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Management and employees in influence to business reputation

Student’s Name

Institutional Affiliation
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How management and employees influence the reputation of an organization

The reputation of the company builds over time. All companies make choices on how

they want the public to perceive them compared to their rivals. It carries severe implications for

distinct sections of the company life. (Q, P & S)Therefore, reputation is the perceptual

representation of the firm's past and future actions that dictate its overall appeal to the

stakeholders when compared to competitors (Bridges, 2020). The evaluation of the company

brand is based on stakeholders' experience and prospects. The company management and

employees, among other stakeholders, play a significant role in influencing the company's

reputation. Scholars have tried to evaluate the role of employees and management in shaping the

company's reputation. The discussion leads to different views. Most research argues that

management is the policymakers, so their decision is likely to affect the company's reputation.

On the other hand, some scholar feels that employees are the ambassadors of the employers.

Therefore, their views about the companies can be widespread to other organizational

stakeholders. Besides, they are the first contact with the company stakeholders (Smudde, 2013).

Arg-1: Employees play a more significant role in influencing the company's reputation.

(Q, P & S) “Building a brand and reputations takes a lot of the company's commitment and

sacrifices when balancing the corporate image and identity while retaining economic sense”

(Men, 2014). The employees' perception of their organization is like influencing how they talk

about their organization, how they interact with customers, job satisfaction, and productivity.

The reputation of employees can affect their reputation with customers and communities

(Smudde, 2013). A company that treats its employees well is likely to get a better reputation than

the organization that does not pay attention to its employees (Ref-1). Employees are internal

stakeholders who represent their employees to external stakeholders (Arg-2). This makes them
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authoritative and trustworthy conversationalists of the organizations. Employees interact with the

majority of the company's customers.

(Q, P & S) According to Brunswick. (2019), organizations should focus on managing

their reputation through addressing the needs of their employees, basing her argument using

Allstate Insurance with over 70,000 employees (Ref-2). Every employee could influence over

100 outsiders' perception of the company (Smudde, 2013). Therefore, Allstate employees are

likely to influence approximately seven million outsiders' opinions about the company. This case

simple illustration showing how employees' reputation is likely to influence the company's

reputation. Corporate reputation is perceived through its identity and corporate image (Arg-3).

The insiders derive the identity of the company through studying the behaviors of employees

have a crucial role since they influence and disseminate what the company says about itself.

They participate in an organizational culture that influences their behaviors and how they interact

with customers and other stakeholders (Ref-3). Also, how to communicate and interact with

other stakeholders portray the company's beliefs and hence its identity (Arg-4). (Q, P & S) The

employees' are actors of reputation chain that link the company and the society (stakeholders),

their response as a result of their experiences, feeling and information transferred the outsiders

that the company interacts with, which create healthy interpersonal relationships (Olmedo-

Cifuentes & Martinez-LeÓn, 2014) (Ref-4). External stakeholders determine the company's

beliefs and values through interaction with employees.

Arg-5: According to Álvarez and Gómez (2014), the employees' perception of the firm

reflects what they say about it to outsiders, which determines the firm's reputation. Besides, a

good organization reputation is likely to attract superior talents or expertise that would deliver

exceptional innovation and enhance internal processes. Through the spread of a good company
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reputation through its employees, the firm can attract the best talents. Potential talents look for a

reputable organization that values their employees and treat them with dignity. Social benefits

and wages could evaluate a good reputation. In return, the company benefits from competent

employees and hence an overall increase in productivity (Ref-3). (Q, P & S)The expertise of

human resources dramatically influences the success of an organization. Employees are at the

heart of the improvement of the company's performance. (Q, P & S) “Therefore, the employees'

reputations are likely to influence the company’s performance” (Men, 2014). Poor corporate

reputation with expense even when hiring, the company must advertise and publicize for the

vacancy since their employees have spread the negative message about the company.

C-Arg-1: On the other hand, some scholars argue that management plays a more

significant role in influencing corporate reputation. According to Waker (2010),” the perceptual

representation of the company is affected by past decisions and prospects, as stipulated in the

firm's strategic plans” The management makes strategic decisions that highlight the need to focus

on building a good reputation. (Q, P & S) Besides, management develops the organization's

culture. According to a study conducted by Brunswick Group (2019), investors are increasingly

determining the organization's reputation when evaluating their investment portfolios. They often

consider management reputation, which is directly associated with the company's reputation.

C-Arg-2: The way management perceives the organization to investors, and other

stakeholders are likely to influence its reputation. Another report indicated that company

stakeholder expects constant communication from management hence influencing how they will

make decisions. A piece of negative information from top management is likely to affect the

company's corporate image and identity(C-Arg-3). The CEO of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg's

poor response, attracted a lousy reputation since people started losing trust with the company
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(Love& Bednar, 2017). However, the employees of the organization execute most decisions

made. Hence, they retain a more considerable influence on corporates reputation.

In summary, the internal stakeholders' perception directly influences the external

stakeholders' perception of the company. Employee's perception of the company determines how

they talk about it to the outsiders. A positive attitude will yield good corporate reputations, while

a bad impression will affect the external stakeholders’ perception of the company; hence, they

have the biggest influence on business reputation.

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References

Bridges, J. (2020). Why CEO reputation management matters | ReputationDefender.

ReputationDefender. Retrieved 20 May 2020, from

https://www.reputationdefender.com/blog/executives/why-ceo-reputation-management-

matters.

Brunswick. (2019). C-Suite execs need to up their game on social if they want to keep investors

close. Brunswick. Retrieved 20 May 2020, from https://www.brunswickgroup.com/digital-

investor-survey-c-suite-use-social-media-to-keep-investors-close-i9475/.

Building Corporate Reputation Through Employee Empowerment - XLerant. XLerant. (2015).

Retrieved 20 May 2020, from https://xlerant.com/2015/12/16/building-corporate-reputation-

through-employee-empowerment/.

Love, E. G., Lim, J., & Bednar, M. K. (2017). The face of the firm: The influence of CEOs on

corporate reputation. Academy of Management Journal, 60(4), 1462-1481.

Men, L. R. (2014). Internal reputation management: The impact of authentic leadership and

transparent communication. Corporate Reputation Review, 17(4), 254-272.

Olmedo-Cifuentes, I., & Martinez-LeÓn, I. M. (2014). Influence of management style on

employee views of corporate reputation. Application to audit firms. BRQ Business Research

Quarterly, 17(4), 223-241.

Smudde, P. (2013). EMPLOYEES AS AMBASSADORS AND THEIR EFFECT ON

CORPORATE REPUTATION. Instituteforpr.org. Retrieved 20 May 2020, from

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https://instituteforpr.org/employees-as-ambassadors-and-their-affect-on-corporate-

reputation/.