Forbes Publishes Reputation Institutes 2010 Most Reputable Companies

Based on 24,977 online interviews and asking people about their perceptions of the nation’s largest companies, the Reputation Institute reviewed services, innovation, workplace, governance, citizenship, financial performance and leadership.With all those numbers… it came out with a score of 0 to 100.

The core take away is summed up fairly clearly by Forbes editor Laurie Burkitt, looking why Johnson & Johnson took #1

The secret to Johnson & Johnson’s success rings true for all of this year’s top reputable companies: Each has direct connections to their consumers and their families. Walt Disney Co., the theme park owner and entertainment giant, forms a special connection to children and their parents, who visit Disney World in Florida and Disneyland in California on family vacations. Families watch Disney movies in the comfort of their homes and use Disney as a household name. The entertainment company ranked fourth on this year’s list, up from seventh position last year. Its score was 82.11.

While the report contains a remarkable insight to some very complex problems regarding reputation, the quote above details a very tragic flaw in the report: that companies with massive in-person, family based businesses have an apparently more positive reputation.

The concept of aggregating such variable businesses and comparing them tells me one thing: I am reading a report comparing apples to oranges.

When we see a report ranking that has obvious favoritism to an industry or specific type of business, the concept of equal measurement is thrown out the window.

With that said, I still recommend taking a look at the list and examining some of the details that contain some pretty interesting business trends.

(Story – Report source here)

If you want to look at the “other end of the spectrum” with bad digital reputations and brands, check out there articles: