ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the degree to which firms receiving acclaim for their leadership in corporate social responsibility (CSR) are showing the way for others, to the extent they exhibit rigorous evaluation and reporting of the social impact of their CSR activities. We do so by examining the extent and quality of data on social impact in the CSR reporting of firms atop Fortune's “Change the World” list. We searched the websites and annual reports of the top 10 2017 “Change the World” firms for all of their CSR information. To judge the quality of evidence on outputs and outcomes of each CSR intervention – whether it legitimately demonstrates causality – we used the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) methodology.
Of the 73 interventions, only six reported any outcome data at all. Instead, typical reporting is narrative in form, data that is limited, low in granularity and unclearly attributed. Even the data on the six interventions leaves ample room for improvement if meaningful evaluation is a true goal and makes internal evaluation unlikely and external evaluation essentially impossible. We suggest that greater accountability on firms, as well as collaborations between firms, stakeholders and academics, could contribute positively to improved focus on impact reporting.
