Q. How can my company apply for next year and what are the criteria?

A. Your company must have a minimum of 1,000 U.S. employees to participate. The head of diversity at your company then must fill out our detailed (more than 200-question) survey. If you meet the criteria and would like to receive the invitation to participate next year, please send contact information (name, title of contact person, mailing address, telephone number and e-mail) to editor@DiversityInc.com.

Q. When will the next Top 50 survey go out and be due?

A. It will go out on Oct. 15, 2007, and will be due by Feb. 4, 2008. Results will be announced in March 2008.

Q. Is there a sponsor for the list? Can you pay to get on the list? Do advertisers receive any special breaks?

A. No, no and no. Companies that advertise with DiversityInc or have business relationships with the company get no special treatment. The list is completely unbiased and many of the companies on the list have no business relationship with DiversityInc.

Q. How many companies participated?

A. This year, the seventh for the survey, 317 companies participated, up 100 percent in the last three years and up 24 percent from last year.

Q. What criteria did you use for ranking?
A. The DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity list is derived exclusively from corporate survey submissions. The survey is organized in four areas: CEO Commitment, Human Capital, Corporate Communications and Supplier Diversity. Although CEO Commitment is the most heavily weighted section, to make the Top 50 a company must score well in all four areas. Companies also are evaluated within their own industries and employee skill sets. This year, questions were added on CEO Commitment, work/life, mentoring, Native Americans, people with disabilities and GLBT people.

Q. What makes The DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity different from other companies?

A.  Their recognition, which starts with the CEO, that diversity is integral to their business success. The Top 10, for example, have unbiased promotion rates (equal to work-force representation) for all races. The bottom-line results support the commitment to diversity. Examined over a 10-year period, The 2007 DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity Index™ outperformed the Nasdaq and the Dow Jones Industrial Average by 48 percent and the Standard & Poor's 500 by 23.4 percent. Results for one-, three- and five-year performance were competitive as well.