Keeping Tabs on the Business World

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Have you ever wandered the aisles in your local grocery store and wondered whether Dawn and Joy are actual competitors? (Answer: They're not.) Perhaps you're an investor and want to know more about the parent company behind a product you're interested in. Maybe you're an activist or ethical shopper concerned with the environmental record and social responsibility statements of the company whose products you buy. is a wiki project that can answer those questions. The site is dedicated to providing the public a free and open database of information on companies around the world that can be updated and edited easily as information changes. is a project that grew out of the two inventors' need for information on the companies that they patronize. The idea is to promote responsible consumerism, meaning that because we all need to buy things to run our lives, we should at least take a moment to learn about the companies we're buying from, and whether they promote the ethical or social beliefs that we hold. Knowmore claims to be completely non-political, and while its analyses make certain baseline assumptions that one could interpret as political (for example, that keeping the air and water clean and paying employees a living wage are good things) I found the corporate analyses to be mostly fair and on the mark, when up to date.

From the front page, you can type in a company whose name you know, a favorite brand that you already purchase, or the name of a product, and you'll be taken to the page of the manufacturer of your product or the company you specified. I typed in "Dawn" and visited the page for The Proctor and Gamble Company, and learned about the myriad products that are made by P&G. Apparently it's common for a company to make multiple products in the same market and have them "compete," like Dawn versus Joy, or Sony and Aiwa in the electronics industry. The competing products are owned by the same parent company; one's just targeted at the budget buyer and the other at a brand loyalty or higher standard of quality, depending who you ask.


Each page is broken up into an extensive report on the company itself, and to the right, a diagram of corporate statistics in multiple areas, including human rights, workers' rights, business ethics, political influence, environmental concerns, and fair trade issues. The higher the bar, the more concerns exist about the company's record. Contact information is available for each company.

Knowmore  - American Apparel

Searching the site was a mixed bag. A great deal of the information was accurate and up to date, but some of it was woefully outdated. For example, the profile for Apple doesn't reflect its new name (Apple as opposed to Apple Computer) and doesn't note Apple's "A Greener Apple" campaign toward environmental responsibility by manufacturing more energy-efficient computers that contain fewer hazardous materials. However, is a wiki, and registered users (registering is free) can log in and edit the pages to correct omissions or out-of-date statements. For instance, I found the entry on American Apparel LLC to be remarkably well researched and current.

Many of the companies at Knowmore have received negative ratings, either because of their approach to worker's rights or their business and ethical scandals. This isn't the case with all companies; Knowmore has a wealth of knowledge about specific companies in various industries and can supply alternatives if the company you patronize has an unfavorable rating. For example, if you're looking for an alternative grocery brand, Equal Exchange received favorable ratings, as did technology companies like Google and Dell.

Knowmore - Equal Exchange

I found a number of companies missing from Knowmore, like consumer electronics companies LG and Samsung and food distributors Richfood and Sysco. At the same time, the database is ever growing and already has a great deal of information on a number of companies. The site is planning to work its way down the Fortune 500 and collect as much information on those companies as possible.

Knowmore is already a great resource, and definitely one worth bookmarking if you're concerned about the ethical or social behavior of the companies whose products you buy. It's a good thing the service is a wiki, though: the sheer amount of work that the designers must have is staggering, and they can use all the help they can get from interested consumers who might have information to contribute.

Post by Alan Henry

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