A Descriptive Study on the Corporate Reputation Of Smart Communications, Inc. Among University Students in Manila

Abstract

This study aimed to determine the corporate reputation of Smart Communications, Inc. among university students in the Taft Avenue area of Manila. In relation to this, the researcher also wanted to find how each driver of corporate reputations affects the actual score and also, which of these drivers have the most and least effects on the overall corporate reputation score. To do this, the researcher used the Harris-Fombrun Reputation Quotient as a framework for this study. The researcher then constructed a survey questionnaire using the six drivers of corporate reputation, providing one category for each driver. The instrument was pretested and once its reliability has been established, the survey was administered to one hundred students from two universities in the Taft Avenue area, one private - De La Salle University Manila, and one public - University of the Philippines Manila. The survey was administered via hard copies and an online version. The data gathered from the survey was tabulated. Frequency tables showing the scoring for each category were created, the final score for Smart Communication, Inc.’s corporate reputation quotient among the respondents was obtained, and then correlations were obtained by conducting a Pearson’s R Test on the data. The data gathered indicated that Smart Communications, Inc. has a relatively steady reputation among those surveyed, garnering a corporate reputation quotient of 20.9 that we can interpret as above average. However, it is notable that the lowest score the company got was for products and services, an item that had the highest correlation to the corporate reputation quotient (0.754). This is an indication that those surveyed give a heavy premium on the satisfaction they get from using a product/service when it comes to how they perceive an organization as a whole. The emotional appeal of the organization, also one with a high correlation to the total corporate reputation score, is also one that plays a more significant role among the other drivers of corporate reputation. This indicates that it could be inferred from this data that those surveyed and their peers also rely significantly on their emotions in determining how they generally perceive an organization. The data also shows that workplace environment scored the lowest in terms of correlation with the corporate reputation quotient with a value of 0.379 (low). This tells us that either the respondents don’t care a lot about this area or that they are undecided on this driver when forming an opinion.