Reputation Building and Leaders’ Integration, Research Proposal Example

Abstract

This research proposal explores the question of whether or not reputation building is the paramount reason why leaders integrate. In order to arrive to a proper analysis, the author posted the following questions:

1. Is reputation-building the paramount reason why leaders integrate?
2. Is reputation imperative in defining success in business management and operation?
3. Is there a need to actively manage reputation and how can it be done?

The main objectives of this research proposal are as follow:

1. Define the role that reputation-building plays in the operations of a business or corporation.
2. Find out whether or not reputation is imperative in the success of a business or corporation.
3. Determine if there is a need to actively manage reputation in a business and to identify ways in which reputation management can be accomplished.

The author will utilize the qualitative research method with secondary research sources to acquire supplementary information geared towards answering the questions and accomplishing the objectives.

Introduction

Reputation is probably one of the most complex aspects of conducting a business. This is due to the fact that it is primarily based on how people perceive a certain business or how their opinion is formed towards it. It has been a known fact that for such a long time, reputation as used in the context of business management is not regarded to be important. However, the evolution of business has increased the level of competitiveness amongst businesses and industries. This trend has shifted the focus of the managers and business owners from neglecting reputation to devising ways in which they can strategize the reputation of the business to be incorporated in the operations and corporate values. In addition, with the growing access to global business operations and presence and increasing competition, many companies are focusing on their reputation to compete. The truth is every company has to build a strong and solid reputation to start and must be able to maintain and keep it up until the business cease to operate. But it cannot be denied that not all companies have good reputation. However, such situation is not an accurate indicator that the business has absolutely lost the game. Rather, it is just a wake-up call to build the reputation and recover accordingly.

Managing and building a reputation is a collaborative effort. It does not just include customers and suppliers but rather extends to the competitors and business’ partners (Fombrun, 1996). Meaning to say, building a reputation is important among the leaders to ensure success, business presence and competitiveness. However, the main question is whether or not it is the paramount reason as to why leaders integrate. This paper will aim to answer the question.

Literature Review

Reputation is defined as the opinions or beliefs that people hold about something or someone. Although it cannot be measured directly through the use of a balance sheet or a calculator, it still has its value that can contribute to a company or be considered as an additional asset. When people talk about reputation, the first thing that comes to mind is marketing and corporate image. However, it is now being used a tool in addressing public relations as well. In addition, Deephouse (2000) has described reputation to the collective evaluation of a company conducted by its main stakeholders and key players upon considering various factors such as esteem, affect and knowledge. Therefore, it can be stated that reputation is the direct consequence of the interaction that existed between leaders that have gathered all the information they can about the company or a business, judgments, actions and the achievements. Moreover, it is found out that reputation can be used a tool to gauge the competitiveness of a company and to plan various strategies that can be used to measure performance. Take for example the banking and financial industry. If a banking institution’s reputation is good and solid reputation, its performance will continue to rise up. However, if the reputation is poor, the performance will dwindle and will negatively impact its operations and manner of conducting business with its customers.

Clearly, reputation is an imperative asset in an organization. It can affect how the company will conduct business and how it will determine its pricing. The stronger the reputation of the business is, the more it can increase profitability by attracting customers, investors and take advantage of it all. Business has a known saying that customers get what they paid for. If the business has a strong reputation for rendering good service, people will come and pay for that service no matter how expensive it is for as long as the job gets done.

Regardless, it has been revealed that it is imperative that an organization aligns itself with its reputation or it can hurt the business and lose control. If the company knows it reputation, it can easily foster cooperation and competitiveness internally and externally. This is due to the fact that there is an interaction that exists between reputation and the organizational credibility and confidence to affect consumers’ return of expectation and that organization’s return of investment. Hence, to define reputation is to consider it as the asset of a company, a form of assessment and a state of awareness.

Moreover, the important of reputation in the operation of business can be measured by the following factors: emotional appeals that points how the leaders and the key players in the business feel about the company (positive or negative); products and services that primarily ask the question of whether or not the product and services are selling and if they are being offered with stamps of high quality, innovation and reliability; financial performance is the measurement of the profitability of the company. It is the evaluation of whether the stakeholders are satisfied and happy with the profitability of the company; vision and leadership entails the vision and goals that the company has that is geared towards the future. Clear vision and leadership that can recognize what needs to be done to make the company grow and expand to take advantage of the various opportunities for success and profitability; work environment means providing a healthy working environment for the workers. This means that the leaders of the organization must provide a workplace that free of discrimination to its people in order to ensure that every one is protected and encouraged to perform well; and social responsibility is a reminder that an organization must also look after its impact to the environment and holds accountability for all its actions.

