CSR IS NOT DEAD - Reputation Institute

CSR IS NOT DEAD - IT’S JUST MISMANAGED 

2012 CSR RepTrak 100 Study shows companies wasting millions on CSR 

LONDON, December 11, 2012– The results of Reputation Institute’s 2012 CSR 

RepTrak 100 Study uncover that many of the world’s 100 most reputable companies 

have little to show for the millions of dollars they spend on Corporate Social 

Responsibility (CSR) initiatives. 

“For companies to win in the reputation economy, they need customers and 

stakeholders to trust and support them. CSR is a major driver of trust and reputation. So 

CSR is not dead. But with 50-60% of consumers unsure if the largest companies in the 

world are good corporate citizens, open and transparent, and are good places to work, it 

is clear that CSR investments are being mismanaged”, says Kasper Nielsen, Executive 

Partner of Reputation Institute. 

Sixty percent of the 47,000 respondents across the fifteen markets in the 2012 CSR 

RepTrak 100 Study were unsure if companies are good corporate citizens that 

support good causes and protect the environment. Four percent believe that companies 

could absolutely not be trusted. 

The CSR RepTrak 100 Study clearly confirms that companies that make reputation 

management and hence, CSR, a driving force in their business strategy realize 

results…a five point increase in a CSR rating would result in a 9.1% rise in the number 

of people who would definitely recommend a company. There is real money in 

improving reputation through CSR, but companies are failing to leverage this. 

“Companies are mismanaging their CSR investments…it’s that simple. They are not 

applying the same rigor to these investments as they do to their other core business 

priorities. They are not linking CSR to their business strategy but instead, treating it as a 

separate initiative and investment. You don’t do CSR for the sake of CSR. You do CSR 

as part of your reputation management strategy to drive business growth, customer 

loyalty, and employee alignment” says Nielsen. 

Microsoft Named Most Socially Responsible Company in the World 

Microsoft has the best reputation for CSR in the world according to the 2012 CSR 

RepTrak 100. It is the company in the world that is seen as delivering best on 

Citizenship, Workplace, and Governance. A remarkable result when you consider that 

the company in the early 2000s was under attack for using its market dominance to 

drive up consumer prices and put pressure on the competition with unfair business 

practices. So how did Microsoft turn this perception around? 

“We recognize that public trust in corporations depends in large part on the basic 

aspects of business character: integrity, accountability, values, responsibility and 

transparency,” says Dan Bross, Senior Director of Corporate Citizenship, Microsoft. “A 

strong and steady core is the bedrock of both right action and good business. Over the 

Argentina-Australia-Belgium-Brazil-Canada-Chile-China-Colombia-Denmark-Finland-France-Germany-Greece-India 

Ireland-Italy-Japan-Mexico-Netherlands-Norway-Panama-Peru-Portugal-Puerto Rico-Russia-South Africa-Spain- 

Sweden-Switzerland-Turkey-Ukraine-United Arab Emirates-United Kingdom-United States

past fifteen years we have increased our engagement in public policy discussions that 

relate to our business, and now publish our public policy agenda every year to let 

everyone see what issues we are working on and how they impact our business. 

Bottom line – we enhanced our commitment to accountability, strong corporate 

governance and transparency.” 

Microsoft is joined in the top 10 by Google, The Walt Disney Company, BMW, Apple, 

Daimler, VW, SONY, LEGO, and Colgate-Palmolive 

Overall, Microsoft placed first in terms of governance and second in both workplace and 

citizenship behind Google and Walt Disney Company respectively. Of the one hundred 

companies evaluated, only twenty two were considered ethically strong, with the 

remaining seventy eight deemed average in terms of transparency and openness. 

