A Good Reputation: Protection against Shareholder Activism

Good corporate reputation is important for companies because of their potential for value creation and also as intangible asset which makes it difficult for competitors to replicate it. This research is aimed to investigate the effect of corporate reputation and cost of equity through earning quality as a mediating variable. Corporate reputation is measured by Corporate Image Index. Cost of Equity is measured by Ohlson Method. The earning quality as an intervening variable is measured by Modified Jones. The sample used in this study were non-financial companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange and Corporate Image Index from 2016 to 2018. The sample was selected using purposive sampling method. The number of sample resulted from this method are 189 companies. This study used path analysis method and supported by SPSS version 23. The theory used in this study is agency theory. Based on statistical results this study indicate that there is no significant relationship between corporate reputation and earning quality but has negative and significant relationship to cost of equity. This study also shows that earning quality has a negative and significant effect on the cost of equity. In addition, Sobel’s test results show that earning quality does not mediate the effect of corporate reputation and cost of equity

The competition for customers among telecommunication firms in Malaysia is fierce. The competition among them is not only limited to new customers but also to the respective customer base. In this fiercely competitive environment, existing customers are frequently exposed to offers and counter offers from the competing firms. At the same time various persuasive messages being made to encourage customers to switch their service provider. Perhaps the corporate reputation of a firm could provide certain competitive edge which could ensure the growth and survival of a firm into the future amid the highly competitive environment. This study attempts to assess the influence of corporate reputation of the firms on their competitive advantage in the market from the customers’ perspective. The study sampled 600 individual customers who have been using the mobile service at a minimum of three years. The selected respondents have been experiencing the service provided by more than one telecommunication operators. The data were collected using self-administered questionnaires and analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) in AMOS 6.0. The study found that the direct impact of firms’ corporate reputation on their competitive advantage in the market is not significant at ? = 0.05. Instead, the corporate reputation has an indirect impact on competitive advantage through perceived value and perceived quality of the service. In other words, the firms should communicate their favorable corporate reputation effectively to the market so that the customers’ perception level towards their products and service would arise. In other words, the firm’s corporate reputation could only help the marketability of its products or services if it could trigger the positive perception of quality and value of products or services in the mind of their potential customers. The findings provide important implications to the telecommunication operators in their effort to increase their customer base and, more importantly, to ensure the interest the customers towards the firm is preserved!

In the beer industry, the trend of consumers in each country is to trust mainly locally produced brands where they live. In this way, local brands gain a more favorable reputation than other international firms. Taking this into account, the aim of this research is to establish the corporate reputation of international beer brands versus local brands, specifically the case of the Heineken brand in local markets is analyzed. The empirical research compares the perception of Heineken in its city of origin, Groningen, with a non-original city of another country. In order to know about the reputation of this brand in both cities, firstly, the main indexes and variables that measure the corporate reputation have been studied through secondary sources. Secondly, we carried out a survey adapted to the cultural and socio-economic context of the two samples: local university students of the city of origin and of a non-original city where this brand is present. As a result of this research, it has been shown that the global corporate brand, Heineken, is a brand leader not only in its hometown, but also in other local markets. It has been detected that its good corporate reputation in the different cities is determined by its association with its product brand «Heineken» and not with other local brands acquired by this firm as a strategy to reach its international positioning. This research shows that a brand of beer can achieve international leadership not only through local brand acquisition strategies, as has traditionally been the case in this industry, but also through a global brand communication strategy that contributes to promote its corporate reputation in the markets where this brand wants to operate.

Strategic partnerships with nonprofits in corporate social responsibility (CSR): The mediating role of perceived altruism and organizational identification

Corporate reputation is a complex subject, and this book attempts to do justice to it by being expansive in its scope. Corporate Reputation Decoded covers a wide range of concepts and practices associated with reputation building, including reputation measurement, corporate governance legislation, leadership issues, government lobbying, crisis management, media handling and digital influencing, while situating it in the Indian context, illustrating the antecedents, processes and consequences of corporate reputation. Even as it provides an overview of key concepts and tactics for building, maintaining and restoring corporate reputations, the book refrains from drawing a road map of the process, allowing readers to assess and evaluate for themselves the benefits and drawbacks of various tactics.

PurposeCorporate communication practices are becoming ever more important for business service clients, as they signal quality and hence are related to client-perceived value. The purpose of this paper is to examine the interplay between corporate social responsibility (CSR), corporate reputation and client-perceived value, and to assess the moderating role of strategic orientation in business service relationships.Design/methodology/approachThe conceptual framework based on the corporate communication framework, signaling theory and relationship marketing theory has been tested on a survey sample of 228 client firms, using covariance-based SEM and additional procedures for assessment of mediation and moderated mediation.FindingsThis paper reveals that communication practices concerning CSR positively and significantly influence client-perceived value. The authors show that reputation fully mediates the effect of CSR on client-perceived value. Finally, the effect of CSR on value is stronger if the client firm has a short-term strategic orientation, while long-term strategic orientation boosts the effect of corporate reputation on customer-perceived value.Research limitations/implicationsFurther research on the topic may involve developing links between other elements of the corporate communication framework and client-perceived value.Originality/valueThe originality of the paper lies in better understanding the effects of CSR and corporate reputation on client-perceived value. The authors provide empirical evidence of the mediating role of reputation between the CSR (seen as “actions”) and client-perceived value.

