“Microsoft beat out Johnson & Johnson in the eighth annual survey Harris Interactive/The Wall Street Journal ranking of the world’s best and worst corporate reputations,” Finfacts reports.
Finfacts reports, “In the Reputation Quotient survey conducted by market-research firm Harris Interactive, respondents gave Microsoft very high marks for leadership and financial results. But Gates’s personal philanthropy also boosted the public’s opinion of Microsoft.”
“The Wall Street Journal says that to compile the ranking, Harris Interactive conducted the Reputation Quotient survey in two phases. For the first part, 7,886 respondents were contacted online or by telephone last summer and asked to name the two companies they believe have the best reputations and the two with the worst. The 60 companies mentioned most often were then rated online last fall by a second group of 22,480 Americans, and each company was assigned a score and ranking based on those evaluations. The companies were rated on 20 attributes in six categories: financial performance, social responsibility, workplace environment, quality of products and services, vision and leadership, and emotional appeal,” Finfacts reports.
Finfacts reports, “In the ratings phase, 22,480 respondents were randomly selected to complete a detailed rating of one or two companies with which they were “very or somewhat familiar.” All interviews were conducted online. Respondents rated companies on 20 attributes in six key dimensions which comprise the Harris Reputation Quotient including, products and services, financial performance, workplace environment, social responsibility, vision and leadership, and emotional appeal. After the first company rating was completed, the respondent was given the option to rate a second company.”
Reputation Quotient Survey Results – Partial List:
| Rank in 2006 | Rank in 2005 | Company | 2006 Score | 2005 Score | Change (2006-2005) |
| 1 | 7 | Microsoft | 80.74 | 78.11 | 2.63 |
| 2 | 1 | Johnson & Johnson | 80.44 | 80.56 | -0.12 |
| 3 | 5 | 3M | 80.09 | 78.78 | 1.31 |
| 4 | 3 | 79.81 | 79.52 | 0.29 | |
| 5 | 2 | Coca-Cola | 79.52 | 79.69 | -0.17 |
| … | … | … | … | … | … |
| 16 | 10 | Intel | 76.36 | 77.27 | -0.91 |
| … | … | … | … | … | … |
| 22 | 27 | Apple | 74.59 | 70.59 | 4 |
| 23 | 15 | Dell | 74.22 | 75.73 | -1.51 |
| … | … | … | … | … | … |
| 38 | 31 | Hewlett-Packard | 69.14 | 69.44 | -0.3 |
| Source: Wall Street Journal | |||||
Finfacts reports, “Each of the 60 companies was rated by at least 279 people; the average number of respondents per company was 596. All data were weighted to be representative of the U.S. adult (aged 18 and over) population. Weighting variables for this study included demographic variables (i.e., age, sex, education, race, ethnicity, household income and region), and some nondemographic variables to project findings to the U.S. adult population.”
“Finally, reputation quotient (RQ) figures were calculated for each company to determine the rankings. Each company’s RQ is based on the respondents’ ratings of each company on the 20 attributes. RQs are calculated by summing the ratings on the individual RQ attributes, dividing by the total possible score (i.e., 7 x the total number of attributes answered) and multiplying by 100. The highest possible score is 100. In comparing any two RQ scores, a T-test was used to determine statistically significant differences at a confidence level of 95%,” Finfacts reports.
Full article with complete Top 60 rankings here.
The moral of this story seems to be that it doesn’t matter what you did to get your money — lie, cheat, or steal — as long as you personally give some of your cash away, the company that generated your gains will garner the highest reputation from the American public. What, you say, that doesn’t really make any sense, morally or logically?! Good news then: you must not be an average American.
That’s what makes America great!
This should shut you Apple fanbois up once and for all. It’s clear that not only does Microsoft make the best prducts of ANY software compay around, the general public clearly recognizes it. The real world of IT has known this for years. And the 98% market share doesn’t lie either.
Have fun with your toy of an OS, it will never garner such praise.
Your potential. Our passion.
