Reputation of Australian Corporates falling
19 June 2008 at 2:14 pm
The Corporate Reputation of most Australian companies have fallen during the past year, with only two out of the 50 top Australian businesses assessed in a recent study showing significantly increased scores from 2007, according to the latest annual Reputation Index.
Produced each year by research consultancy AMR Interactive and released this week, the Reputation Index measures how Australian’s aged 18-64 score our 50 top companies and ranks them accordingly.
It is part of a global 27-country study produced in conjunction with the Reputation Institute.
According to this year’s study, the reputation of Visy Industries took the biggest hit, dropping 26 places in the Australian ranking from 17th in 2007 to 43rd in 2008.
Medibank Private and Woolworths also had significant drops in the rankings from 2007.
Cadbury Schweppes topped the list for having the strongest Corporate Reputation in Australia for the second year running, with the Toyota Motor Corporation again taking second place.
Nestle Australia, Australia Post and Qantas took third, fourth and fifth place in rankings respectively.
AMR’s research showed that BHP Billiton’s Corporate Reputation had the greatest increase during the past 12 months, jumping 19 places in the ranking to come in at 15th in 2008 – one of only two organisations to significantly improve in the eyes of Australian consumers.
Rio Tinto was the other to show great improvement.
Other highlights of the report include:
– St George Bank ranked 25th in 2008, whereas Westpac came 42nd;
– ING Australia has the strongest Corporate Reputation among banks in Australia, coming 6th in the rankings. Bank West was the next highest financial institution, coming 24th;
– ANZ dropped five places in the rankings to 37th and Commonwealth Bank dropped eight places from 2007 to 45th in 2008;
– Myer scored strongly, ranking 7th; however the Coles Group ranked significantly lower at 23rd;
– Telstra ranked 48th, coming in below Optus at 35th; and
– Results for automotive companies varied; Toyota ranked 2nd, GM Holden came in 12th, but Mitsubishi came in at 33rd.
AMR Interactive’s Reputation Practice Director Oliver Freedman said the results showed that Australian’s do not feel as positive about the corporate sector as previous years.
Freedman says results this year also show how those companies with stronger reputations can withstand a market in crisis better than those with lower reputations. For example, the top 10 from last year dropped by 2 points compared to 2007’s bottom 10 who dropped by more than 4 points.
He says in addition, the general public is particularly scathing of companies who are shown to be acting inappropriately.
Freedman says that in addition to measuring overall reputation, the Reputation Index also measured how Australian’s felt about each company according to seven parameters; Products, Innovation, Workplace, Citizenship, Governance, Leadership and Performance.
The Reputation Index collates insight directly from consumers, and does not rely on any information provided by the companies being studied.
Only adults aged 18-64 are surveyed as part of the Reputation Index in Australia, with results weighted to ensure they represent appropriate gender and age groups.
