STING preparing to publish latest Corporate Accountability Index

STING Consultants Corporate Accountability Index first published in 2009 and now in its 4th year, is gearing up for its next publication, which will be released in February 2012. Sri Lanka’s largest listed companies have been provided with feedback forms in preparation for this, which will be used in this evaluation.

The Index, which is now well accepted amongst Sri Lankan corporates, is based on an extensive annual research study that is conducted amongst both listed and unlisted companies. The pool of listed companies include the top 50 companies in revenue, which are evaluated through publicly available information, as well as the 10 largest Government enterprises, but it is also open to large private companies who would need to submit their information based on the feedback form. This process provides an opportunity for companies to enter voluntary submissions which are then used in conjunction with an independent study.

According to STING Consultants’ Tiara Anthonisz, Head of Strategic Corporate Responsibility, the purpose of this annual assessment of corporate sustainability practices “is to further the debate on sustainable business, identify and reward best practices, and encourage healthy competition amongst companies, motivating them to create tomorrow’s value”.

“The rating focuses on the systems and practices that underlie corporate sustainability performance. In doing so, it is assessing each company’s ability to deliver on their potential to be sustainable by managing their environmental and socio-economic risks and opportunities”.

“This requires the right internal structure, encompassing all aspects of a business, in order to manage its impacts. It also requires transparency of these impacts, so stakeholders can effectively hold the business to account for its actions. Above all, it requires that the leadership of the business is the driving force for establishing this new order, so that it is permeated to all levels and facets of its operations. All this must be in place, if Corporate Sri Lanka is to improve its position on the global business platform”.

Whilst providing individual ratings for companies, this year’s review highlighted those sectors which are ahead of the curve and those which were lagging behind.

“Our objective is to broad base these practices, as, the more companies that adopt them, the better for overall sustainable development of our country. Those large private companies who do want to benchmark themselves can participate by submitting information on their practices in response to the questionnaire,” Anthonisz added. This year’s rating can be found at www.stingconsultants.com