Reputation matters:))

The Reputation Institute has been measuring corporate reputations since 1999.

Corporate reputations are valuable assets because they influence the profitability of companies. Consumers, creditors or job-seekers decide whether to enter into a relationship with a company on the basis of its reputation among other factors.

In 2006, Reputation Institute has introduced RepTrak Model, a scorecard for measuring corporate reputations internationally. At the heart of this model is Pulse which measures the degree to which people trust, respect, admire and have a good feeling about a company. Scores are based on answers to four questions and are standardized on a scale of 0-100.

The Reputation Institute further examines if the Pulse score is based on perceptions of companies on seven underlying dimensions identified in the RepTrak Model: Products/Services, Innovation, WorkPlace, Citizenship, Governance, Leadership, Performance. It is important for companies to understand what is important for their stakeholders and to act accordingly.

In 2008, The Reputation Institute published the a special report for the Boston College for Corporate Citizenship in which it has included the list  of the most respected U.S. Companies by the public.

Google earned the highest rating of perceptions along social dimensions (Citizenship, Governance and Workplace). Basically, with the exception of Berkshire Hathaway, consumer oriented companies made up the majority of top 20 SRI performers.

The main conclusion is that companies who have invested in a strong Social Responsibility profile get a much higher level of support than other companies.

65,7% of the US general public would recommend the Top 20 socially responsible companies to others compared to only 25,9%  recommendations for the bottom 20 companies. And more than 27% would not recommend the companies that are not seen as social responsible.

The conclusion of the report is that social responsibility is a direct way to business success.

But “having a strong social responsibility profile “= “being socially responsible”?