Somebody has to say it — the
websites of Asia’s major companies
are creaky, cluttered,
and confusing. Assessing the corporate
portals of 75 of the world’s largest
companies by market capitalization,
London consultancy Bowen Craggs
gave China Mobile a grade of just 94
out of a maximum of 280 points, making
it one of the lowest-scoring companies,
along with Russia’s Sberbank.
David Bowen, senior consultant and
co-founder, describes the two sites as
looking like “they come from the earliest
days of the Web.”
The websites are assessed on ease of
navigation, how well they communicate
their message, and how effectively they
serve customers, investors, journalists,
and the corporate social responsibility
lobby. The highest-ranking Asia Pacific
companies are Australia’s BHP Billiton
(“nice design and excellent responsibility
material; otherwise average”), and
Japan’s Canon (“revamped website is
best of the Japanese, though let down by
weak media service”) and Toyota (“clean
look and good responsibility messages;
otherwise mediocre”).