The purpose of this research is to study the effect of corporate ability and corporate reputation on corporate organizations’ performance and corporate social responsibility of SMEs in Northern Region of Thailand. It was found that corporate reputation had direct effect on CSR and corporate organizations’ performance, while corporate ability had direct effect on CSR but had indirect effect on organizations’ performance through corporate reputation. Key words: Corporate ability, corporate reputation, corporate organizations’ performance, CSR.

In view of the influence of corporate reputation on investors' choices and risk concerns, the purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between corporate reputation and bankruptcy risk in public firms. The investigation is a contribution to the burgeoning literature on corporate reputation associated with accounting, despite reputation being classified as an intangible asset capable of generating competitive advantage. Our sample included 4,578 observations (441 firms) covering the period 2005-2016. The overall score on the World's Most Admired Companies ranking was used as a proxy for reputation. Bankruptcy risk was quantified by Altman Z-scores (Zang, 2012) and accounting information for each year in the period was retrieved from the database Compustat Global. Our results reveal that corporate reputation has a negative influence on bankruptcy risk, reiterating the importance of risk management. When firms attract and strive to secure the favor of stakeholders, they increase risk for the same reason. However, this effect is counterbalanced by good reputation. Thus, corporate reputation is a valuable strategic resource with which managers can boost confidence among investors, increase the firm's credit worthiness and perpetuate the organization on the market. Furthermore, these results expand the literature on corporate reputation and risk of bankruptcy, and show signs that companies with high reputation have lower risk of bankruptcy and tend to honor their debts.

Aims: This study investigates whether corporate social responsibility (CSR) mediates the effect of firm reputation on firm value in publicly listed companies in Indonesia. Study Design: This study adopts a quantitative descriptive approach employing a panel data regression design to analyze the effect of firm reputation on firm value and to examine the mediating role of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities. Statistical analyses were conducted using secondary data derived from publicly available reports. This methodological approach was chosen to ensure a rigorous examination of causal relationships across firms and over time, enhancing both internal validity and generalizability. The sample was selected using a purposive sampling technique based on specific criteria: (1) companies that consistently published annual and sustainability reports (CSR disclosures) during the observation period; (2) firms providing complete data for the variables of firm reputation. Firm reputation is proxied by brand image (awards and recognition) and Big-4 auditor affiliation, while firm value is measured using Economic Value Added (EVA). CSR is measured using a CSR disclosure score, which represents an index calculated as the ratio between the number of items disclosed by the company and the total number of items required to be disclosed. Control variables include Return on Assets (ROA) and firm size. Applying these criteria resulted in a final sample of 51 companies, yielding 306 firm-year observations included in the empirical analysis. Place and Duration of Study: This study examines companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) over a six year period, spanning from 2017 to 2022. Methodology: This study employed a panel data regression approach using observations from 51 firms over six years. The analysis began with descriptive statistics to capture the general characteristics of all variables. Model selection was then conducted through the Chow, Hausman, and Lagrange Multiplier (LM) tests to determine the most suitable estimation model. Afterward, hypothesis testing was performed to evaluate the relationships among variables, followed by a Sobel test to examine the mediating role of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in linking firm reputation and firm value. Results: Empirical findings indicate that corporate reputation has a positive and significant influence on firm value (EVA). Furthermore, corporate reputation exhibits a significant influence on the level of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) disclosure, while CSR itself significantly increases firm value. Mediation analysis using the Sobel test confirms that CSR acts as a statistically significant mediator in the relationship between corporate reputation and firm value. These findings suggest that CSR serves as a strategic translation mechanism through which reputation assets are converted into economic value, underscoring the important role of CSR in linking intangible reputation factors to tangible financial performance among public companies in Indonesia. Conclusion: Corporate reputation has a significant positive effect on corporate value, both directly and indirectly through disclosure of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities. Corporate reputation, reflected in external awards and auditor affiliations, contributes to increased transparency and credibility of CSR, ultimately increasing the company's economic value. CSR is not only a moral or legal obligation, but also a strategic tool to actualize the power of reputation into financial added value. The implications of this study emphasize the strategic importance of reputation management through the implementation of high-quality audit mechanisms and the company's active involvement in sustainable business practices. And capital market authorities are encouraged to improve the quality of supervision related to corporate reporting and to promote greater transparency through comprehensive information disclosure.