Now that MDN and the crew around this site have had several days to attempt to distract the world from the reality that Vista has arrived and, regardless of all its negatives, its copycat of Mac OS, its badness, etc., etc., etc., and that it will result in an increase of the hated Microsoft dominance of the personal computer world. It will drive sales of the boxes that usually run MSoft OS, it will cement industry’s attachment to MSoft OS, and end the short lived, tiny increase in Mac OS market share.
All the nasty remarks, all the praise of Lord Jobs, all the mindless adulation of all things Apple, won’t make a dent in the dominance of the evil empire. So, get a mac, boom!, it just works, the world changing phone, the wide screen iPod, the box that transmits your computer screen to your tv (whatever), and all the slick toys, gadgets, and Made in China coolness notwithstanding, Vista is here and the rest is history – as you knew it would be.
I feel very “shut-up” thanks to Zune Tang. By the way, I just saw a Zune in the local Wal Mart and it was a piece… haha.
Although I would like to have subscription service for my iTunes.
Zune Tang: have you thought of auditioning to replace the “PC” in the Apple ads? I think you can do a better job than John.
Note how much Apple’s score has changed since last year.
Also, the survey was done before Vista was released. I won’t
be surprized if Apple tops MS in a couple of years. It has
already passed Dell.
You know what this means…Microsoft has reached the event horizon. The apex of its life. And now begins it’s crushing descent under the weight of its own bloated mass into oblivion. The world has changed and MS can’t change with it. Just like when the Titanic tried to miss that berg…she was just too big to turn when she had to and down she went.
Hey Zune Tang, enjoy your abacus…we’ve all moved on
Buahahaha!!! @ Zune Tang.
You crack me up. I love how you have nothing to say when there is countless bad press and poor reviews from numerous well respected sources.
Somehow I get the feeling that you’ve been waiting for this opportunity to pounce… You know.. for having a 8 year old mentality of OS comprehension, you sure are a funny guy.
I think you should be the court jester for Lord Jobs, I know you’ll make him laugh with all your nonsense and ignorance.
BTW – Did you catch the article about Zunes cracking under pressure.. BUAHAH!! Sounds like you’re days are limited.
If Vista is so great, then why didn’t we see the lines of people waiting to buy it like they did in ’95? I don’t see their “dominance” increasing one bit. People are seeing that Windows in a pain in the ass to use. Microsoft’s lame attempt to make it look pretty is not going to change the frustration factor that is Windows. Even the corporate world is not going to jump right into Vista- it would be far too disruptive and the feature set is not compelling enough to make the switch- not to mention the hardware is most corporate settings is not up to the task.
People will be saying “Wow” alright- but not for the reasons that Microsoft had hope. It will be more like “Wow, that’s it?” or “Wow, I need what for hardware to run it?”
Microsoft used to know how to market. They have clearly lost their way. Look at their slogans of late- pretty pathetic. “Welcome to the Social?” Everybody is still scratching their heads on that one. WTF? “The “Wow” starts now.” Again, WTF? Brown Zunes that “squirt”? They simply don’t get it.
With most of the world now “wired”, Microsoft’s old, tired tactics simply aren’t effective anymore. Microsoft’s gig is up- the public is much smarter and cautious about Microsoft. They’ve proven they can’t run at the pace of the true innovation that comes out of Apple. They’ve been spanked in that department- again. Bring on Leopard- it will make Vista look like even more foolish than it already is.
