Data sharing and reviewing On 19 August 2011 preliminary data sets were shared with the target companies, and each company was given the opportunity to review its own data and to provide feedback or propose corrections. Feedback was accepted until 15 October 2011. Each data set consisted of four elements: 1. Scores and data sources for questions 1–13 on anti-corruption programmes 2. Scores and data sources for questions 14–21 on organisational transparency 3. List of countries of operations 4. Country-by-country data. The companies were asked to review the collected data in order to verify their completeness and accuracy. Of the 105 companies, 52 responded with feedback. All requests for corrections were carefully analysed and discussed within the Transparency International team. Whenever necessary, further information, substantiation or documentation was requested and obtained from companies. This process resulted in a number of data point adjustments and in updates of some data sources. For adjustments/ updates resulting from the publication of new sources or updated documents, all sources that were published on corporate websites on or before 15 October 2011 were taken into account. Corrections were most often the result of one or more of the following reasons: • T he publication of new corporate documents or policies after the period of preliminary data collection • O ngoing changes or updates of certain policies (online or in previously published documents) • I dentification of documents or sources that had been missed, and therefore omitted, by the initial review • Clarification of specific terminology, especially in the section on subsidiaries. The following companies provided feedback during the data review process: 3M, Abbott Laboratories, ArcelorMittal, Allianz, Amgen, ANZ Banking, ArcelorMittal, AstraZeneca, AT&T, Banco Bradesco, Bank of America, BASF, Bayer Group, BG Group, BHP Billiton, BNP Paribas, British American Tobacco, Citigroup, ConocoPhillips, Deutsche Telekom, E.ON, ENI, ExxonMobil, France Telecom, GDF Suez, General Electric, Google, Home Depot, HSBC Holdings, Johnson & Johnson, Merck & Co, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial, Nestlé, Occidental Petroleum, PepsiCo, Pfizer, Philip Morris International, Qualcomm, Rio Tinto, Royal Bank of Canada, Royal Dutch Shell, Sanofi-Aventis, SAP, Schlumberger, Siemens, Toronto-Dominion Bank, Total, Unilever, United Parcel Service, Visa, Vodafone, Wal-Mart Stores, and Westpac Banking Group. Transparency International greatly appreciates company engagement in this process as it contributed to the high quality of the methodology and data. As a result of this dialogue, a better overview and understanding of diverse reporting practices and standards was gained.
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Transparency International