Many companies today have rallied to the call from society to align their business operations with environmental and social values. Toward that end, numerous companies have chosen to communicate, to their stakeholders, assurance of sustainability on their Web site through CSR, as verified by previous research. This study will attempt to determine whether or not companies that communicate on their Web site that they are good corporate citizens actually embed sustainability into their core business practices. To accomplish this task, the World Wide Web will be used as a medium to investigate a sample of the top Fortune Global 100 companies. The research will occur in stages. First, hypotheses will be developed. The researchers will use content analysis to examine whether the companies in the sample use their Web pages to present themselves in a socially responsible manner. The indicators employed will be similar to the indicators used in other content analyses from comparable studies. In the second stage, the researchers will look for a correlation between the list of companies determined in stage one that use CSR as a tool for sustainability assurance with the list of global companies on the Accountability Rating 2004. The Accountability Rating is a tool used to determine how well the Global 100 have embedded sustainability practices into their operations.

Cynthia Cann serves as a faculty member in the Arthur J. Kania School of Management at the University of Scranton, where she is an Associate Professor in the Department of Management/Marketing. She holds a PhD from the State University of New York at Binghamton in Management/Marketing. Her research interests include: sustainability, B2B marketing, strategic marketing, international marketing and environmental business. Dr Cann is co-author of a chapter in a Columbia University-sponsored book on China's environmental issues. The book, China's Environment: the Challenges of Sustainable Development is forthcoming. Dr Cann recently taught in the BiMBA program at Peking University in China. Dr Cann is committed to sustainability education and is part of a Task Force on Sustainability at her university to infuse sustainability across the campus in word and deed.

Natalya Boock graduated summa cum laude from the University of Scranton in 2003 with a B.S. in Business Management. Natalya graduated as a member of the Honors Program and was awarded the excellence in management award. She is also a member of Omega Beta Sigma, Beta Gamma Sigma and Alpha Sigma Nu. In December of 2004 she will earn her MBA from the University of Scranton. She is currently employed at Aventis Pasteur as a Marketing and Sales Associate.