Microsoft Tops Corporate Reputation Survey; Beats “No Tears”
Microsoft has taken the top spot in the eighth-annual Harris Interactive/The Wall Street Journal ranking of the best corporate reputations. MS beat out Johnson & Johnson, which had won ever single previous #1 ranking, due to the amazing philanthropic efforts of founder Bill Gates, who is spending billions on several causes, including improving education and fighting disease in poor countries.
“The involvement of Bill Gates and his wife in their charitable foundation has had a definite impact on Microsoft’s reputation,” says Enriqueta Lopez Ramos, a survey respondent and retired university professor in San Benito, Texas. “It’s hard to separate Bill Gates’s image from that of Microsoft; to me, they’re one and the same.”
As seen in the chart above, Microsoft got to be number one by ranking best in three out of the six categories: Financial Performance, Vision and Leadership, and Workplace Environment. The also ranked #2 in Social Responsibility, 1.4 points behind Whole Foods. Interestingly (and dissapointedly, I’m sure, to those who work there), Microsoft did not rank at all in the top 5 in Products & Services, with the top 5 being held by 3M (what, they got #1 for Scotch Tape and Post-it Notes?), Johnson & Johnson, Google, Sony and Proctor & Gamble.
Microsoft also tied Google at #2 in corporate transparency, #1 in distinctive corporate communications, #3 in being recognizable, #2 in consistent message, #7 in sincerity, #1 in consistency of corporate communications, #3 in being recognizable in the media, and #5 most recognizable web site.
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