Factors that promote customer loyalty are of great concern to the banking sector because loyalty predicts business success. The purpose of this study is to examine the mediation role of corporate social responsibility on the effect of brand awareness and corporate reputation on customer loyalty. Data was collected through a cross sectional survey from 405 bank customers. Research hypotheses were tested using the structural equation model. The findings show that corporate social responsibility partially mediates the effect of both brand awareness and corporate reputation on customer loyalty. The results indicate that corporate social responsibility plays a vital role within the banking sector as it mediates the effect of brand awareness and corporate reputation on customer loyalty. If banks engage in successful corporate social responsibility practices, brand awareness and corporate reputation are enhanced and this result in improved customer loyalty. By empirically examining corporate social responsibility as a mediator on the effect of brand awareness and corporate reputation on customer loyalty the study seeks to contribute to the scholarly conversation.

The effect of bad reputation: The occurrence of crisis, corporate social responsibility, and perceptions of hypocrisy and attitudes toward a company

Purpose: This paper examines the relationship between corporate reputation, managerial overconfidence, and the cost of equity in the context of Vietnam - a fast-growing emerging market. Design/methodology/approach: The paper employs Pooled Ordinary Least Square, Fixed Effect Model and Random Effect Model to test the effects of corporate reputation and managerial overconfidence on the cost of equity on 391 non-financial Vietnamese listed firms during 2011 and 2020. In addition, Principal Component Analysis is also applied for calculating the corporate reputation score. Findings: The finding shows that firms with higher corporate reputation are associated with a lower cost of equity. The results also indicates that despite the insignificant relationship between managerial overconfidence and the cost of equity, firms operated by overconfident managers can promote the negative effect between corporate reputa-tion and the cost of equity. In addition, the more reputable corporates increase, the lower the cost of equity will be. Research limitations/implications: Firms in Vietnam can manage the cost of equity better. Furthermore, based on the managers' characteristics and the state of corporate reputation, investors can make appropriate investment decisions. Originality/value: Prior research shows that corporate reputation is negatively related to the implied cost of equity. However, in Vietnamese stock market, under managerial overconfidence, the association between corporate reputa-tion and the cost of equity is also greatly affected. Furthermore, changes in corporate reputation also have certain effects on the cost of equity, especially when corporate reputation is enhanced every year.

Corporate reputation has received considerable attention in the managerial academic literature. Whereas most research has focused on financial performance of corporate reputation, research on corporate reputation pointing to innovative performance and corporation internal mechanisms to influence innovative performance achieve has only recently emerged. Since little is known about how corporate reputation affects innovative performance, this study tests the separate moderating effects of human capital and social capital on the relationship between corporate reputation and innovative performance empirically. The sample is derived from a panel dataset of eighty-six Taiwan high-tech firms, covering six high-tech industry sub-sectors for the period 2004–2012. This study not only finds that better human capital moderates between corporate reputation and innovative performance, but also yields novel insight into the higher social capital decreases the effect of corporate reputation on innovative performance.

Corporate social responsibility (hereinafter referred to as “CSR”) sometimes does not directly affect enterprise performance but through some mediator variable. Corporate reputation and brand value have chain-mediating effects in the influence mechanism of CSR on enterprise performance. Theoretically, this paper broadens the scope of study on CSR and enterprise performance, deeply explores the internal mechanism between them, and opens the “black box” in the process of transforming CSR into enterprise performance. Practically, it can encourage Chinese enterprises to actively undertake CSR, strengthen reputation management, enhance brand value, and finally promote the sustainable development of enterprises. A-share listed companies (listed companies in the Chinese A stock market) in Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges from 2008 to 2020 in “China’s 500 Most Valuable Brands List” by World Brand Lab are studied in this paper. The results of the empirical study based on relevant data show a significant positive relationship between CSR and enterprise performance. It investigates the mediating chain effects of corporate reputation and brand value in the influence of CSR on enterprise performance. Listed companies must disclose the annual CSR report. CSR reports as an effective supplement to corporate financial information, which provides an important communication channel for the enterprise and stakeholders. Stakeholders can timely understand their rights and interests through the CSR information and have a more comprehensive and deeper understanding of enterprises. In turn, the enterprise can also win a good reputation, establish a good brand image, and get sustainable development.

The present study aims to investigate the influence of corporate recognition award and corporate reputation dimensions on corporate reputation consequences which are trust, satisfaction, loyalty, and positive word-of-mouth advertisements. Moreover, the study also shows the mediating impact of corporate reputation between corporate recognition award and satisfaction and loyalty. The results of the study show that corporate recognition award and corporate reputation have significant influence on trust, satisfaction, loyalty, and word-of-mouth influence. The corporate recognition dimensions also have a significant influence on corporate reputation consequences except the dimension good employer. The mediating analysis shows that corporate reputation partially mediates between corporate recognition award and satisfaction and loyalty. The results of the study indicate that corporate recognition award and corporate reputation can significantly influence corporate reputation consequences. Moreover, corporate recognition award can make a strong positive impact on consumer perception and response when the reputation of the organization is strong and positive.