• Embed Doc
  • Copy Link
  • Readcast
  • Collections
  • CommentGo Back
Download
 
Lundquist S.r.l. – Piazza XXV aprile 1, 20121 Milan, Italy – Tel +39 02 4547 7682 – csr@lundquist.it
   C   S   R   O  n   l   i  n  e   A  w  a  r   d  s   G  e  r  m  a  n  y
   2   0   0   9
Lundquist CSR Online Awards ‘Germany 2009’
: the best companies for online CSR communications
Top German companies stand out globally for online CSR communications.
Research nds Henkel, Adidas and Bayer have the best websites.
Consumer products company Henkel wins the CSR Online Awards ‘Germany 2009’, aranking of the best online CSR communications from components of the DAX 30 index.Sports equipment maker Adidas and chemicals company Bayer tie for second place.German companies perform well at an international level even though many communicateonly basic CSR information; most fail to make use of interactivity to engender dialogue.
Milan, 07 December 2009 -
The results of the CSR Online Awards ‘Germany 2009’,
a study of online CSR communications conducted by nancial communications
consultancy Lundquist, have been published today in
Handelsblatt
, revealinghow Germany’s leading companies perform in communicating corporate socialresponsibility (CSR) on the internet.With the aim of stimulating debate about the importance of 
the web as astrategic tool for corporate responsibility
, the study evaluated how well the30 components of the DAX index use their corporate websites as a platform for CSR communication. Each website was assessed using a set of 76 evaluationcriteria, drawn up on the basis of a survey conducted by Lundquist of 
184 CSRprofessionals and sector experts from 30 different countries
.
German leaders in online CSR communications
Henkel
, with 67.5 points out of a maximum of 100, won rst place thanks to a
website providing not only core content such as CSR policies and environmentalcommitment but also covering topics that many others ignore, such associally responsible investments, human resources and membership of CSRassociations.
Adidas
and
Bayer 
paired up at second place with 61 points eachwhile
RWE
(60.5),
E.ON
(60) and
Basf 
(59.5) fell just short of the podium.Beyond the top performers, many of the companies studied provide only alimited range of pertinent information online and fail to use the web to its fullpotential.
The average score was 42.8 points
out of 100: German companiesperformed best in providing environmental information and CSR/sustainability
reports; they were weakest at giving contact information, interactivity and CSR
resources, news and events.
“German companies need to provide a broader range of information about their CSR activities and also learn to use the internet to engage stakeholders,” 
said
James Osborne
, head of CSR communications at Lundquist.
“Companies arefailing to take advantage of a powerful tool just when public scrutiny of corporateresponsibility is at its highest.” 
CSR Online Awards ‘Global Leaders 2009’
It is useful to compare the German results with the wider ‘
Global Leaders
’ ranking,
which assessed 91 companies recognised for their success in sustainability. Theaverage German score was only 7.1 points short of the average for these 91‘sustainability leaders’ (49.4 points).
Looking more specically at the 13 German companies included in the global
research project, they scored on average 54.6 points. By comparison, the 21British companies included on average received 53.5 points while the sevenfrom Switzerland got 50.8 points on average.
Asia-based
companies (43.4) andthose in the
Americas
(43.6) performed well below average.
CSR Online Awards‘Germany 2009’
- Study of online CSRcommunications- the 30 components of theDAX index- 76 evaluation criteria- 100 points maximum- 42.8 points average score- 184 replies to survey fromCSR professionals in 30countries
Top 10 “Germany 2009”1. Henkel (67.5 points)
2= Adidas (61)2= Bayer (61)4. RWE (60.5)5. E.ON (60)6. Basf (59.5)7. Allianz (58)8. BMW (57)9= Siemens (55.5)
9= Volkswagen (55.5)
1
Top 10 “Global awards”1. Eni - ITA (84.5 points)
2. UBS - CH (66.5)3. Royal Dutch Shell - UK(63.5)4. Rio Tinto - UK (62)5= BHP Billiton - AUS (61.5)5= Tesco - UK (61.5)7= Adidas - GER (61)
7= ANZ Banking Group
- AUS (61)7= Bayer - GER (61)
7= Kingsher - UK (61)
Seminar & awards
First global CSR Online
Awards seminar took place
in Milan on November 4,attracting 40 listed compa-nies.For more information pleasevisit:www.lundquist.it
 
