What's Changing? - Reputation

Please see below selected recent reputation-related change.

See also:

• What's New? - Reputation

July 2023

• China’s reputation as a leading economic power is reportedly fast eroding. Fewer people globally now call China the world’s top economic power compared with just a few years ago

July 2022

• The massive exit of more than 1,000 international companies from Russia in 2022 vastly surpassed the number which pulled out of apartheid-led South Africa over an entire decade. These company exits extended beyond those industries targeted for sanctions – oil and gas, banks and financial services, aerospace, and certain technology sectors - to include hundreds in consumer products. Many of these companies may wish to return to a post-conflict – or post-Putin – Russia, while a few have already sold their Russian operations, Both reputational and operational factors drove the huge exodus: reputational as companies have chosen to disassociate themselves from Putin’s regime; operational as transportation routes and supply chains have been interrupted.

October 2020

• Employers have a number of issues and challenges to address concerning artificial intelligence (AI) if they are to avoid possibly damaging their company’s reputation. There is a danger that such technology could introduce risks of its own, particularly in terms of company reputation. Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Gartner predicted that the number of automation-related scandals would grow over the course of 2020 as adoption increases and deployments take place in a range of new areas. The problem is that, although AI can be a powerful tool to support decision-making, in cases where AI systems base assumptions on patterns of historical data, there is a danger of bias.
• A toxic culture creates a variety of risks for a business. From reputational damage brought on by revelations about employee conduct to the corrosive influence of issues around discrimination and employee wellbeing, a poor culture can rapidly sink a brand, particularly in an age when social media amplifies every misstep. Despite this, businesses are failing to read the warning signs. A 2018 survey of 400 US chief executives by Deloitte found that while leaders were focused on the risks of technological disruption and digital transformation, fewer than half (42 per cent) had discussed risks to brand reputation in the previous year and 53 per cent couldn’t even identify what those risks were.

September 2020

• In a 2019 survey, 70% of respondents said they want brands to take a stand on social issues. But the same study found that 53% believe brands only do so to generate good PR. What’s more clear is that in an increasingly polarised political landscape, the neutral ground is narrowing out of existence. Many now see a neutral position on, say, BLM, as itself a political statement. On contentious issues, brands are going to be perceived as holding a position whether they like it or not, warned New Week, Same Humans.

July 2019

• Warren Buffet famously said that a business’s reputation takes twenty years to build but five minutes to ruin. In an age of hyper-connectivity and global suppliers, navigating reputational risk is now a multi-faceted challenge that stretches across all aspects of an organisation.
• A 2018 survey of 400 US chief executives by Deloitte found that while leaders were focused on the risks of technological disruption and digital transformation, fewer than half (42%) had discussed risks to brand reputation in the previous year and 53% couldn’t even identify what those risks were.

June 2019

• The School of Life noted that many of us spend an inordinate amount of time worrying what other people think. But for some of us, there may come a time when we need to step beyond living for our reputation in the eyes of others - and have to learn how to cope without the "warm blanket of social status".

May 2019

• Warren Buffet said that a business’s reputation takes 20 years to build but five minutes to ruin. In an age of hyper-connectivity and global suppliers, navigating reputational risk is now a multi-faceted challenge that stretches across all aspects of an organisation, noted Raconteur.
• The Financial Times noted that, although companies are more likely to recycle when it is profitable - such as with batteries - improving a corporate image with the public is another potent driver of change. Public concerns over plastic waste were piqued after widely watched TV footage showed turtles tangled in bags and seabirds who had died after consuming plastic microbeads.
• Raconteur also found that a toxic culture creates a variety of risks for a business, including reputational damage brought on by revelations about employee conduct and the corrosive influence of issues around discrimination and employee wellbeing, a poor culture can rapidly sink a brand, particularly in an age when social media amplifies every misstep. Despite this, businesses are failing to read the warning signs. A 2018 survey of 400 US chief executives by Deloitte found that while leaders were focused on the risks of technological disruption and digital transformation, fewer than half (42%) had discussed risks to brand reputation in the previous year and 53% couldn’t even identify what those risks were.

