How to Rate an Impact Analysis

Faye Turner

8 min Read Time | January 22nd 2020

Rating an Impact Analysis

The impact analyses produced on our platform are written by our diverse community of members, rating these impacts analyses is an integral part of our model.

These ratings feed into our algorithm that produces the company impact score and with this score we hold companies accountable for their impact on the planet. It is an indicator, that lets you and others recognise whether a company is positively or negatively impacting the sustainability of the world.

Rating an impact analysis is easy. We use 3 simple measures.

Value

First, you must consider how positive or negative the impact of the company is based on what is described in the impact analysis.

Is the impact that you described negative or very positive for the environment or society? And to what extent?

The scale goes from strongly negative to strongly positive.

You should think about the following ways a company can impact the planet and society:

Through its processes and practices (for example, industrial pollution or decent job creation).
Through its products and services (for example, health issues or increased mobility).
Through its influence on society (for example, disruptive technology or market transformation).

The same issue can have a very different impact on distinct groups of people:

Some people might benefit while others will not.
Some groups are more sensitive to impact than others (children, refugees, etc.)

Scale

Next, you must rate the scale of the company’s impact from very small to very large

For this, there are 3 dimensions to take into account (based on the Impact Management Project framework)

1) The breadth of the impact:

Is the impact local, national, or global?
How many people are concerned? Thousands? Millions? Billions?

As a rule of thumb, if it affects at least 1 million people it is considered significant. Although, please bear in mind that this is not always the case, as, at times, it could be considered unfair to expect an impact to touch that many lives. Thus, this is flexible.

2) The depth of the impact:

Is the life of people concerned marginally affected, or are they deeply impacted by the issue?
Are the changes brought by the issue profoundly changing society or the planet?

3) The persistence of the impact:

How long would the impact described last? Months? Years? Decades? Is it transitory or permanent?
How reversible is the impact described in the Impact Analysis? Can it be easily stopped/extended?

Quality

Finally, you should rate the quality of the impact analysis that you’ve just read by indicating how many stars you’d give the analysis, 1 being the lowest quality and 5 being the highest.

Impaakt is about grouping like-minded people, who create high-quality and critical content. There are robust processes in place to ensure quality, so as a writer, you should always aim for 5 stars! As a rater, your opinion matters!

Keep these criteria in mind when rating analyses, and writing your own:

1 = Very Poor

This analysis is none of the following criteria: insightful, creative, informative, clever.

2 = Poor

This analysis shows some of the following criteria: insightful, creative, informative, clever.

3 = Average

This analysis shows many of the following criteria: insightful, creative, informative, clever.

4 = Very Good

This analysis includes the majority of the following criteria: insightful, creative, informative, clever

5 = Outstanding

This analysis includes all and more of the following criteria: insightful, creative, informative, clever.

Take your Rating Certification

Don’t forget, every rating you submit contributes to the company impact score. If you want to improve your knowledge on how companies impact the environment and society, why not sign up to one of our free Certified Impact Rater webinar and get your certification as an Impact Rater?

Learn More

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