Perception of Corporate Responsibility Linked to Reputation
Source: Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship
Published: Friday, October 17, 2008
Published: Friday, October 17, 2008
The ranking was created using data principally collected for Reputation Institute's 2008 Global Pulse Study. In creating this first CSRI, the researchers used a subset of survey results that focused on more than 200 companies with a dominant presence in the United States and believed to have a reasonably high recognition factor with the general public. The data used focused on the public perception about a company's corporate citizenship, governance and workplace practices. Get copy of the report on Corporate Reputation and Social Responsibility Rankings at www.BCCorporateCitizenship.org.
'Although the survey was taken before the Wall Street collapse, the U.S. findings show that corporate governance—ethics and transparency—are increasing in their importance to overall corporate reputation," said Philip Mirvis, senior research fellow for the Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship.
"This is the first time we see how the public votes on how companies operate as corporate citizens,"said Mirvis referring to the survey that asked the public to judge a company on how it treats employees, its ethics, and its community involvement and respect for the environment.
By focusing on the three dimensions of corporate citizenship, governance and workplace practices surveyed for the larger Global Pulse Study, Reputation Institute and the Boston College Center were able to gain greater insight into the combined influence on reputation of social programs, management practices, and employee relations.
These three measures account for more than 40 percent of a company's reputation, according to Reputation Institute’s analysis. This makes it critical for companies to communicate how they support good causes, protect the environment, treat their employees, and run their business ethically.
On a scale of 1-to-100, top-ranked Google scored 80.84. With the exception of Berkshire Hathaway, consumer-oriented companies made up the majority of the top 20 CSRI performers. Only a few business-to-business focused companies were included in the top 50: Cisco Systems (70.96), Sun Microsystems (70.70), Express Scripts (70.32), Deloitte & Touche (70.12) and Boeing (69.88). The general public tends to rate makers of consumer products, computers, and beverages higher along social dimensions. Industries that fall below the global average include construction/engineering, finance, utilities and telecommunications.
Reputation Institute has been measuring corporate reputations rigorously since 1999 using an approach based on: 1) a carefully developed model of what constitutes reputation; 2) a rigorous process that ensures representative results, and 3) a process of analysis that standardizes output that enables international and cross-industry comparisons. Reputation Institute publishes its annual results with Forbes.com.
'Although the survey was taken before the Wall Street collapse, the U.S. findings show that corporate governance—ethics and transparency—are increasing in their importance to overall corporate reputation," said Philip Mirvis, senior research fellow for the Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship.
"This is the first time we see how the public votes on how companies operate as corporate citizens,"said Mirvis referring to the survey that asked the public to judge a company on how it treats employees, its ethics, and its community involvement and respect for the environment.
By focusing on the three dimensions of corporate citizenship, governance and workplace practices surveyed for the larger Global Pulse Study, Reputation Institute and the Boston College Center were able to gain greater insight into the combined influence on reputation of social programs, management practices, and employee relations.
These three measures account for more than 40 percent of a company's reputation, according to Reputation Institute’s analysis. This makes it critical for companies to communicate how they support good causes, protect the environment, treat their employees, and run their business ethically.
On a scale of 1-to-100, top-ranked Google scored 80.84. With the exception of Berkshire Hathaway, consumer-oriented companies made up the majority of the top 20 CSRI performers. Only a few business-to-business focused companies were included in the top 50: Cisco Systems (70.96), Sun Microsystems (70.70), Express Scripts (70.32), Deloitte & Touche (70.12) and Boeing (69.88). The general public tends to rate makers of consumer products, computers, and beverages higher along social dimensions. Industries that fall below the global average include construction/engineering, finance, utilities and telecommunications.
Reputation Institute has been measuring corporate reputations rigorously since 1999 using an approach based on: 1) a carefully developed model of what constitutes reputation; 2) a rigorous process that ensures representative results, and 3) a process of analysis that standardizes output that enables international and cross-industry comparisons. Reputation Institute publishes its annual results with Forbes.com.