Universum’s list of ideal employers for undergraduates and MBA students is out and not surprisingly, Google ranks #1 as it did in 2007. By the way, if you are interested in reputation and do not know about Universum, check them out. I think their research is fascinating and provides important clues into why some employers are preferred over others. The next four ranked companies are Disney, Apple, Ernst & Young and the U.S. State Department. How does E&Y get such a high rating when it was #12 one year ago. BusinessWeek says that its high score comes from E&Y’s early adoption of Facebook as a recruitment tool. I checked it out. It has nearly 15,000 fans, a You Tube on why to intern at E&Y, profiles, events, internship info, and lots more.
Another reputation survey is out as well. Reputation Institute’s third annual Global Pulse survey is out and the following companies head the list. Again Google leads the best reputation list. This survey is among consumers which differs from the younger audience sampled in the Universum study. Congratulations to the folks at the Reputation Institute who have succeeded in delivering a top-notch survey and reputation monitoring business.
2008 Best Corporate Reputations in the US-Top 25 Companies
(Rank US Companies Global Pulse Score of 1-100)
1 Google 85.23
2 Johnson & Johnson 83.48
3 Kraft Foods Inc. 82.79
4 General Mills 81.34
5 Walt Disney 81.22
6 United Parcel Service 81.05
7 3M 79.79
8 Xerox 78.44
9 Colgate-Palmolive 78.04
10 Texas Instruments 77.22
11 Eastman Kodak 77.13
12 General Electric 76.82
13 Sara Lee 76.48
14 FedEx 76.28
15 Deere & Co 76.12
16 Goodyear 76.00
17 Apple 75.42
18 Hewlett-Packard 75.10
19 Intel 74.94
20 Publix Super Markets Inc. 74.91
21 Caterpillar 74.78
22 Whirlpool 74.41
23 Boeing 74.37
24 Costco Wholesale 74.33
25 Dell 74.26
Reputation Institute’s research model is built on 7 dimensions of reputation: Products/Services, Innovation, Workplace, Citizenship, Governance, Leadership, and Performance. What interested me was that when two drivers — Governance and Citizenship — are combined, they account for more than 30% of a company’s reputation. This proves that leadership at the top and corporate responsibility are critical to reputation today.
