Dataviz by Sunlight

A new study from the Global Strategy Group shows that corporations who appear to stay out of divisive political issues have better brand favorability. The study finds that Americans have clear reservations about corporations straying too far into political issues — especially cultural war issues.

In the survey, 56 percent of Americans thought it was inappropriate for companies to take a stance on political issues that do not pertain to business while less than one-third of those surveyed believe that companies should stake out positions on gay marriage or abortion. The survey also found that companies that are perceived as strongly partisan have lower brand favorability

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Two Decades of CEO Pay

Transparency in Corporate Reporting index ranks the world’s 105 largest companies

Transparency International have ranked the world’s 105 largest companies in their Transparency in Corporate Reporting index. Researchers evaluated each organisation in terms of the steps it takes to fight corruption and the openness of its financial self-reporting. Norwegian oil and gas company Statoil was the clear leader, while the Bank of China came in last place. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway came 101st and Barclays, in 71st, was the UK’s lowest rated company. Use the interactive to explore the data, including a breakdown of each company’s score across the three assessed categories (second tab of the graphic) Dark colours and low scores indicate the least transparent companies.