I’m not a troll, just an Apple fan, but you guys on this forum are insane. I like to check the Mac enthusiast sites every so often to see what’s happening and unlike AppleInsider, ThinkSecret, or MacRumors, you guys are just rabid, ignorant fanboys. Most of you criticize products you’ve never seen or used just because they’re not Apple or are MS. I am sitting a my Tiger-running iMac, which I really enjoy, typing this, but I have used Vista and it is not bad at all. In fact, I could would use it on a daily basis, but I am waiting to see what Leopard offers, and if it is really is “Vista 2.0” I will dual-boot. AND SO F*CKING WHAT IF MS COPIES: IT’S CALLED STAYING COMPETITIVE. If MAC OS X offers a unique feature that can only be implemented in a finite number of ways, why would you leave it out of your operating system. Also, Vista is being released 5 years after its predecessor, so of course a lot of innovations have occured on Mac OS’s side in that amount of time. Why would MS leave them out just because Apple has them (i.e. attractive interface, search,etc.) AND VISTA DOES HAVE A LOT OF NEW FEATURES AND IMHO A REFRESHING INTERFACE SUPERIOR TO TIGER WITH 3D EFFECTS AND TRANSLUCENCY. Also on the Zune, sure it’s not that attractive or thin, but the interface is OK and more visually stimulating than the 5+ YR OLD iPod one. It’s one thing to support and praise Apple, but it is another to endlessly bash new products simply because they come from a company that has a shoddy reputation for past products or because you don’t like Bill. Apple has COPIED many things to, all to the increase of the user experience (contextual menus, menus staying after one click… many many more). ANYTHING THAT INCREASES COMPETITION IS GOOD. AND APPLE ISN’T PERFECT. AND MS DOES HAVE PLUSSES. AND APPLE IS AS GREEDY AS MS. I EMBRACE ALL NEW AND EXCITING TECH. FROM EVERYONE, APPLE JUST HAS HAD SOME GREAT PRODUCTS OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS AND I HOPE THE CONTINUE. So give it a rest will you?
Ah there you are Zune Tang…
“This should shut you Apple fanbois up once and for all.”
Nope. I think you are wrong on that. Let’s see shall we?
“And the 98% market share doesn’t lie either.”
Um. I know you are old enough to reach the keyboard, but can you count?
Google any of these you Dell Ditty fanboi you…
50% of Mac buyers in Apple stores are new to Mac.
Mac sales grew 30% quarter on quarter.
Mac marketshare has doubled since the move to Intel
By 2010 Apple’s market capitalisation will be bigger than Microsoft
In London, 36 people queued all night to be the first to buy Vista.
WOW WOW WOW WOW
ps: When is the Dell Ditty coming to Australia?
Whenver someone claims, “I’m not a troll”, you for sure that they in fact *are* a troll. Just look at all of the lame and fallacious strawman “arguments” he puts forward. What an idiot. He’s a Windows guys pretending not to be.
Hey Facing Reality…
Vista may be here but it will likely NOT increase Microsoft’s dominance. The real danger for Microsoft is that if Mac sales continue at the current rate OS/X will attain sufficient credibility in the corporate space to become a valid alternative.
I am in the corporate IT industry and my business, like most others, runs on Microsoft. I feel that I am just a year or two ahead of the curve having migrated to a powerbook G4 in 2005 and now migrating my business to opensource solutions running on OS/X server and Apple hardware.
Vista doesnt offer much of anything to the corporates – and it requires an expensive hardware upgrade.
Now that Microsoft have shot all their arrows, all eyes will be on Leopard. I guarantee that Leopard will get as much coverage as Vista, coming so close on Vista’s release. If Apple have done their job well, then the real WOW factor will come from Cupertino on 2007.
It seems unlikely that Vista will produce much in the way of good news this year – and if things go horribly wrong (patches, vulnerabilities, worms, viruses…) then Redmond may find themselves with lots of bad news, and very unfavourable comparisons to their cheeky southern upstart…
After 30 years in the IT industry it seems to me that Microsoft peaked a year or two back. It seems to me we are facing the decade of Apple. MS are still much bigger than Apple, but the gap is closing remarkably quickly. Perhaps not in desktop o/s market share yet – but in the home user marketplace anecdotal evidence suggests that a huge proportion of buyers are now considering a Mac. It’s like launching a supertanker. It moves imperceptably at first, and for many minutes nothing seems to happen. But when it does, it is unstoppable.
If you are not in the IT industry you may not realise that although MS is predominant in the corporate space, MS is not exactly flavour of the month. Arrogant people, poor support and unnecessarily complex products… Once it becomes feasible to migrate to OS/X people will. It’s just a critical mass thing – a credibility thing.
Watch this space…
@Not a troll…
Not all of us blast Vista without having used it. I played with the beta edition for over a month and was less than impressed. The interface is certainly refreshing, but it merely whitewashes the decades old architecture underneath it. The OS is filled with inconsistencies and sloppily stitched-together features. I find it irritating, for example, that there are around 4 different interface styles alone used in the various system control panels. Why can’t everything look the same, as if it were actually all designed as part of one software package? Granted, MacOS has a number of different interface types as well (standard, brushed metal, plastic) but they are widely used throughout the OS and generally have specific purposes. Microsoft just seems to throw together whatever they darn please without any attempt at keeping the OS “together.”
