Corporate Reputations: Should You Compete on Yours?

While all companies would like a better corporate reputation, many are not sure what it takes to create a good reputation and others are not sure that they should use their good reputation to compete in their various markets. Mimicking the behavior of respected companies does not provide a reliable resolution to these dilemmas. This article presents a framework to help managers create a better corporate reputation for their organization and assist them in deciding whether to use this as a primary basis for competition. The article also exposes some of the main costs for an organization that decides to compete on its corporate reputation.