The Benchmark spider diagram can be generated as part of the Total intensities. As example of the diagram generated has been provided below.
The spider diagram depicts the relative performance on all indicators in one integrated way. The
consistency in boundary setting and the impact calculation of the ISA methodology guarantees that the
TBL indicators shown in the Benchmark Spider can be compared, and that trade-off analyses are valid.
The fact that each indicator is calculated in the same way allows them to be shown in the same diagram.
If they were calculated differently it would not be possible to show them in the same diagram and any
comparisons between impact of indicators would be meaningless.
There is an underlying assumption that, for example, more employment or less water use
per dollar of output is ‘good’ and more Exports and Gross operating surplus per dollar of output is ‘good’. Note also that the diagram has been drawn so that a performance that is better than
average for that sector falls inside the inner benchmark polygon and a performance that is worse
than average for that sector falls outside the inner polygon. For example if MyBakery’s Gross
operating surplus were to be better than the industry sector average (i.e. MyBakery’s profits were
better than the sector average) then the point would be placed inside the inner benchmark
polygon of the spider diagram above. This would make MyBakery’s polygon contract to enclose a smaller space, closer to the centre of the web. Remember: The Smaller the Better! Dips are good and spikes probably need attention!
The Benchmark spider shows how the intensities of MyBakery measure up against the industry sector
benchmark. The bold polygon (performance polygon) represents the TBL performance of MyBakery. If
points of the performance polygon fall on the inner black benchmark polygon (labelled 1) MyBakery’s
performance equals that of the benchmark (or sector average). In other words MyBakery is performing as
well as its competitors in the sector (e.g. Material flow is just about average).
If the points of the performance polygon fall outside the benchmark polygon (or sector average) then
MyBakery is performing worse than its competitors in the rest of the sector (e.g. Exports falls outside the
benchmark which means that the company Exports less than the benchmark).
In the example above MyBakery’s performance on greenhouse gas emissions is about equal to that of
competitors, MyBakery performs slightly worse on water use but performs better in the case of energy
consumption and employment.
The scale of the spider diagram is logarithmic, which means that if a point of the performance polygon lies
on the outer black polygon (labelled 10) MyCompany’s performance is ten times worse than its
competitors in the rest of the sector. If it lies in the spider diagram’s centre the performance is ten times
better.
Looking at the spider diagram at a glance the smaller the area enclosed by the performance polygon the
better is the company’s performance. Spikes in the performance polygon indicate where a company is not
doing so well and dips show its strengths.
The two dashed polygons on either side of the bold polygon show you the range of your TBL
performance, due to data uncertainty. For example, even though the ecological footprint point lies outside
the benchmark polygon, there is a chance that MyBakery is actually performing on average. This is
because the area enclosed by the dashed lines includes the benchmark polygon.
From the Total intensities table you can see that MyBakery has a smaller energy consumption per $ of output than its industry sector. This is not because MyBakery is smaller than the sector but
because per unit of output MyBakery impacts less on the environment. This could be because
MyBakery’s production processes are more efficient or they use better technology or equipment.
Scenario 1
Your mining company feels that it is misunderstood. There is a public perception that it is responsible for
a huge amount of land disturbance. You have been asked to demonstrate to stakeholders in the annual
report that your land disturbance is not as large as they imagine. You produce a spider diagram that
shows your land disturbance is very small compared with other sectors.
To compare yourself with another sector you need to choose to belong to that sector, then all
calculations would be done as if you belonged to that sector and you would be benchmarked against that
sector.
Scenario 2
You are asked to recommend one of two companies to supply MyCompany with engine parts.
MyCompany has a green procurement policy which means that you will be asked to justify your decision
in environmental terms.
The two companies you are considering are Acro Engines and Blenco Belchers. Acro Engines is a small
company producing $10m worth of product. It emits 10 tons of air pollutants. Blenco Belchers is quite a bit
larger producing $200m worth of product. It emits 100 tons of pollutants.
You ask each company to provide a benchmark spider diagram.
When pollutants are calculated as impact per dollar ($) of output, even though Blenco’s impact is 10 times
larger than that of Acro, Blenco’s environmental record is better. It only emits 0.5gr of pollutant per $1 of
product while Acro emits 1gr.
You recommend Blenco.
Scenario 3
You have been asked to help clean up MyBakery’s act. You ask for a spider diagram to understand how
the various intensities of impact measure up to the industry benchmarks and therefore where changes in
policy can have the greatest impact.
Next: Commodity Breakdowns
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