Conclusion
The tables of residuals that Brown and Perry provide appeal to the desire we all have to make research easier, but we cannot allow ourselves to lose sight of what is at stake here. The residuals are based on Fortune data, with questionable validity and reliability. No amount of statistical manipulations can convert these data into accurate measures of CSP. We also need to consider the validity of adjusting for halo effects, the additional variation Brown and Perry add to the measures when implementing their halo-adjustment process, and the insufficient explanation of key decisions and methods that prevent replication, If we use the residuals, we condemn the field to a series of lackluster studies that contribute little to our understanding of CSP.
The alternative is to commend Brown and Perry for focusing our attention on the need to improve measures of CSP and on relationships between financial performance, CSP, and antecedent conditions. Implicit in Brown and Perry's methodology is the assumption that financial performance affects or causes CSP. Yet the relationship may be spurious, created by our ignorance of whatever factor causes both financial performance and CSP. Our efforts may be better spent on trying to identify factors that cause performance, whether financial or CSP.
Brown and Perry's study can also serve a useful purpose if it causes each of us to reexamine the contribution we make to the field. Our research moves the business and society field incrementally in a particular direction, and we need to carefully consider that direction as we make decisions about our sample, measures, methodology, and so forth. Continuing to rely on the Fortune measures of CSP, or halo-adjusted Fortune measures, no longer moves the field toward greater understanding of CSP and may damage the field's reputation in the larger scientific community.