Corporate Responsibility and Corporate Reputation: Two Separate Concepts or Two Sides of the Same Coin?
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Volume 10 Number 4
Corporate Responsibility and Corporate Reputation: Two Separate Concepts or Two Sides of the Same Coin? Carola Hillenbrand The John Madejski Centre for Reputation, School of Reputation and Relationships, Henley Management College, Greenlands, Henley-on-Thames, Oxon, UK Kevin Money The John Madejski Centre for Reputation, School of Reputation and Relationships, Henley Management College, Greenlands, Henley-on-Thames, Oxon, UK
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION
The need to investigate the link between reputation and responsibility is well established. This paper answers calls to conduct this comparison from a stakeholder perspective. In so doing a literature review identified models of reputation that engage with stakeholders from their inception to measurement, while no such models of corporate responsibility were found. A qualitative study to conceptualize responsibility from the perspective of stakeholders was then conducted. Following this, a formal comparison between this conceptualization and that of reputation models is undertaken. The results suggest that there is considerable similarity between the concepts of responsibility and reputation. Implications may include the use of reputation models as potential measures for many of the aspects conceptualized as responsibility. Questions about the causal relationship between the two concepts are also discussed. Corporate Reputation Review (2007) 10, 261–277. doi:10.1057/palgrave.crr.1550057
In recent years, practitioners and academics have become increasingly interested in reputation and how it relates to other concepts such as responsibility (eg Brammer and Pavelin, 2006; Fombrun, 2005; Andriof and Waddock, 2002). In part, this is because elements of responsibility have been viewed as key drivers of reputation. Antecedents of a good reputation have been suggested to include embracing CSR standards (Fombrun, 2005), philanthropic giving (Brammer and Millington, 2005) and the development of trusting relationships with stakeholders (MacMillan et al., 2004; Waddock, 2002; Jones, 1995). On the other hand, some theorists suggest that rather than being an antecedent of reputation, issues relating to the responsibilities of a business are key attributes in terms of which an organization’s reputation is judged. Schnietz and Epstein (2005), for example, identify social responsibility as a key dimension of reputation; Tucker and Melewar (2005) see social responsibility as a critical element of reputation relevant to crisis management and Lindgreen and Swaen (2005)
KEYWORDS: corporate reputation; corporate
responsibility; stakeholders
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Corporate Reputation Review, Vol. 10, No. 4, pp. 261–277 © 2007 Palgrave Macmillan Ltd, 1363-3589 $30.00
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Corporate Responsibility and Corporate Reputation
argue that issues relating to responsibility are embedded within the functional relationships that underpin business activities. They suggest, therefore, that there will be a significant overlap between the reputation for these activities an
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