Given the aforementioned measurement, it can be seen that reputation is a very important asset of an organization as it can strengthen a company’s competitive advantage. Other benefits from building a strong and solid reputation also include attracting investors and customers and influence the profitability. Not to mention the fact that a good reputation has the capability to increase the loyalty and the commitment of the employees to the values, objectives and goals of the company. Employees are proven to get motivated when the company is performing well in a very competitive market. Hence, the effectiveness of the workforce likewise increases (Hutchins, 1992). In this regard, it is clear that the reputation of an organization does not only affect the profitability of a company. Rather, it extends to how the whole organization functions as one and work together to achieve its missions and goals.

Not to mention, though, that the main key to unlocking the potential of a solid reputation in boosting the profitability and the overall effectiveness of the company is the leaders. The leaders play an integral part in determining how the company can achieve success. They integrate in order to ensure that they have the vision articulated and identified. They also provide a model that can help the organization and business to achieve its goals and missions. They are the ones who set high expectations for the employees to meet, provide support and stimulate the stakeholders’ intellect to make sure that all aspects of business is being taken-cared of. This is an important process because leaders only want what is best for the company in general and since reputation is a valuable asset of the company, they need to focus on it. They need to master as to how to build a solid reputation in order to remain competitive. It would seem that reputation building will tackle all the other aspects of business and improve them at the same time.

Reputation, does it really matter? The answer to the question is yes. As a matter of fact, in a recent study conducted, a total of 60% respondents revealed that they will buy a certain product or service from a company that has good reputation as compared to bad or no reputation at all. In the same manner when it comes to the recruitment process (Johnson, 2001). Companies who have a strong reputation and have been in the industry for the longest time tend to get the most talented and efficient workers as compared to new and emerging ones. However, it cannot be denied that if a new business started off with a really good publicity and promoting its reputation, it can easily get its own fair market share- both consumer-based and employees. Moreover, about 80% of MBA graduates stated that they value a company’s reputation when applying for a job. It only goes to show that a strong reputation attracts people. Even companies with strong and solid reputation perform better financially than those who have poor reviews (Deephouse, 2000).

With this trend, more and more companies and businesses are focusing on building their reputation online and offline. The main focus is divided into 4 equally important aspects such as globalization, private sector presence, stakeholders and rankings. It is important to note that globalization increases competition is an international scale. Therefore, there is an increase level of scrutiny on business operations. Moral, political, social, technological and ethical business practices are being observed carefully and affect the reputation greatly. Private sectors are also getting more and more involved in various areas of social issues. Hence, businesses are expected to take part and be involved in the issues in the society. Private sectors and businesses are working hand in hand in reaching out to the community and the society in general. This is a good form of building a reputation as it is improving the society while promoting the business or company.

Stakeholders and rankings, on the other hand, cover the image of the company that is being perceived by the consumers. Companies are being pitted against each other using various standards and criteria. These sets of criteria are guidelines not just for the consumers but for the leaders as well to determine appropriate actions that can be taken to build the reputation and successfully manage its profitability (Hussey, 1998).

Research Questions

This paper aims to answer the following questions:

4. Is reputation-building the paramount reason why leaders integrate?
5. Is reputation imperative in defining success in business management and operation?
6. Is there a need to actively manage reputation and how can it be done?

Objectives

The ultimate objective of this paper is to determine whether or not reputation-building is the paramount reason why leaders integrate. In order to make such determination, this paper aims to:

4. Define the role that reputation-building plays in the operations of a business or corporation.
5. Find out whether or not reputation is imperative in the success of a business or corporation.
6. Determine if there is a need to actively manage reputation in a business and to identify ways in which reputation management can be accomplished.

Research Methodology

Research methodology is the process by which data collection, interpretation and presentation is accomplished. Creswell (2009) has defined research as sequences of steps being utilized to gather and interpret information in order to gain a complete understanding and increased information on a particular issue or topic. In other words, asking the right questions and collecting and presenting data is what research is all about. There are two main types that can be utilized in the process of answering the questions posited in this research: qualitative and quantitative.

