratulated him on his gift of 25 cents to be given to the poor. His gift was seen as so much greater than those who were poorer but gave more, because of the pain it must have caused him. Perhaps this was the method used to rate BP and Chevron so highly.

Fortune must have a surplus of credibility to be able to have such a list dominated by companies whose very business model is inherently a problem (cars environmentally friendly, oil environmentally friendly, …)

And the winner is…,HSBC! Their refusal to lend to weapons manufacturers has to be either the finest example of crass marketing or sheer dunderheadedness. This should be no surprise, however, coming from a company headquartered in a country ensconced beneath the skirts of the USA.

Good for Shell and BP. Now what about the other big players in the oil industry? Most of them are recording record profits as well. What are they doing (or not doing) to make Fortune’s “most accountable” list?

BP has the most deceptive self-promoting ads on TV. The depiction of “consumers” rivals the FEMA phony news conference. What about the recently disclosed horrible condition of their pipelines? BP is an oil company first,last, and always.

BP????? I agree with Sean. BP is too busy dumping toxic waste to be accountable to anyone but shareholders, let alone the environment. Let face facts the shareholders are driving this mess and they are as greedy if not more so than the companies that they invest in. We all know shareholders don’t hold companies accountable for anything but profits. Get a grip Fortune

So maybe things have changed (maybe…), but #1 after multiple explosions?

“US Agency Says Cost Cutting, Ignored Warnings Caused BP Explosion that Killed 15…”

These awards seem like a publicity gimmick. Why are auto makers still manufacturing large fuel guzzling vehicles? They not only use more fossil fuel to run but ALSO use more fossil fuel and natrual resources to make. I owned a car in the 70’s that consistently got 50 MPG (diesel fuel).

What a JOKE! Oil Companies top your list with skyrocketing profits while pump prices skyrocket and they plunder the environment!!
Did the White House select them?
I’m surprized BLACKWATER is not on the list.

It’s interesting, none of the companies in the top 10 would appear in the portfolios of most SRI Investment Firms.

I was very surprised to see HSBC on the list. As a former employee, I know there are many things that go on there that are not in the best interest of their customers. HSBC at a corporate level does a fine job, but they should really look into the lending practices of their business units HFC / Beneficial and look at the management of that unit. Accountability is the absolutely last word that would come into my mind with HSBC unless the word lack of preceded the statement.

Former Employee

This is the biggest farce ever. There is no way Shell Oil should even be near this list, let alone on it. This company is ruthless in its attempt to gain rights to drill in very environmentally sensitive areas and leaving nothing for the people whose land they spoil. So these oil companies do a little research on some alternative energy and plant a couple trees and they are heros??? In the mean time they are tearing up other places, more than offsetting any good that they probably reluctantly did just so they can get on a stupid, meaningless list like this for show. If I were the other companies on this list, I would be extremely embarrassed.

To pick up on Nick’s point, petroleum refining companies make up one in six of the Global 100 corporations. We have rated all of them. Some of them, often after massive pressure from environmental and social campaigners, have invested seriously in systems to become more accountable.

By , you mean those companies that have the most to account for, right?

I am very surprised to see that BP has been rated as the #1 most socially and environmentally accountable company. Did we already forget what happened in the Texas City when 13 people lost their lives? This was a result of BP ignoring to perform proper maintenance on a problem that was previously identified and a lack of safety procedure during start up and turnarounds. Safety of their employees in the field should be a No.1 priority for social responsibility and BP has failed miserably. What about the pipeline failures time after time because of lack of maintenance? A catastrophic failure of a pipeline can take out a whole neighborhood. Voting BP as #1 in Accountability is an insult to all the other companies.

I am horrified by the companies on tis list. Do human rights not cont as a criteria for “accountability?” Several of these companies, such as Shell and Chevron, partner with paramilitary forces that torture and kill innocent people in other countries. They should not be on this list.

Did you mean the 10 worst accountable companies?

Chevron is one company in the State of Oklahoma that has underpaid royalty owners over ONE Billion dollars. Chevron’s new TV add is a joke. Placing Chevron on your list discredits the whole list. Did they buy you off also?

BP must have ponied up some recent ad dollars. A plant explosion in Texas City which claimed 15 lives and a pipeline leak in Alaska that dumped 910,000 litres of crude into the Artic Ocean and they are now recognized as an “accountable” company. I think it is time we rethink the definition of accountability. Is BP really trying to make a socially responsive statement or are they merely reacting to bad press.

