Question

Define corporate reputation, corporate identity, and corporate image. What constitutes a good corporate reputation and why it is important?

Answer 1

Corporate reputation can be defined as the ethical standard the organization is believed to have by the public in terms of their product, services, and quality. For example, corporate reputation of Google is a tech giant that has their interest in many different industries. They are considered decently ethical as an organization and this makes their corporate reputation.

Corporate identity refers to the brand that the company is known for. This is not mainly based on reputation but on the work that they have done. For example, Google is known as search engine giant. It is possible that their phone divisions make more money than their search division. However, their identity is that of a search engine.

Corporate image is a mix of their reputation and identity. This is the overall perception that the people have in general about the company. For example, if we look at Google we see them as a large company that is heavily involved in technology domain. In terms of their moral values we see them as a neutral company.

A good corporate reputation can depend on the view of the audience. However, in most cases it involves ethical decision making, strong corporate culture and high employee morale. A company will likely build a good reputation if it can establish an ethical and strong culture of performance, openness and responsibility towards the other stakeholders.