For any company, whether large or small, its reputation is important. After all, she has to interact with partners, look for new clients, and fight with competitors for regular ones. Much here depends on the image. Therefore, in this article we will talk in more detail about what the business reputation of an organization is and what it is like.

Why is it needed?

How can a good reputation help a company, and is it so important? She helps with the following:

Increases the value of the company's services and products.
Attracts qualified workers to the company.
Increases the effectiveness of sales and advertising campaigns.
It makes it more attractive for banks and allows them to withstand economically difficult times.

A respectable reputation makes banks more attractive and allows them to withstand economically difficult times.

That is why a company that wants to grow and actively develop in its direction must take care of its reputation.

Psychological image of the company

Each potential or actual client represents a specific company in his own way; he develops a so-called psychological image, which is more often called image. The image of a company is a complex of impressions about it.

How is it assessed?

There is a concept of “goodwill”. It denotes the advantages of a given company that are not its tangible assets. Business reputation is assessed based on these parameters. The difference between the price of all the company's assets, its property and the price that a potential buyer of the company is willing to pay is determined. The greater this difference, the better the business reputation.

How is it calculated

There are several methods by which goodwill can be accurately calculated. The most famous and considered traditional is proportional. It consists in determining the difference between the price of the investor’s investment and his share. The full goodwill method is slightly different. Here the difference between the price of the entire purchased business and the value of its assets is calculated. All this information is entered into a special table for calculations, where each indicator is taken into account.

What happens

Conventionally, business reputation can be divided into two large type: positive and negative. As mentioned above, goodwill is calculated by comparing the price of a business and the value of its assets. If this difference is negative, there is a negative business reputation. If the difference has a plus sign, this is a positive business reputation.

Naturally, every entrepreneur should strive for the second option. This will increase the value of his company and allow him to get more clients and partners. A positive reputation has a significant impact on trust in a company. Damage to property, dishonest transactions and deception of partners have a negative impact on the image of the company.

In the end

We have found that the business reputation of an organization is something intangible and intangible. But it is very important for every company. Its protection and maintenance is one of the main tasks of the company’s management. Considering this aspect is no less important than trying to get maximum profit. And a careless attitude towards such a phenomenon is an example of incompetence and short-sightedness.

Reputation is a valuable intangible asset that creates an image among the external and internal target audience of a particular company as reliable, stable and honest in a business sense. However, reputation has its own coefficient, as well as types, so today there is a classification of such a category as “reputation”. What kind of reputation is there?? What are the differences between its main types and how do these differences affect the individuals or legal entities that possess it?

Business and personal reputation

First of all, reputation is a system of formed assessments, as well as attitudes, opinions and expectations that prevail about the physical or legal entity specifically set point. Firstly, reputation can be owned by both an individual and a legal entity. What kind of reputation is there?, if we correlate it with these individuals?

Legal entities have a business and exclusively business reputation; such persons include companies, firms, organizations, enterprises, etc. Therefore, this type of reputation relates primarily to the business and professional aspects of a legal entity. That is, consumers build in their minds the business reputation of a particular company based on assessments of its goods and products, based on the quality of service, as well as the price-quality ratio. What is the business reputation of a legal entity if it is formed by the assessments of potential business partners? In this case, business reputation will depend on the profitability of the business, profitability, stability in work, etc.

When assessing internal target audit - employees, the criteria of absence of personnel leakage, timeliness of payments, as well as the presence of a leading, authoritative manager, and a competent staff of specialists involved in a particular company are important. All this affects the reputation of business legal entities.

In addition to legal entities, individuals also have a reputation. However, they can be carriers of both business and personal reputation. Personal reputation is very closely related to the concepts of honor, dignity, integrity, law-abidingness, etc. In fact, a positive personal reputation is formed according to the public's approval of the personal qualities possessed by an individual. What kind of reputation do individuals have besides personal reputation? This is, first of all, business reputation, which correlates with competence, professional experience, knowledge, personal productivity, as well as stability in the work of a particular person.

What kind of reputation is there? Positive and negative

What kind of reputation is there according to other criteria that relate to the quality of assessments? specific person or company? Here you should indicate a positive, high reputation coefficient or a negative, low reputation coefficient. Depending on this, positive and negative reputations are distinguished. A positive reputation presupposes a high level of trust from the public, which is supported by high expectations from a person or legal entity, as well as favorable opinions, assessments, etc. However, what kind of reputation is there if the public’s system of assessments, opinions, views and expectations is negative? In this case, it is worth talking about a negative reputation, which brings significant financial damage, since it threatens individuals with dismissal, demotion, and for legal entities - a decrease in the number of consumers, business partners, investors and a drop in profits.

Tarnished Reputation

A special type of reputation in the classification is the so-called tarnished reputation. Most often, defamation of reputation occurs when there is a leak or deliberate disclosure of slandering, defamatory information, which usually comes from competitors. False information involves the disclosure of false, ambiguous, compromising information for the purpose of deliberate (if the court proves) denigration good name legal or natural person. A tarnished reputation requires a whole range of measures that would allow it to be restored to its previous level.

Such measures include going to court, defending a good name in court, and demanding compensation for moral damage. Further, a set of measures provides for the disclosure of positive information about a person or legal entity in all kinds of media.

What kind of reputation there is is one of the main issues that PR agents, marketers, brand managers and psychologists deal with, since their range of tasks includes creating the most positive and high reputation coefficient, which would lead to an increase in material assets.

Positive business reputation of the organization

All modern forms businesses, ranging from small private enterprises to huge companies, are forced to go through fierce competition. It is made worse by the fact that the work of these organizations takes place in the information age, when any form of data is easily accessible and open to the masses. That is why it gives the opportunity to work for high level, not lose so much money if you do the wrong thing, and also attract additional investments and cover all sorts of new markets, both sales markets and employment markets.

How is a positive business reputation of an organization formed?

To begin with, it is worth saying that positive business reputation of the organization is complex and complex concept, which is studied by more than one academic class and does not relate to one or another type of science. The concept of reputation includes psychology, sociology, marketing, analytics and others. mathematical sciences. As the practice of specialists has shown, in one manufacturing company such skills and knowledge in these industries are rarely combined in one department, which makes the involvement of third parties in the process of creating image and reputation a mandatory measure.

In order to clearly understand which concepts and which angle of action are within the power of the organization itself, it is worth saying that the objective production aspects that are included in the concept of “positive business reputation of the organization” must still be taken upon by the company. This includes monitoring the quality of goods, the satisfaction of employees and business partners, the presence of both suppliers of raw materials and open markets for selling goods, etc. The simplest way to say is that the positive business reputation of an organization of an internal, objective nature is supported by the organization itself by providing everything that is required to produce high-quality, payback goods on time, payment social factors employees, as well as ensuring return on investment for investors. Such factors occupy about 30% of the concept of “positive business reputation of an organization” and are regulated, as a rule, without the involvement of third parties or with minimal participation.

What other factors should be taken into account when influencing the concept of “positive business reputation of an organization”?

A qualitative approach to regulating the concept of business reputation of a nature that is beyond the capabilities of the organization involves working with the opinions of clients, potential and existing, analysis and impact on funds mass media, as well as activities for monitoring all types of business reputation and their connection with the actions of the company.

In order for the positive business reputation of the organization to only increase, it is worth focusing your attention on publications in means of mass exchange of opinions, such as the Internet. The Internet and the concept of reputation are closely related, since on the Internet anyone can leave a review or create a publication that will either improve the company’s reputation or negate the “positive business reputation of the organization” factor.

It is the anonymity of publications on the Internet, as well as the fact that they can be stored there for an extremely long time, that have made the Internet another weapon of struggle between competitors who, in the realities of today’s world, can publish compromising information about each other without problems or obstacles. Working with data that compromises the concept of “positive business reputation of an organization,” as well as the company itself, is a scrupulous and responsible job, therefore it should be entrusted to specialized companies that have sufficient staff to implement full monitoring and influence on network resources.

Such companies that work with the concept of “positive business reputation of the organization” analyze target audiences and rank the company among them. In addition, in real time, they draw parallels between changes in the company’s performance and how well or poorly it is viewed in society. Due to such actions, the positive business reputation of the organization only increases, and the actions of competitors in the form of publications negative information can be easily and timely warned.

As practice has shown, it is real-time monitoring that turns work with reputation into a profitable investment for any company, in which the organization’s positive business reputation becomes a wonderful and strong engine of trade and development of institutions of any nature.

Business and personal reputation

First of all, reputation is a system of formed assessments, as well as attitudes, opinions and expectations that prevail about an individual or legal entity at a specific moment. Firstly, reputation can be owned by both an individual and a legal entity. What kind of reputation is there?, if we correlate it with these individuals?

What kind of reputation is there? Positive and negative

What kind of reputation is there according to other criteria that relate to the quality of assessments about a particular person or company? Here you should indicate a positive, high reputation coefficient or a negative, low reputation coefficient. Depending on this, positive and negative reputations are distinguished. A positive reputation presupposes a high level of trust from the public, which is supported by high expectations from a person or legal entity, as well as favorable opinions, assessments, etc. However, what kind of reputation is there if the public’s system of assessments, opinions, views and expectations is negative? In this case, it is worth talking about a negative reputation, which brings significant financial damage, since it threatens individuals with dismissal, demotion, and for legal entities - a decrease in the number of consumers, business partners, investors and a drop in profits.

Tarnished Reputation

A special type of reputation in the classification is the so-called tarnished reputation. Most often, defamation of reputation occurs when there is a leak or deliberate disclosure of slandering, defamatory information, which usually comes from competitors. False information involves the disclosure of false, ambiguous, compromising information for the purpose of intentionally (if the court proves) denigrating the good name of a legal or natural person. A tarnished reputation requires a whole range of measures that would allow it to be restored to its previous level.

Positive business reputation of the organization

All modern forms of business, from small private enterprises to huge companies, are forced to go through fierce competition. It is made worse by the fact that the work of these organizations takes place in the information age, when any form of data is easily accessible and open to the masses. That is why it makes it possible to work at a high level, not lose so much money due to incorrect actions, and also attract additional investments and cover all kinds of new markets, both sales markets and employment markets.

How is a positive business reputation of an organization formed?

To begin with, it is worth saying that positive business reputation of the organization is a complex and complex concept that is studied by more than one academic class and does not relate to one or another type of science. The concept of reputation includes psychology, sociology, marketing, analytics and other mathematical sciences. As the practice of specialists has shown, in one manufacturing company such skills and knowledge in these industries are rarely combined in one department, which makes the involvement of third parties in the process of creating image and reputation a mandatory measure.

In order to clearly understand which concepts and which angle of action are within the power of the organization itself, it is worth saying that the objective production aspects that are included in the concept of “positive business reputation of the organization” must still be taken upon by the company. This includes monitoring the quality of goods, the satisfaction of employees and business partners, the presence of both suppliers of raw materials and open markets for selling goods, etc. The simplest way to say is that the positive business reputation of an organization of an internal, objective nature is supported by the organization itself by providing everything that is required to produce high-quality, payback goods on time, pay social factors to employees, and ensure payback for investors. Such factors occupy about 30% of the concept of “positive business reputation of an organization” and are regulated, as a rule, without the involvement of third parties or with minimal participation.

What other factors should be taken into account when influencing the concept of “positive business reputation of an organization”?

A qualitative approach to regulating the concept of business reputation of a nature that is beyond the capabilities of the organization involves working with the opinions of clients, potential and existing, analysis and influence on the media, as well as activities for monitoring all types of business reputation and their connection with the actions of the company.

Such companies that work with the concept of “positive business reputation of an organization” analyze target audiences and rank the company among them. In addition, in real time, they draw parallels between changes in the company’s performance and how well or poorly it is viewed in society. Due to such actions, the positive business reputation of the organization only increases, and the actions of competitors in the form of publications of negative information can be easily and timely prevented.

