Dow Chemical Company is a reporting overachiever. The company’s website showcases sustainability, starting with a headline banner on its homepage and continuing through sustainability-related videos and stories in Dow’s Human Element microsite, referring to how the chemicals firm brands its social and environmental efforts.

The sustainability section of Dow’s website is substantial and well organised. Quarterly performance updates and numerous case studies and position statements sit alongside formal reports such as its 2007 Sustainability Year-End Report and 2007 Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) report, which also contains Dow’s first United Nations Global Compact Communication on Progress (UNGC COP).

Although the website is easily navigable, Dow’s hefty portfolio of sustainability documents is rather overwhelming. Dow could offer a “user’s guide” that maps the site and identifies the most popular topics for particular stakeholders (potential employees, financial analysts, and so on) to alleviate the stress of information overload.

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