Top Trends 

Only six percent of respondents perceive the Top 100 companies as good 

corporate citizens 

Only seventeen percent of respondents definitely trust what companies promise 

in their advertising and marketing 

Only nineteen percent of respondents trust what companies say in official reports 

Fifty four percent of respondents definitely agree that Microsoft is a responsiblyrun 

company earning it the top spot for Governance 

The Walt Disney Company wins Citizenship with fifty percent of respondents 

definitely agreeing that The Walt Disney Company is a good corporate citizen 

Google takes first place in Workplace with fifty percent of respondents definitely 

agreeing that Google is an appealing place to work and that it treats its 

employees well 

No company has a top CSR perception across all fifteen markets proving the 

difficulties companies have in exporting their reputation 

Download the 2012 CSR RepTrak 100 Study Top Line Report 

(Full ranking below) 

About Reputation Institute 

Reputation Institute is the world's leading corporate reputation consulting firm. Founded in 1997, with a 

presence in over 30 countries, we are the pioneer in reputation management. Through systematic 

research and analysis, Reputation Institute supports companies to build comprehensive strategies and 

make operational decisions that are designed to align stakeholders with corporate objectives creating 

tangible economic value. We enable leaders to make business decisions that build and protect 

reputational capital and drive competitive advantage. 

For more information: www.reputationinstitute.com. 




Reputation Institute Contacts: 

Andrew Singer 

T: +45 5090 5190 

E: mailto:asinger@reputationinstitute.com 

Lila Ghayour 

T: +1 212 495 3855 – ext. 340 

E: lghayour@reputationinstitute.com 

2012 - CSR RepTrak 100 

Rank 

Company 

Rank 

Company 

. 

1 Microsoft 26 Kellogg 

2 Google 27 Ferrero 

3 The Walt Disney Company 28 Bridgestone 

4 BMW 29 Cisco Systems 

5 Apple 30 Amazon.com 

6 Daimler (Mercedes-Benz) 31 L'Oréal 

7 Volkswagen 32 Marriott International 

8 Sony 33 Nintendo 

9 Colgate-Palmolive 34 Hewlett-Packard 

10 LEGO Group 35 Siemens 

11 IBM 36 FedEx 

12 Intel 37 Toyota 

13 Johnson & Johnson 38 Deutsche Lufthansa 

14 Canon 39 Goodyear 

15 Honda Motor 40 Abbott Laboratories 

16 Nestlé 41 LG Corporation 

17 Panasonic 42 Procter & Gamble 

18 Adidas Group 43 Nissan Motor 

19 Michelín 44 Singapore Airlines 

20 3M 45 Nokia 

21 IKEA 46 Oracle 

22 Danone 47 Giorgio Armani Group 

23 Philips Electronics 48 LVMH Group 

24 The Coca-Cola Company 49 Roche 

25 Samsung Electronics 50 Bayer 

Rank 

Company 

Rank 

Company 

. 

51 Airbus 76 UPS 

52 Hilton Worldwide 77 Heineken 

53 Unilever 78 ACER 

54 General Electric 79 Suzuki Motor 

55 SAS (Scandinavian Airlines) 80 PepsiCo 

56 Boeing 81 Eli Lilly 

57 Yahoo! 82 Hitachi 

58 Pirelli 83 eBay 

59 Swatch Group 84 GlaxoSmithKline 

60 Toshiba 85 Diageo 

61 Qantas Airways 86 Starbucks Coffee Company 

62 Xerox 87 Carlsberg Group 

63 Dell 88 HJ Heinz 

64 Fujifilm 89 Sharp 

65 Barilla 90 Air France-KLM 

66 Nike 91 Petrobras 

67 Avon Products 92 Pfizer 

68 Sara Lee 93 Eastman Kodak 

69 Electrolux 94 Lenovo Group 

70 Kraft Foods 95 Fujitsu 

71 DuPont 96 Hyundai 

72 General Mills 97 Zara 

73 H&M 98 Vodafone 

74 Marks & Spencer Group 99 Carrefour 

75 Virgin Group 100 Lockheed Martin

CSR IS NOT DEAD - Reputation Institute

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?