São Paulo – The latest research by the Reputation Institute (RI), a private consultancy and research organisation, headquartered in New York, shows that Brazilian companies are among the most respected in the world. Of the 200 companies selected in 32 countries, 10 are Brazilian, with two, Petrobras and Sadia, among the top 5. "From Brazil, 20 companies were selected for the research and 10 entered the ranking," said Reputation Institute Brazil consultant Jussara Belo.
The research, which has been taking place once a year since 2006, revealed that Petrobras rose from the twentieth position to the fourth, Sadia, which was not included in the ranking last year, came right behind Petrobras, in fifth. Among the 50 main companies, other Brazilian companies include Votorantim (20th) and Vale (28th). Other Brazilian companies listed were Gerdau, Usiminas, Pão de Açúcar, Banco do Brasil, CSN and Embraer.
According to Jussara, the study identified the presence of a greater number of companies from emerging countries, like Brazil, Russia, China and India. In 2006, the number of companies from these nations in the Top 200 was 27, but it climbed to 61 this year. "The study has become a reference as it helps compare a company with others worldwide," said the consultant.
According to her, the evaluations are by the public in general and by people who know the companies. Among the aspects evaluated are: financial performance, leadership, products and services, citizenship, governance, work environment and innovation. The first company in the ranking, the Italian Ferrero, was in the first place in all aspects. "The evaluations are a composition of each aspect," said Jussara.
In the case of Petrobras, the company reached 82.37 points, 18.17 points above the global average (64.2 points). Since 2006, the company has presented growth of 8.4 points. In this year’s research, the public pointed out Petrobras performance in the categories work environment, corporate governance, citizenry and financial performance. The results were the best by a Brazilian company since 2007.
The report disclosed by RI Brazil shows that the results of the research showed that companies in emerging markets have a greater level of public confidence than those in the larger economies in the world. Another fact verified was that in Brazil, Russia, India and China, the emotional connection between companies is stronger than in the United States, Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom and France. This year, an increase in the importance given by the public to ethical aspects, transparency and citizenship was also identified.
According to Jussara, the study has as one of its objectives supplying managers a mapping of the reputation of companies from the point of view of the public in general. In total, over 70,000 interviews were made between January and February this year. Over 190,000 evaluations were used to generate trustworthy results and the number of companies evaluated in each country is proportional to the Gross Domestic Product of each one.
Further information
Reputation Institute
Site: www.reputationinstitute.com
*Translated by Mark Ament