Rating America's Corporate Conscience: A Provocative Guide To The Companies Behind The Products You Buy Every Day

Reveals the social performance of 131 corporations providing a detailed discussion of each company's policies and issues

This is billed as a guide for consumers that rates corporations by various political, social and economic criteria. Among the issues: corporate contributions to PACs (divided by party) and their records on "social disclosure"; military contracts (divided into conventional and nuclear categories); and so forth. Some 130 companies are evaluated by industry and discussed in short chapters, then rated on easy-to-read charts. Among oil companies, for example, the authors prefer Amoco and ARCO, giving ARCO a slight edge because it has two women on the board as opposed to Amoco's lack of representation, and ARCO makes more charitable contributions than Amoco. In other categories the two companies rate the same: each has one minority board member, neither is involved in South Africa, neither has nuclear weapons-related contracts. This is a thorough, informative look at corporate responsibility but must be accompanied by product guides a la Consumer Reports so that readers can make a full judgment on purchases. ARCO and Amoco may have a social conscience, but do they also have good deals at the pumps?
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

This massive study by the Council on Economic Priorities examines the social conscience of some 130 major consumer product companies in food, health and personal care, airlines, autos, hotels, oil, appliances, and household products. Data are present in discussions of each company's record of social responsibility and in product/brand charts where corporate performance on South Africa, nuclear and conventional arms contracts, charitable contributions, representation of women and minorities, and PAC activity are rated. Also listed are funds that specialize in social investments. Intended as a reference for consumers, this study will also interest business and academic libraries. Elin B. Christianson, Library Consultant, Hobart, Ind.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.