Pre 2018　

• As the next generation of family business leaders get positioned to run their family companies into the twenty first century, many are abandoning the “get rich first and give back later” philosophy, found INSEAD research. They want to create impact and meaning while they do it. Beyond responsibilities to their stakeholders, their reputations mean more than quality products at affordable prices and they place more emphasis on giving back as part of their legacy, not just ensuring the continuation of the family firm to the next generation. Such values are increasingly being shared by their peers in the corporate world, especally those at inflection points in their careers, pondering their next significant career move.
• The World’s Most Ethical Companies programme honoured companies that excel in three areas - promoting ethical business standards and practices internally, enabling managers and employees to make good choices, and shaping future industry standards by introducing tomorrow’s best practices today. Honorees have historically out-performed others financially, demonstrating the connection between good ethical practices and performance that’s valued in the marketplace.In 2016, 131 honorees were named. spanning 21 countries and five continents and representing over 45 industries. 
• The luxury watch brand Rolex is the world's most reputable company, according to the Reputation Institute's annual rankings. The top 10 companies for 2016 are (2015 ranking in parentheses): 1. Rolex (4) ; 2. The Walt Disney Company (6); 3. Google (2); 4. BMW (1); 5. Daimler (Mercedes-Benz) (3); 6. Lego (5); 7. Microsoft (11); 8. Canon (7); 9. Sony (9) 10. Apple (8). After the emissions scandal that engulfed the company last year, Volkswagen dropped from being the 14th most reputable company in the world in 2015 to the 123rd spot this year.  The Reputation Institute ranks companies according to the public's perception of their performance in seven areas: products and services, innovation, workplace, governance, citizenship, leadership, and performance. To compile the rankings, the Reputation Institute collected more than 240,000 ratings from 15 countries.
• The Swiss firm RepRisk recently published its “most controversial companies” index for 2015. Here were some of the names that featured most prominently, and not in a good way, last year: Uber, Volkswagen, Sony, HSBC and FIFA. They were deemed to have mishandled environmental, social or governance issues. This was one league table you did not want to appear in, claimed the Financial Times, asking whether Chief Risk Officers (CROs) been asleep on the job in these cases? Why did boards not know what was about to hit them? Management of risk is a question of culture and behaviour. It is hard for any CRO to influence risk management in a business if it is not seen to be taken seriously at the top.
• In the US, KPMG withdrew nearly a decade of opinions approving financial statements from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The swaps regulator understated liabilities by $212 million in fiscal 2014 and $194 million in fiscal 2015, according to KPMG estimates. AUS commentator said, “Overlooking the problem for nearly 10 years takes a substantial bite out of KPMG's reputation.
• The annual Edelman Trust Barometer, which looks at reputations of business, government and other institutions, this year came up with a striking opinion gap between “informed people” at the top and the rest of the population. Given that many of the jobs further down the organisation can be automated or outsourced, should business leaders care that those at the bottom are unhappy, asked the Financial Times.
• Reputation Institute released its US CSR RepTrak, which highlights the companies that have the best reputations for corporate social responsibility (CSR) among the US public. The top 10 CSR companies in the US in 2015 were: 1. Amazon.com; 2. LEGO Group; 3. Levi Strauss & Co.; 4. BMW ; 5. Schneider Electric; 6. Sanofi; 7. Snap-on; 8. Panera Bread; Shire Ltd and 10. Harley-Davidson.
• Woolworths emerged with the best reputation among South Africa’s largest companies in 2015. According to the 2015 RepTrak Pulse reputation survey, which ranks the largest listed companies by revenue and familiarity and which was conducted by Reputation House, a representative of the internationally based Reputation Institute, Woolworths’ scored 71.2 points out of a possible 100. Pick n Pay and Shoprite scored 70.8 and 69.0 respectively, coming in second and third, while MTN and Mr Price rounded out the top five companies.
• BMW Group surpassed LEGO Group, Sony and Samsung to take the top spot in Reputation Institute's 2015 Europe RepTrak(r) 100, the largest annual survey of European public opinion on the world's most visible companies. The Europe RepTrak(r) 100 is based on more than 15,000 interviews with the general public across Europe's five largest markets: the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain. The survey measures the public's perception of companies based on seven dimensions: innovation, leadership, governance, citizenship, workplace, performance, and products/services.
• According to the Reputation Institute, the country with the best reputation this year is Canada, reclaiming its number one position after trailing behind Switzerland last year. Scandinavian countries dominate the remainder of the top 10. The Country Rep Trak(r) study quantifies the positive attributes directly correlated to reputation that survey respondents ascribed to the countries included in the survey. The attributes include the desire to visit, live, work and study in a country, go to an event in that country, and invest and buy products in that country.
• Source's UK client perception study asked '‘indirect clients' (for which read: prospects) their opinions of the consulting firms they’ve seen working within their organisations. he opinions of indirect clients matter because these people are potential future buyers of consulting - a pool of prospective clients to which consulting firms have relatively easy access, since they’re already working within their organisation. Well over half (58%) of indirect clients of the Big Four described quality as ‘average’, while only around a third (36%) thought the firms offer high quality capability.
• Amazon secured the top spot in Reputation Institute’s 2015 US RepTrak® 100, America’s largest annual survey of corporate reputations. Although Amazon ranked first for the second year in a row, its score has steadily improved over the last four years. Of the top three companies, Kellogg’s demonstrates the most notable improvement in its corporate reputation this year with a four point increase and a jump to 2nd place from 10th place last year.
• Reputation Institute, a US firm measuring the corporate reputation of companies across seven dimensions, revealed the results of its latest The Global RepTrak® 100 study covering 15 countries. The BMW Group, followed by Google, Daimler, Rolex, LEGO, The Walt Disney Company, Canon, Apple, Sony and Intel were named as those with the highest corporate reputation across such dimensions, as: products and services, innovation, workplace, governance, citizenship, leadership and performance.
• KPMG was among the 100 Best Companies to Work For in the US in FORTUNE Magazine's annual list, advancing 17 spots to No. 63 and having the highest ranking of the Big 4. PwC is ranked #74, appearing on the list for the 11th consecutive year. EY is ranked #79 and Deloitte #97.
• Social Media Today argued that one of the most important aspects of business today is reputation. Since the world is becoming so socially connected, word of mouth and consumer reviews can dictate whether a business is successful or not. Reputation management is more about prevention than it is about reacting to one or two upset customers. It is also important to recognise that one needs to develop and manage your online reputation even if a company does not sell anything online.