Arab Advisors Group announces The Arab World Online Transparency Index 2007

The report, titled The Arab World Online Transparency Index 2007 (OTI), ranks the 48 companies out of the 50 on their performance in two dimensions (two of the 50 did not have fully operational web sites at the time of the analysis): website usability and website content.

The usability analysis covers such issues as website logistics, use of interactive elements, converging media and Web 2.0 technologies. The content analysis focuses on the reporting and transparency of economic performance (such as the annual and quarterly reports, corporate history and outlook) and on economic Corporate Social Responsibility issues (such as corporate governance and business ethics).

The analysis provides a valuable first look at the usability of corporate websites and at the online reporting and transparency of corporate performance in the Arab world. The OTI 2007 consists of 50 companies coming from 9 Arab countries (Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates).

The market capitalization of each individual national stock exchange (totaling US$ 726 billion for the Arab world) is used as a weight factor to determine that country's representation among the 50 companies in the Index. The 40-page report provides statistical analysis of the results and insightful detailed cross tabulations and can be purchased from the Arab Advisors Group for only US$ 2,000.

The overall results reveal a grim situation when considering the global competitiveness of the Arab world. The research shows that there is still a huge gap between the leading Arab nations and the rest of the world in terms of the online reporting on financial performance and social involvement.

With this research, Arab Advisors Group clearly establishes the need for the Arab corporate world to recognize the growing importance of online transparency. With national Internet penetration rates rising, national stakeholders will start to look towards corporate websites for their information much more often. Also, if the Arab world truly wants to be a globally competitive region, the quality of the corporate online presence should be improved drastically. Furthermore, it is also recommended that companies and governments make an effort to standardize CSR reporting in the Arab world, and that they should make their websites more user friendly, user orientated and interactive.

'When we look at the individual company level, the UAE real estate company Emaar Properties ranked high in the index. Emaar is very closely followed by Kuwait's Mobile Telecommunications Company. Out of the 50 companies in the Index, only 21 received a satisfactory score of 50% or above.' Mr. Sander Hofman Arab Advisors research analyst wrote in the report.

'The results per country show that Egyptian companies score highest both in the usability and content dimension, while being trailed by boomers Qatar and UAE. Stunningly, the economic heavyweights in the analysis, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, perform the worst in both dimensions. Looking to the difference between regions, it is interesting that the Levant outperforms the GCC in both dimensions.'

'While having a separate section on the corporate website for Corporate Social Responsibility information is essential in globalizing business, some 52% of the companies in the Index did not have one at all,' Mr. Hofman added.

'Also, 90% of the analyzed companies do not publish a separate CSR report online, nor publish a CSR section within the legally obligated annual report. In 2007, this grave lack of information negatively impacts a company's image to national, regional and global stakeholders, such as investors, customers, environmental organizations, and labor unions. It is therefore essential that the corporate leaders of the Arab world realize the importance of online transparency.'

Arab Advisors Group's comparative analysis with the Online Transparency Index 2007 was done objectively and impartially. The analysis involved 2 major dimensions of research, namely website usability and website content, and 11 sub dimensions. They were selected from academic literature and validated for use through the Delphi method: this method was used to collect opinions from experts, gauge their indications and develop a consensus. A total of 88 variables were used to measure the website usability and website content on a 5-point scale, after which the grades (on a scale of 0 to 100) for each element and dimension were calculated. This gave the individual company a rank in the Online Transparency Index. All corporate websites were evaluated in May and June 2007.

The Arab Advisors Group's team of analysts in the region has already produced over 860 reports on the Arab World's communications and media markets.