IKEA will charge customers 5 cents/ plastic bag. Is IKEA "doing the right thing?" Interactive readers at dotherightthing.com, a Web 2.0 site where people can "evaluate" companies based on company news, think "yes". They give this story a rating based on it's positive or negative impact. Currently, its showing a 2.2 positive impact rating.
This is how it works: members suggest stories, and the community rates the positive or negative impact of the story on society. This "social performance rating" becomes a parameter of evaluating the company. The focus here is not just on "bottom-line," but on the impact that the companies being examined create on the society. So it seems that by way of the people will Conscious Capitalism be ushered in!
I like the idea. It is:
1/ participative and democratic
2/ a practical way of evaluating companies: based on news, not promises and forecasts
3/ a small way to influence the big corp
4/ cool to interact with. I haven't yet signed-up, but I am tempted. Again - one of those cool, clean, cheerful yet serious Web 2.0 sites that I love!
News Impact Ratings
Consumers Evaluate Businesses Based On Company News
Trend Themes
1. Social Performance Ratings - The rise of social performance ratings provides an opportunity for companies to evaluate their impact on society beyond the bottom line.
2. Conscious Capitalism - The increasing focus on conscious capitalism is disrupting traditional evaluation methods by prioritizing the societal impact of companies beyond financial performance.
3. Participatory Evaluation - Participatory evaluation, where individuals rate the positive or negative impact of company news, provides a democratized method for gauging public opinion and influencing corporate behavior.
Industry Implications
1. Corporate Social Responsibility - Corporate social responsibility industries have an opportunity to utilize social performance ratings to evaluate company impact beyond financial performance.
2. Online Community Platforms - Online community platforms, like DoTheRightThing, have the opportunity to continue disrupting traditional evaluation methods by democratizing and prioritizing societal impact of companies.
3. Consumer Advocacy Agencies - Consumer advocacy agencies have the opportunity to leverage social performance ratings to influence corporate behavior and promote conscious capitalism.