Data Collection

This research paper will utilize the qualitative data gathering method as it allows for a deeper comprehension of the behavior of the subjects of the research. It also allows for a fair interpretation of such behavior (Creswell, 2009). With the utilization of this method, the researcher will be asking broad questions as a part of data gathering which consists of impressions and opinions. This method will rely heavily on the ability of the author to provide correct and accurate interpretation of data to establish a clear answer to the questions posted. In addition, this research will benefit from the flexibility of the method as far as the presentation of additional questions is concerned; contextual factors; and the utilization of an appropriate theoretical framework (Kamins & Stewart, 1993). In this regard, the author will utilize the following methods for data gathering:

• Interview- The researcher will formulate research question that have open-ended questions to be distributed to the targeted participants of the study. This type of surveys will be used to gather direct and first-hand information from the participants in the study. In addition, the research will also conduct face-to-face in-depth interview with the participants to cover all aspect
• Observation- The researcher will spend some time in observing business operations of selected companies or organization. The researcher will record the observed behaviors, proceedings and other physical characteristics that are visible to the researcher. This will be done to help the researcher comprehend the situation and the process being observed. Check-list, field note, and guidelines will be formulated to assist in the completion of this data gathering method.
• Review of Documents- Second hand research will likewise be utilized in the completion of this paper. This means that the researcher will make an analysis and conclusion about the findings of the study based on the researches that have been published and written by other scholars. This type of research will utilize the information gathered from sources such as governmental reports, published journals, books, industry studies and other traditional forms of written works (Kamins & Stewart, 1993). This method will be used in order to support the information gathered from interviews and observations.

Research Project Schedule

The author of this research paper will spend 5 hours daily conducting data gathering including researching books, articles, journals and other published materials for information except weekends and holidays. The author will also include the drafting of questionnaires, distribution and tabulation during the scheduled 5-hours daily research work. It is estimated that this project will be done in 4-6 weeks.

Conclusion

With all the foregoing, it cannot be denied that the benefits of a good reputation range from simple profitability to monopoly of business. It does not just allow one company to outperform its competition but it changes the way a company exercise its power. Reputation building is one of the phenomena in the business industry today. It strengthens not just how any company conducts its business but more importantly it is capable of strengthening the mental state of the leaders, the workers and the whole company. Reputation does not isolate one aspect of a company. Rather, with the proper building and maintenance of a good and strong reputation, the consumers and the employees can evaluate the company in a different light. Employees are getting more motivated, efficient and effective in their job. There is respect for leaders and vice versa. The highlight speaks of honesty and integrity in which a lot of companies lack nowadays. They offer services and products that do not meet standards and providing false hope and promises of better service.

The importance of reputation cannot be stretched enough. Leaders integrate because reputation is not just about how the company looks in a television advertisement. But it is about how the company is view in its entirety not just by consumers but as well the various stakeholders such as leaders, consumers, workers and the society in general. Leaders are now seeing the importance of how they present their company to the public as it is the reflection of its leaders and workforce. It shows the strengths and weaknesses of a business. But the truth is it also presents opportunities that each business or company can take advantage from in order to ensure success and profitability.

In order to build the reputation of the business or a company, the leaders do not just integrate but they also work hard to find ways on how to collaborate with both private and public sectors and help in addressing social issues. It is not always about the profitability. These companies realize the need to pay it forward to the communities that help them achieve their goals and objectives. All the stakeholders in the company are equally important. They all work together to build a strong foundation of their identity and strive hard to maintain it. A good company has happy, motivated, efficient, effective, and determined group of key players. These factors are being boosted by the reputation of the company. A good leader knows that in order to succeed, one must have a reputation for without it, the company will soon cease to exist.

References

Creswell, JW 2009, Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches, Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA.

Deephouse, D 2000, ‘Media reputation as a strategic resource: An integration of mass communication and resource-based theories’, Journal of Business Ethics, vol. 26, no, 6, pp. 1091-1112.

Fombrun, C 1996, Reputation: Realizing value from the corporate image, Harvard Business School Press, Boston.

Hussey, D 1998, Strategic management, Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford.

Hutchins, D 1992, Achieve total quality, Director Books, Cambridge, UK.

Johnson, G 2001, Exploring corporate strategy, Prentice-Hall, London.

Kamins, MA & Stewart, DW, 1993, Secondary research: Information sources and methods, SAGE Publications, USA.