What do my purchases have to do with corporate behavior?
A lot. First of all, it changes things for you. Imagine how it would feel going shopping and knowing that what you buy is delivered by companies that share your values. Imagine a shopping experience in which you do not feel bad when it is over but rather confident that you have shown how much you care about people, the environment, and ethics. And there is more to it: when you apply your knowledge and power as a consumer you are being heard. Companies listen, suppliers listen, the marketplace listens, and they all hear what you have to say. So shopping the alonovo way not only makes your shopping experience better but it also provides you with a loud voice in improving corporate social behavior.
What is the CSBI?
The Corporate Social Behavior Index, or CSBI is a rating of business character or behavior. The higher the index the more likely we would want such a business to thrive within our community. The CSBI is comprised of a rating within multiple areas. We integrate available data from reliable sources, and we strive to provide you with the most current, accurate and validated information available. We aggregate the data, and will inform you in each case, the source of the data and when it was most recently updated. For many years business has determined by evaluating us -our credit worthiness and other data -whether they choose to do business with us -now we can be empowered to determine -based upon how a business conducts itself -whether we choose to do business with them -and empower them with our consumer spend.
What are the attributes of the CSBI?
The CSBI is comprised of areas, and each area is comprised of some specific items.
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Social Responsibility
Charitable Giving
Education
Affordable Housing
Human Rights
Local Economic Impact
Responsible Investment
Volunteering
Animal Rights
Political Neutrality
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Healthy Environment
Organic Agriculture
Clean Renewable Energy
Eco-Friendly Products & Services
Environmental Reporting
Regulatory Compliance
Recycling
Waste & Emission Prevention
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Fair Workplace
Profit Sharing
Employee Involvement
Employment of Disabled
Family Benefits
Health & Safety
Retirement Benefits
Workforce Stability
Women & Minorities
Workforce Relations
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Business Ethics
Equitable Executive Salaries
Fair Competition
Accountable Marketing/Contracting
Accountable Ownership
Tax Responsibility
Women & Minority Executives
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Customer/Societal Focus
Benefits to Disadvantaged
Product Safety
Product Quality
Research & Development
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Note that our default ratings are based upon all areas being of equal importance. As you may already be very experienced in the area of Corporate Social Behavior, we have provided an easy way for you to weight all of the attributes above so that the company ratings reflect what you believe are the most important values.
I don't see a value tracked that is important to me ?
Please let us know. Send an email to alonovo@alonovo.com with information related to the attribute, and where reliable data exists to integrate into our CSBI model.
Where Can I Learn More?
Read about corporate social responsibility
Examine the recent reports by the leading NGO in corporate responsibility:
http://bsr.org/insight/reports.cfm
What are your sources of data?
Our ratings data is presently driven by KLD Research & Analytics, Inc. and the Federal Elections Commission. As we grow we will aggregate available data from government agencies, NGO's and trusted research data. We intend to work closely with the Socially Responsible Investment community and where feasible, aggregate, integrate and normalize data and research from many trusted sources of SR research data. We will also be working closely with large organizational partners -such as Unions, Humanitarian, Environmental and Progressive organizations to integrate their data as well.
How does alonovo handle conflicting data?
We prioritize the data sources, and will be building validation and trust weightings into our CSBI
engine. Therefore, when competing threads of data are integrated, that are not alike, we will attempt to reconcile through our internal research team and provide the most accurate, trusted data to our alonovo community. We will also be providing business with an opportunity to respond (just as consumers have had an opportunity to respond to credit-report entries that may not be accurate).
Does alonovo plan a vendor/product certification program?
For now, no. We feel that other organizations such as Coop America and Social Accountability International have maturing capability and we are working with them to provide guidance and feedback from the alonovo community. Compliance or certification is a vital function which will grow to become an important part of our purchasing decisions. We plan to work closely with the SR standards and compliance community to develop and publish standards for certification, compliance and ratings. We imagine that someday, whether you are buying through our portal, or through a store -you will see a label that certifies that a product has adhered to high standards (labor, environment, energy etc.) on its way to the store shelf.
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