The activities of an organization are carried out in conditions of various interactions and relationships, in an environment that has various interests - economic, political, legal, social, spiritual, etc. Regulation of interactions affecting the organization from the inside and outside is undoubtedly one of the essential functions organization that determines the success of its activities. Flexibility of interaction and feedback– a process that contributes to the achievement of organizational goals. The most important tasks solved in the course of this activity are the formation of a positive image, achievement trust relationships with partners, consumers and suppliers and, perhaps most importantly, creating a high reputation that would work for the company and bring concrete results. The company's good reputation helps it:

– give additional psychological value products and services;

– attract new consumers if they are faced with a choice between functionally similar goods or services;

– attract more qualified employees to the company and increase job satisfaction of existing personnel;

– raise funds on the stock market and survive in the event of a crisis.

Naturally, it is clear to everyone that reputation is very important aspect activities of any company, which should be constantly worked on, but it is difficult to find a company that has a program to protect the reputation and improve its characteristics for its internal and external audiences.

Most often this happens for one simple reason - the concept of “reputation” is replaced by the concept of “image”, the formation and development of which is the focus of all the company’s activities. So what is the difference and what is more important element for the successful functioning of a company – image or reputation?

Getting to know any company begins with various visual and verbal signs, by which people can identify a given company and which form the essence of it corporate identity. Such features include a logo, slogan, design, color, corporate business cards, letterhead, corporate envelope, form for a fax message, advertising printing, corporate website design, branded clothing - everything that is commonly called the corporate style of the company. These are means of objective positioning of a company on the market that we can see, touch, hear, sometimes smell, in a word - feel.

Our sensations naturally turn into our perception, which is located in our consciousness. This is where the image is formed companies. Therefore the image is not constant sign organization, but represents a strong impression with great regulatory properties. From this point of view, an image is a special mental image that strongly and in a certain way influences the emotions, behavior and relationships of an individual or group. Because people have different information, different experiences and different perceptions, a company cannot have one image - its image is diverse.

The concept of “image” was introduced into scientific use only in the early 60s of the twentieth century. The image comes from Latin word"imago" – an image that is associated with another lexeme –"imitar" , i.e. imitate. Dictionary Webster's gives following definition this concept: image - artificial imitation or presentation of the external form of a certain object, especially a person. It is a mental image of a person, product or institution, purposefully formed in the public consciousness with the help of publicity, advertising or propaganda.

Other researchers argue that the term “image” has English roots and is most often used to define the image that is constructed, created in order to cause the desired changes in the consciousness and behavior of people, to influence them in a certain social way. psychological impact.

One of the first to introduce this concept into special Russian-language literature was O. Feofanov. In his famous book"USA: Advertising and Society", published in 1974, he considers image as the main means of psychological influence of the advertiser on the consumer. IN Russian literature The concept of "image" usually means an artificially formed image of someone or something - a politician, an entrepreneur, a company, a product.

There are many definitions of image, but we can highlight them common part is an artificial image that is formed purposefully and has an impact emotional-psychological impact on a specific group of people. That is, this is everything that a company creates in order to stand out externally and become recognizable and attractive.

The viability of the image is based on the effect of perception noted by Heraclitus: “The main thing is not what is, but how we understand it.” That's why main task the company is right choice means that influence people's consciousness. Image is a socio-psychological influence that can greatly influence consciousness, therefore image development should be carried out by professionals who know not only the basics of business, but also the basics of individual psychology and social groups. The purpose of the image is to transform individual image into a collective one, while developers must take into account the behavior patterns of people and their possible reaction for one image or another. To penetrate a person’s consciousness, it is necessary to establish contact with him, that is, to develop effective communication, and the main means will be media sources, namely television, radio and the Internet.

The regulating power of the image is also determined by the fact that “the image is the reality of an illusory space.” It is believed that people live, as it were, in two worlds - the real and the illusory, or imaginary.

IN real world events occur, people act, relationships dominate, the meaning, values and characteristics of which are adequately reflected in people’s minds and evaluated. There are no or very few false versions, distortions and deceptions.

