Forecasting the Impact of Sustainability Issues on the Reputation of Large Multinational Corporations

What are the main drivers of a good corporate reputation? “Environmental credibility” ranks near the bottom, according to this survey, which aims to gauge how CEOs perceive the impact of commitment to environmental and social values on corporate reputation and value.

Conducted by Cambridge University’s business school, the survey asked CEOs from Global Fortune 500 companies to rank seven elements in order of their importance on a positive corporate reputation. Not surprisingly, these leaders concluded that “leadership and vision” was the foremost important element to the preservation of a positive corporate reputation. “Social credibility” and “environmental credibility” ranked near the bottom.

Interestingly, European CEOs consistently assigned a higher level of significance to the importance of environmental, financial, and social credibility — which comprise the so-called “triple bottom line” — than did their North American counterparts.