Measuring Magnanimity

As the demand for information about corporate do-gooding has skyrocketed, so too has the number of websites comparing companies' social consciousness. From the Dow Jones Sustainability Index to Do the Right Thing, everyone has a method for measuring social responsibility. Too much of a good thing measuring good things? According to the Harvard Business Review, "the existing cacophany of self-appointed scorekeepers does little more than add to the confusion...The result is a jumble of largely meaningless rankings, allowing almost any company to boast that it meets some measure of social responsibility - and most do." This doesn't mean social responsibility isn't worth measuring. David Cohn at newassignment.net summarizes Harvard Business Review's solution as this: to give the consumers, employees and everyday people the tools to rate a company’s social impact. This is exactly what the CBM Corporate Giving Index, described in my book, does.
-Steve Adler