In the illusory space, reality is purposefully distorted and presented in a certain way, usually in accordance with hidden interests. In most cases, we are not dealing with true information, but with specially constructed images that have the nature of stereotypes and attitudes.

The illusory world is psychologically much more comfortable than the real one, because it has the following characteristics: it is fundamentally unverifiable, therefore, there is less disappointment in it; irrational, therefore perceived as a given without alternative; harmonious, holistic, consistent; always extremely friendly, focused on people, etc.

Based on the above, image is a manipulative, attractive mental image that affects emotional sphere person.

Like any object and special mental image, the image is characterized by following characteristics:

– implies a strong emotional response, this follows from its very definition;

– an ideal object that arises in people’s minds;

- not subject to direct measurement, it can only be assessed by relationships manifested in communication, activity, and choice;

– holistic and consistent, corresponds to unambiguous generalized ideas;

– unstable, it constantly needs to be “reinforced” with advertising or various targeted promotions;

– contains a limited number of components: the complexity of the design interferes with its perception, and therefore makes the attitude towards it ambiguous;

- to some extent realistic, although it is an illusory image;

– pragmatic, i.e. focused on a limited range of tasks that correspond to the goals of the organization or the characteristics of the current situation and its development;

– has the property of variability, i.e. An absolutely “rigid and unchanging design” is unacceptable, the image is always dynamic, and it may be necessary to make adjustments.

The main function of the image is to form a positive attitude towards someone or something. As a result of the formed positive attitude, trust in the company comes, and, as a rule, high marks and a confident choice. This is the psychological chain generated by a positive attitude. In addition, a positive image helps to increase prestige, and therefore authority and influence. A positive image is also important factor high rating, which is very important in public activities rich in various information. This is why Americans say that “a positive image is worth billions of dollars.”

When forming an image, you need to clearly understand what specific image is needed. Naturally, positive and attractive, but specification is still necessary. The choice of the type or type of image determines the strategy and content of the activity to create it. To do this, it is necessary to consider image typologies developed on the basis of general and special grounds according to the criteria of similarity and difference.

The direction of manifestation, that is, information about the characteristics by which the image is formed:

– external orientation, that is, manifested mainly in external environment oriented towards clients or consumers (corporate style, logo, office interiors, appearance personnel, etc.);

– internal, formed as an impression of the work and relationships of staff (corporate relations, ethics of behavior, features of business communication, traditions, etc.).

It is obvious that there are close functional connections between these types of image. Moreover, the relationships are desirable and necessary - their discrepancy will cause distrust in the organization and its activities.

Emotional coloring of the image:

– positive image;

– negative image (formed mainly in politics by political opponents with the help of so-called “black PR” and anti-advertising).

Focus:

- a natural image that develops spontaneously as a result practical activities organizations, without special promotions and advertising;

– artificial, created specifically by advertising or promotions and not fully consistent with the nature and effectiveness of the organization’s activities.

Degree of rationality of perception:

– cognitive, giving “dry” special information(focused mainly on knowledgeable people, narrow specialists);

– emotional, sensual (this image is aimed at a wide audience and is designed to evoke a strong emotional response).

Contents of the image, compliance of the image with the specifics of the company’s activities:image of the organization; image of the leader (team); image of an idea, project.

The most important for the emergence of trust in the organization and, accordingly, the formation of its positive image are people’s ideas about the financial situation of the company, about the history of the company, its traditions, about social responsibility to society, about the management of the organization, about the personality of the manager, about the attitude towards staff, about the ethics of activities and relationships.

Analyzing research on image, we can draw a paradoxical conclusion: the image is contradictory, since it must obey the requirements of society and at the same time be individual, that is, the perception of the image occurs in contrast to the unified and at the same time unique image of the company.

If any feelings and beliefs regarding a company (its image) correspond to a person’s ideas about corporate behavior, then a good reputation of this company is formed in his mind. Thus, a good reputation reflects a close correspondence between the company's image and the individual's own value system.

