How the rankings work

How are ratings calculated?

Story impact ratings: The impact rating shown next to each story is the average of the ratings of the impacts described in the story. Therefore if you submit a rating of +2.4 and another user submits a rating of +2.8, the impact rating of the story becomes +2.6.

Company dotherightthing performance values: Dotherightthing performance values are determined by stories about and ratings of the impacts of a company’s activities. Therefore, story impact ratings (described above) are aggregated to determine the overall dotherightthing performance value for each evaluated company. Not all stories are equal, however. The higher number of people who find a story about a company’s activities important, the greater effect it will have on the company’s overall dotherightthing performance value.

What makes dotherightthing special is its simplicity and flexibility. By creating a very complex methodology for the evaluation of companies' impacts on people and the environment, the ratings of companies would be subjected to biases that would result from both the selection of criteria to be considered and the weighting of those criteria, not to mention the potential for compromise in validity of data that would likely be self-reported. Therefore, dotherightthing has introduced a flexible, simple methodology that allows the community to determine the criteria to be evaluated, the weighting of these criteria, and the measurement of social and environmental impacts.

What do dotherightthing performance values really mean?

Dotherightthing performance values tell a story about users’ perceptions of the activities of a company. Therefore, the highest ranked companies on dotherightthing are those that, according to the perceptions of dotherightthing users and the information submitted to the site, have created the most social value. The lowest ranked companies on dotherightthing are those that, according to the perceptions of dotherightthing users and the information submitted to the site, have impacted people and/or the environment least positively. A low dotherightthing performance ranking may be indicative of either a significant opportunity for the evaluated company to improve its social and environmental impacts or to communicate information about its impacts and/or share justification for its activities with people.

How can I influence dotherightthing performance values of companies?

Submit new information about the company.

As you submit more information about the activities of a company, you create an even more complete picture of the impacts of that company.

Rate the impact of stories about the activities of the company that you find important.

By rating the impacts of the activities of a company that you find important, you are providing your evaluation of the impacts of the described activities and indicating that the described activities are important (increasing the impact of that story on the overall dotherightthing performance value for that company).

Provide relevant information to existing stories.

In many cases dotherightthing users’ perceptions of the impacts of a company’s activities change as new information is shared with the community. If you have information that you believe is worth sharing about the impacts of activities described in a story, add a comment. The additional information you provide will invite other users to consider your perspective as they evaluate the impacts of the described activities.

Company representatives: By sharing additional information through stories and participating in discussions about the activities of your company, you can take advantage of this unique opportunity to communicate directly with your consumers from all over the world. Please be sure to visit the company participant welcome page to determine whether or not you need to register as an official company representative. Company representative verification maximizes the impact of your participation by clarifying your role and certifying you as an official representative of the company.

How are companies selected for evaluation?

Companies are selected for evaluation as a result of user interest in the impact of their activities. The greater number of stories that are found important by the dotherightthing community, the better the chances that it will be selected for evaluation.

Shouldn't certain factors be weighted less heavily in certain companies, due to differences in industries?

While other rankings systems often break down results by industry, revealing best performing companies for a given industry, dotherightthing simply recognizes companies that do the right thing, encouraging all companies to include impact-oriented thinking into their core strategies. Therefore, the site applies the same methodology and ranking system to all listed companies.

Which companies are eligible to be ranked on dotherightthing? Could a small, family-owned company potentially be ranked among top companies?

All companies are eligible and encouraged to be submitted for listing on dotherightthing, whether publicly or privately-owned, global or local, big or small, near or far. The rating methodology seeks to evaluate "social performance," not necessarily size or popularity. Therefore, it is entirely possible for a smaller, but tremendously impactful company to rise to the top of the dotherightthing rankings, alongside perhaps much bigger counterparts.