Shaping the Corporate Image: An Analytical Guide for Executive Decision Makers

by Gail E. Farrelly, Marion G. Sobol, Jessica S. Taper

Overview

Much of the literature on corporate reputation examines the topic from a narrow perspective—for example, from a marketing or public relations point of view. However, reputation is really a topic that spans multiple fields of endeavor—economics, finance, management, marketing, and public relations, among others. Clearly an interdisciplinary approach is needed and is provided by this volume written by two university professors and a public relations specialist. Shaping the Corporate Image discusses how a corporate reputation is acquired, maintained, and nurtured. The authors conclude that corporate leaders possess the power to mold investor perceptions and evaluations of their firms, and the authors provide the latest information on the issues.

Central to the analysis of corporate reputation are numerous examples of drastic changes in reputation ranking as reported in Fortune magazine. Discussions of these articles combine with an academic look at past trends and commentary collected from interviews with current CEOs and public relations executives to yield a valuable review of strategies that were either spectacular successes or dismal failures. Shaping the Corporate Image provides the reader with valuable input for the future—for developing reputation building in the 1990s and beyond. This volume should be of particular interest to CEOs and public relations specialists concerned with defining, enhancing, and nurturing the corporate image. It is also suitable for supplemental reading in courses in advertising, public relations, business strategy, and marketing, as well as a valuable resource for academics interested in the latest theoretical and practical developments in this field.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780899305646
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	05/21/1992
Series:	Literature; 42
Pages:	184
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.56(d)

About the Author

MARION G. SOBOL is Professor of Management Information Science at the Edwin L. Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University. Her research focuses on labor force, economic performance, computerization, statistics, and quality issues. She is co-author of three books and publishes regularly in such jourbanals as Information and Management, Review of Economics and Statistics, Social Science Quarterly, Jourbanal of Human Resources, and Review of Business and Economic Research.

GAIL E. FARRELLY is Associate Professor of Accounting at Rutgers University. Her research focuses on financial reporting issues and on the perception, analysis, and disclosure of investment risk. An expert in behavioral finance, she has served as a Visiting Scholar at Batterymatch Financial Management, where she did research on the risk tolerance of institutional investors. She has published in such jourbanals as The Accounting Review, Financial Analysts Jourbanal, Financial Management, and The Jourbanal of Portfolio Management.

JESSICA S. TAPER is a public relations specialist in Dallas, Texas. She has worked for a noted international public relations agency, an advertising firm, a university public information office, a municipal agency, and a national public accounting firm. She is a graduate of the University of Texas with a Bachelor of Jourbanalism degree in the Public Relations sequence.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Review of Fortune Corporate Reputation Studies
Academic Studies of Corporate Reputation: Origins and Effects
Survey of PR Practitioners and Specialists
Opinions of the CEO
Building a Good Reputation as a Help in Attracting Quality Workers
Building a Reputation for Quality of Products and Services
Financial Soundness and Corporation Reputation
Corporate Identity, Corporate Visibility and Reputation in the Community
Improving Corporate Reputation Now and in the Future: A Checklist
Index