Corporate Reputations as Economic Assets.

This paper explores the intrinsic economic value of "corporate reputations." These are favorable perceptions of a company shaped by four key resource-holders: employees, customers, investors, and communities. According to the author, securing attractive perceptions of a company from these resource providers is crucial if a company is to build and sustain a competitive advantage in the marketplace. Reputations matter because they create value. The author suggests that reputational markets can therefore be characterized as "winner-take-all" environments in which exaggerated rewards accrue to companies that develop even marginally better reputations than their rivals. In building a definition of corporate reputation, the author explores how economists, strategists, sociologists, marketers, and organization theorists view corporate reputations. The author concludes with three key issues that appear to dominate current research in corporate reputation: measuring reputations, valuing reputations, and causality.