Yet another gullible consumer sucked in by BP’s feel good advertising. So what if they killed 15 people in a Texas refinery and spewed crude for extended periods out of an Alaskan pipeline, both incidents due to an egregious lack of fundamental maintenance. And after all, cornering the propane market to artificially jack up prices is what any responsible company would do, right? BP will spend nearly as much on fines related to these incidents than it will on environmental projects it claims it will fund over the next ten years.

Look at what companies do, not what they say they are going to do.

I can’t speak to the other companies, but as a retired employee of Barclays Bank, I was involved in re-developing and re-structuring systems for responsible credit lending and managing credit risk in the mid 90s. This was more than 10 years before the current credit crunch and was a remarkable far-looking strategy puting long term accountability and customer service way ahead of immediate bottom line profit. Not to mention that such strategy also brings long term profitability through bad times as well as good! Also for as long as I can remember, Barclays has been a responsible corporate contributor to community charities and environmental causes.

I am pleased to see they have received some recognition.

How can BP be #1 when they want to increase its toxic dumpage into Lake Michigan? If anything they should be #1 on the list of companies to BOYCOTT for its disregard for the environment and for its neighbors.

BP, are you kidhing? BP has been talking green for years – but that should be spelled “greeD”. Thier neglect of safety spending blew up a plant in Texas city and caused a huge Alaska pipeline leak….

This is the most ridiculous article I have ever read. Your definition is “accountable” is completely subjective. How many oil companies do you have on here? What about companies that have, all along, had a mission of producing environment friendly substances, like biodiesel?

Sounds like you are saying BP has the highest accountability score because of its accountability to its shareholders rather than to its responsiveness to general social needs or more democratic control.

Let’s define accountability more carefully.

I think it’s great that articles are being written about socially and environmentally responsible companies and that rankings are being assigned.

However, I have to wonder how much Fortune is being paid by the lobbyists for these companies. How can you have 3 oil companies and 2 car companies in the top ten and then rounded out by a firm that makes it easier to find oil and a bunch of banks who don’t acctually produce a product? I think America has lost perspective. Maybe Fortune conveniently sidestepped BP’s involvement in Indiana where they were given an exception to release more pollutants into Lake Michigan in an effort to refine even more oil.

Are you kidding? Fortune had its head in the beach the past 6 months as BP was trying to get away with dumping thousands of more gallons of toxic mercury and waste per DAY into Lake Michigan? #1 on this list discredits the entire list.

What is the basis for determining these companies are accountable. A couple of good characteristics don’t make up to it. Mention some examples that these companies practice and how that translates to accountability. Not practices that have led to profits.

You guys need to do better research. It was ConocoPhillips making a deal with Tyson on turning animal fat into diesel not Chevron.

Shell? Are you serious Fortune? Maybe by some formulaic analysis they scored high, but what about their destruction of rainforests and indiginous tribal lands and villages in South America – does that not count towards “accountability”. This is a sham that makes me dissapointed in the brand.

None of these examples are anything that does not contribute to short term profit goals. A company should be given credit for making a difference outside its area of profitability to get credit for being more “accountable”.

Simple example: BP campus in Houston did not have recycling for bottles/ paper/ cans at their food court (last time I was there).

BP only acts socially responsible where the jurisdiction requires it (when they have to).

Very political process. Does not carry any objective weight.

You just lost all credibility with me with the inclusion of BP. This is a Halloween trick right? Let me remind you that this is the company that repeatedly failed to inspect and update their facilities which led to several deaths and environmental damage.

GREAT! It fantastic to see big media giving free publicity to mega corps that are moving in the right direction. Especially those that give their managers a real reason to act responsibly, even when the cameras aren’t rolling,… their pay.

Interesting to note that even #1 is only rated at “75″. Shows there’s alot more room for improvement.

Kudos to you, Fortune. Keep pubilizing the positive! There’s always enough negativity to go around… witness the last poster’s very “helpful” comment…NOT.

Where’s the companies that make electricity with nuclear power? Most of these “feel good” accounts are simply window dressing. Shell, BP come on!

Majority of the most accountable companies are European. Where are the American corporations?

This is a joke, right? All about bottom line for these corps.

Are you kidding me? BP, Shell, and Chevron? You sure didn’t look too hard.

Do you invest in socially responsible companies?

Have you worked for any of these companies, or bought their products or services?

What do you think of the corporations on Fortune’s Most Accountable Companies list?