By Greg Hazley
Amazon.com rose 20 places to become the most reputable U.S. company for 2011, according to an analysis of the 150 largest U.S. public and mutual companies conducted by the Reputation Institute.
Source: Reputation Institute |
Amazon, ranked 21 last year, led Kraft Foods, Johnson & Johnson, 3M and Kellogg’s to round out the top five.
The RI uses polling to gauge “trust,” “admiration,” “esteem” and “good feeling” about the companies to form a score. The Institute says those emotional responses are based on seven dimensions of a company – leadership, citizenship, governance, workplace, innovation, products/services and performance.
Time Warner posted the largest gain on the reputation index for 2011, up nearly 15 points from 2010, when it fell by 7.45 upon its split from AOL. Other notable improvements for the 2011 index were General Motors (#110; +10.69), Ford (#57, +7.18), Citigroup (#144; +9.11), Morgan Stanley (#123; +8.04) and State Farm (#48; +7.60).
Taking the biggest hits were Rite Aid (#93; -10.73), Goldman Sachs (#147; -9.60), McDonald’s (#115; -9.93), AT&T (#133; -7.92), General Electric (#65; -7.26), and Microsoft (#47; -6.55).
The Institute said sector reputations that were battered during the financial crisis, including automotive and banking, showed signs of rebounding this year.
Of the seven dimensions that drive a company’s image, the RI said the products/services provided, governance and citizenship account for nearly half of a company’s reputation.
The Institute's study can be downloaded here.
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