Climbing the steps of the pyramid from the bottom up demonstrates our path from ignorance about the company to recognition, positive perception and finally, the formation reputation as a strong belief in the advantages of a given company, a strong desire to use only this company’s products and a strong desire to recommend this company to their friends and acquaintances. The result of this ascent is the formation of a company’s super brand in a person - a sense of trust, reliability and involvement in its affairs. Achieving a superbrand can only be achieved through the correct match between the corporate image and the values of the audience.

The company's reputation is aimed primarily at consumers and reflects the company's desire to make them loyal to the company itself and the products it produces. The high reputation of the company serves as a guarantee for the consumer of the quality of the products sold and (or) the services provided. According to consumer opinion research, 62% of consumers believe that a company with a good reputation will not sell products of poor quality. The confidence of members of the public that a company with a positive reputation will not sell goods of inadequate quality will be reflected in an increase in the speed and volume of sales of goods.

Since the company is aimed at self-development and adaptation to operating conditions in the product and service market, a natural cycle arises in the model. Practice shows that the most effective companies are characterized by an adaptive organizational culture.

If to analyze and characterize the corporate image we used concepts such as: recognition, trust, customer focus, quality of management, emotionality, sensitivity, innovation, then to describe reputation we should use characteristics based on a value system - honesty, ethics, decency, respect, authenticity, responsibility, high self-esteem etc.

Reputation is a strong opinion about the qualities and merits of an organization in the business world (in a certain market segment). The most important components of reputation are:

– presence of a strong organizational culture;

– the organization’s popularity in the market as a combination of financial capabilities and long-term leadership in the quality of its products;

– innovativeness of the strategy;

– presence not only in domestic but also in international markets;

– social responsibility;

– decency;

- law-abiding.

The resulting characteristics of a steadily established positive reputation – a superbrand – are: reliability, trust, support, positive recommendations.

It is necessary to distinguish between concepts such as “reputation” and “business reputation of the company”. The business reputation of a company operating in the conditions of information (post-industrial) business development is its main intangible asset, which has significant value and is formed through such company assets as reputation, image and financial stability of the company.

According to current legislation, a company's goodwill is the difference between the acquisition price of the business and the book value of assets reduced by the amount of liabilities. If a company's shares are publicly traded, reputational damage will be measured by a decline in share price as a result of decreased confidence in the company among shareholders and potential investors.

Business reputation must be assessed by experts, and its assessment may be based on the following components:

– ethics in relations with external partners – fulfillment of obligations, responsibility, credit history, decency, openness;

– ethics in relations with internal partners (corporate governance) – responsibility of managers to shareholders, majority shareholders to minority ones, financial transparency of business;

– management efficiency – profitability, increasing turnover, market expansion, innovation;

– quality of products and services;

– reputation of top managers.

Over the past 15 years, the share of the value of business reputation in the total value of Western companies has increased from 18 to 82%. An increase in a company's business reputation index by 1% gives an increase in its market value by 3%. The value of an enterprise's business reputation increases if it stimulates consumer confidence in its products.

Thus, reputation is an intangible, legally unidentifiable asset that is difficult to evaluate in monetary terms, but which provides additional significant income and other economic benefits.

In this regard, the question arises about the formation, maintenance and protection of the company’s reputation, i.e. on the development of a system of reputation management measures.

Maintaining efficient and permanent connections with the public is one of key points corporate reputation management. The formation of a company's reputation is greatly facilitated by its publicity.

Publicity (English "publicity" - publicity, openness) is wide positive fame and recognition of the company, its personnel and activities. Publicity is formed with the widespread use of the media and represents the external fame of the enterprise. To create publicity, modern companies conduct the following events, which are subsequently widely covered in the media and strengthen their reputation:

carrying out promotions aimed at the target audience;

participation in exhibitions;

creation of professional associations.

Other external methods of managing a company’s reputation include:

– setting expectations of business partners and building relationships with them;

– building relationships with suppliers based on trust and mutual respect;

– creation of an “institution of trust” among consumers.

Within an organization, reputation management should be carried out in the following areas:

– development of the company’s mission and philosophy;

– creation and implementation of a corporate code of conduct;

– formation of the image of the company’s top officials and top management;

– development of the company’s social responsibility position;