My UI complaints may just be nitpicking, but they are the most readily apparent examples, IMHO, of how how Vista isn’t quite a finished product. It’s just designed to look so cool and feel so different that you don’t realize Microsoft could have done a much better job at cohesion.
I said I’m not a troll because I thought otherwise I would immediately be panned as a troll, I guess with you f*cktards, it’s a lose-lose, and I’m panned regardless.
To expand on my previous statement briefly, part of why all those different interfaces exist is that in many cases, Microsoft has simply left in old parts of the OS without changing them. So, we have ultra-modern elements shoved up next to decidedly antiquated ones. It just feels like Microsoft forgot some areas. Surely, after 5 years they could have revamped a lot more.
@standardmess
Understood (about UI inconsistencies). At least you’re speaking from experience and mentioned positives and negatives.
Again, I use my iMac day-to-day and have owned many Apple products. I just give MS credit where credit is due.
Not a troll,
Perfectly reasonable. Be not afraid!
Hey, No Troll
Get over yourself; quit whining; get a backbone.
You asked for it like the bitch slave you are– ;>
hey mr troll
the pretty UI stuff is the lipstick
the rest is still a pig.
except for the new modern innovative stuff like, hey, “parental controls” and, hey, “gadgets”. Now that has to get your juices running hey mr troll…
First of all, Bill Gates’ philanthropy has absolutely nothing to do with Microsoft the business.
Second, the company just reported quarterly earnings off 28% compared to last year. How does
that performance rate a prize for financial results???
Third, Microsoft’s Vista is at least two years late and is a bald-faced imitation of OS X.
How does that performance rate a prize for leadership???
Utter hogwash!!!
with all that shouting.
anyway @not a troll…, i’ve found your rag, the one you lost. drop by and pick it up sometime.
Wuahha… Wuahhaaa… WUAHAHAAAAAA…
Mr Alansky
This is just a survey of what a sample of american people think. it doesn’t mean that there is any validity in WHAT they think – and I agree wholeheartedly with everything you say.
In a country where news is mere entertainment, religion is taught as science, movie stars become governors and presidents, and the entire nation is addicted to junk food and sugar, it is no surprise to me that Microsoft can come out at number 1.
The 22,480 people were not IT people. Just ordinary consumers. Many of whom can be expected to see only the lipstick, and not the pig underneath…
Microsoft spend a lot on marketing and advertising – I expect that will have had a significant impact on how people see MS. After all, if it did not, then MS would probably stop wasting their $$.
In the public opinion stakes then, Microsoft’s publicity machine should get high marks.
But you and I see the pig beneath the lipstick.
Shame they didnt ask us huh?
“I am not a troll” – yep I can tell you I haven’t used Vista, I don’t need to. I can read EVERYWHERE on the web; how it is unfinished, often trashes the hard drive, uses massive resources, is NOT secure, is a poor copy of yesterdays OS X, takes over 2 hours to load, then needs drivers and other fixing, then needs external antivurus because it is still so broken, and by most peoples advices, is just NOT worth the money. It is just a candified upgrade to XP that should sell for $30 (OS X is $75).
Unlike you having never in all probability been near OS X, I and many others here have used many versions of Windows since 3.1 and sometimes still have to, so we DO know what we are talking about thank you very much.
“MS Ranked First for Moneymaking” Who would be surprised at that? If the people polled knew as much about MS as those in the IT industry do, ie more than than how prevalent and rich it is, they would put MS well down that list. It also scores highly because Bill Gates has, rightly, felt some guilt at the billions he has acquired and so given chunks away in the most publicity seeking manner possible.
Apple’s position is remarkable. Only a few years ago the public perception was that it was bust. It has had ridiculous levels of coverage over the stock option issue (Microsofts was 3 times the size but didn’t merit a mention) and for it to have been ahead of Dell and HP speaks volumes.