by Dan Perkins
from NAACP
Press Release 7-17-2006
The National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the
nation's oldest and largest civil rights
organization, has been monitoring Corporate
America's embrace the African
American community for ten years. During
that time, the association has recorded many
positive changes across multiple variables.
But the association is also quick to note that
there remains a lot of room for improvement.
This month, during
its annual convention, which was held July
15-20, in Washington, D.C., the
NAACP released the latest edition of its
Consumer Choice Guide, commonly known as
the 'business report card.' The guide and related report is
part of the association's Economic
Reciprocity Initiative (ERI), which aims to
provide Black consumers with critical
information about Corporate America.
In 1996, the NAACP
launched the ERI to measure Corporate America's
financial relationship with the African American
community. Since then, the ERI has expanded to
include annual ratings of diversity efforts in
five industries: automotive, financial services,
lodging, general merchandising and
telecommunications.
The NAACP's report
rates each industry in five performance areas:
employment, advertising/marketing, vendor
relationships, service deployment and charitable
giving. Information contained in the report is
based on data provided by participating
companies. Survey questions are graded and
assigned point values which are translated into
a letter grade.
"African Americans pump roughly $650 billion
into the American economy annually," said NAACP
President & CEO Bruce S. Gordon in
the association's press release regarding the
report. "We
should spend wisely and have readily available
information to be assured that those we do
business with are reinvesting in our community,
employing a diverse work force, utilizing
minority vendors and supporting our causes.
Those not practicing such measures should not
benefit from the economic power we provide.
There continues to be opportunities for major
corporations to improve their performance."
The same release
contained a quote from
NAACP National Policy Director John H.
Jackson, expressing pleasure with
improvements achieved by the monitored
industries. However, the 2006 report reveals that general merchandisers
had slipped in their overall performance compared to the year before,
moving from a C rating to a C-.
General
merchandising is made up of such household names
as Wal-Mart, Federated Department
Stores, Nordstrom, and J.C. Penney,
to name a few. Wal-Mart, the world's largest
retailer, received the highest score of the nine
retailing organizations that were sent the
survey. Four retailing groups,
including Sears, refused to participate
in the survey and thus received a failing grade
from the NAACP.
While many
corporations are uncomfortable disclosing their
financial activities with the African American community,
many within the community welcome the report
because it empowers them to make
strategic choices as to where they spend their
money.
Below are
highlights from the NAACP's 2006 Consumer Choice
Guide, which is available on the association's
web site.
|
Automotive |
Individual
Ratings |
|
Industry Rating:
C |
|
Evaluation:
Charitable
giving by the
automotive industry was
positive, but the NAACP
found that vendor
relationships and
advertising/marketing
need improvement.
The auto makers scored
below average on these
two measures. |
|
Comparative Grade:
The
industry was given a D+
in 2003 which was the
first time it was
graded. |
|
|
B- |
Daimler/Chrysler
(2.95)
Ford
(2.85) |
|
C+ |
Toyota
(2.57) |
|
C |
General
Motors (2.41)
Nissan
(2.26)
Honda
(2.19)
BMW
(2.00) |
|
C- |
Hyundai
(1.89) |
|
D+ |
Mitsubishi
(1.70)
Volkswagen
(1.60) |
|
|
|
Financial
Services |
Individual
Ratings |
|
Industry Rating:
C
The industry's rating
held steady with the
rating it received in
2005. |
|
Evaluation:
Overall,
the financial services
industry tends to have
strengths in
community reinvestment
and charitable
giving, but has only
modest performance in
employment,
advertising/marketing,
and vendor
relationships. |
|
Historical Perspective:
The industry received a
D+ overall rating when
it was first evaluated
in 2000. |
|
|
B |
Wachovia
(3.17)
SunTrust
Banks (3.17)
|
|
B- |
Bank of
America (2.82)
KeyCorp
(2.78) |
|
C |
Bank of
New York (2.45)
Citigroup
(2.35)
PNC
Financial (2.34)
JP Morgan
Chase (2.05)
National
City (2.04) |
|
C- |
Bancorp
(1.88)
Wells
Fargo (1.83) |
|
|
|
General
Merchandising |
Individual
Ratings |
|
|
Industry Rating:
C- |
|
Evaluation:
Major retailers of
general merchandise
received a C- rating
overall from the NAACP,
reflecting a slight dip
in performance compared
to the previous year. |
|
Comparative Grade:
The industry received a
C rating last year,
which was much better
than its initial
D- rating, which it
received in 2003. |
|
|
C+ |
Wal-Mart
(2.67) |
|
C |
Federated
Dept. Stores (2.42) |
|
C- |
Nordstrom
(1.79) |
|
D+ |
J.C. Penney (1.63) |
|
D |
Saks
(1.16) |
|
F |
Dillard's
(0.00)
Kohl's
(0.00)
Sears
(0.00)
Target
(0.00)
Each of
these retailers received
a failing grade by
refusing to respond to
the survey. Dillard's
and Target have not
responded in 3 and 2
consecutive years,
respectively. |
|
|
|
Lodging |
Individual
Ratings |
|
Industry Rating:
C+
The lodging industry had
an average score of
2.54, which translates
to a C+. Last
year, it received a C
rating. |
|
Evaluation:
The NAACP found the
industry to be most
responsive in charitable
giving, but has the
greatest challenges in
property ownership and
vendor relationships.
While the industry
expresses a willingness
to explore incentives to
increase African
American property
ownership, very little
change has been
demonstrated. |
|
Comparative Grade:
The
industry has made
progress since its first
received a D rating in 1997. |
|
|
B- |
Adam's Mark (2.95)
Marriott (2.93)
Hyatt (2.88)
Cendant (2.80) |
|
C+ |
Omni (2.67)
Choice (2.63)
Hilton (2.50) |
|
C |
Loews (2.48)
Intercontinental (2.42)
Starwood (2.37)
Carlson (2.12) |
|
D+ |
Best Western (1.73) |
|
|
|
Telecommunications |
Individual
Ratings |
|
Industry Rating:
B-
The industry's
performance has improved
over last year's C. |
|
Evaluation:
Charitable
giving
is the strong suit of
the telecom industry,
which ranks slightly
below average in
advertising/marketing.
Although telecoms have
programs to increase
supplier diversity,
the NAACP found that
those mechanisms have
not translated into
substantial business
contracts for
minorities.
|
|
Comparative Grade:
The
industry has made
progress since its first
C rating in 1998. |
|
|
B+ |
BellSouth (3.54) |
|
B |
Verizon (3.40)
AT&T (3.16)
Sprint/Nextell (3.16) |
|
C+ |
Alltel (2.67)
Cincinnati Bell (2.58) |
|
D+ |
Qwest (1.52) |
|
F |
Excel (0.00)
Company received a
failing grade for
refusing to respond to
survey for 5 consecutive
years.
|
|
|
The End