Lundquist S.r.l. – Piazza XXV aprile 1, 20121 Milan, Italy – Tel +39 02 4547 7682 – csr@lundquist.it
Italian oil & gas company
Eni
, with 84.5 points, won a comfortable rst place in the ‘Global Leaders’ ranking.
Alongside with CSR commitments and environmental policies, Eni provides hard facts about its operations,
plus case studies and future targets. Swiss bank
UBS
took second position with 66.5 points while
Royal DutchShell
’s 63.5 points were enough to secure the Anglo-Dutch oil major third place.
The ‘Global Leaders’ classication took into consideration all members of the Dow Jones Sustainability World80 Index plus the top-scoring companies for 2008-09 in each sector of the wider Dow Jones Sustainability
Index (so-called supersector leaders).
“We assessed recognised world leaders in CSR but didn’t nd across-the-board excellence in online
communication,” 
added James Osborne.
“Many companies are stuck in an ‘ofine’ mode of disclosure and 
reporting, with little space for feedback and dialogue. Despite the enormous amount of information companies publish on the web, many of these sustainability ‘leaders’ fail to effectively meet the needs of their audiences.” 
The top three German companies were presented with their awards at an event held in Milan on November 4, along with recognition of the top performing companies in Italy and Switzerland as well as those from the
‘Global Leaders’ classication.
For further information
Further information on the CSR Online Awards and other research projects by Lundquist can be found at
 
http://www.lundquist.itand athttp://www.slideshare.net/Lundquistsr 
l
2
ContactsResearch team
James OsborneHead of CSR communications james.osborne@lundquist.itTo order a copy of the full report or a company assessment,write to:csr@lundquist.itAndrea Di TuriVesna DokicStefano FrigerioJoakim LundquistSara Rusconi
Alessia Sofentini
Federico TronconiCristina Urban
 
Lundquist S.r.l. – Piazza XXV aprile 1, 20121 Milan, Italy – Tel +39 02 4547 7682 – csr@lundquist.it
3
1. Main results
When comparing results with the most important aspects of online CSR communications,on the basis of the answers received in our survey of CSR experts and professionals
(see page 8), we nd:• 50% was the average score for the reporting section overall• 63% of companies have a report archive of least four years• 73% present a code of ethics on the corporate website• 93% present an environmental commitment or policy• 87% publish environmental case studies• 83% express their community involvementThe overall average score of 42.8 points out of 100 masks a situation where there were
many individual areas of excellence (companies scoring highly in certain areas) but fewcompanies were excellent in many areas. There were many examples of best practicethat went even beyond our criteria; but very few companies did well consistently.Most scores were bunched up around the average. In terms of a ‘rating’ system with one
to ve levels for online CSR communications, most companies surveyed get three (see
chart below).Even the way of naming the CSR section itself is still debated. The top 30 German companieshave 10 different ways of labelling the section of 
their websites. Even so, 56% of the companies
choose ‘sustainability’ (either by itself or in
combination with other terms like ‘commitment’ and
‘development’). The second most-used label was
‘corporate responsibility’, chosen by ve companies.
It’s all about the environment
 
The environment is one of the three pillars of triplebottom-line accounting (along with social andeconomic factors) and, from a communicationspoint of view, it is still the driving force behindsustainability. This conclusion is supported bythe fact that all companies scored highly in theenvironment section.
The average score in the environment section was 62% of the maximum (3.7 points out of 6), with six websites
scoring full points. This was by far the highest-scoring section related to CSR content. Companies scored particularly
well on presenting their environmental commitment and case studies, and 67% described an environmental
management system.
Industry overview
 
The best-performing industries in the research as a whole were
•
Consumer goods and services
(an average of 48.9 for eight companies, topped by
Henkel
with 67.5 points)
•
Basic materials and utilities
(an average of 48.2 for seven companies, led by
Bayer 
with 61 points)
•
Technology and telecommunications
(44.5 on average for two companies led by
Deutsche Telekom
at 47points)At the bottom of the table was
•
Health care
(an average of 27.1 for three companies, topped by
Merck KGAA
on 38.5)
Top performers in…CSR policy:
Henkel
Reporting:
Bayer 
Community:
Adidas
SRI:
Henkel
Visual communications &language:
Adidas, E.ON,
RWE, Volkswagen
Navigability &accessibility:
Salzgitter 
Interactivity:
Bayer, E.ON
Staff & contacts:
Henkel
 Source: CSR Online Awards 2009
0102030405060708080+60 - 8020 - 4040 - 60< 201%0%16%17%66%43%33%14%2%7%% of “Global leaders”% of German companies
Chart 1: Performance of German companies in comparison to
‘Global leaders’ divided into ve categories
of 00

Leave a Comment

You must be to leave a comment.
Submit
Characters: ...
You must be to leave a comment.
Submit
Characters: ...