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UAE executives attribute 73 percent of their company’s market value to its overall reputation, the highest level in the EMEA region and higher than the global average of 63 percent, a study found.
According to an online survey by global communications and marketing solutions firm Weber Shandwick, corporate reputation is an invaluable asset with appreciable impact on a company’s bottom line.
“From a UAE perspective it is clear that there is a growing understanding among executives to consciously build, evaluate and monitor corporate reputation. The fact that 91 percent of CEOs and leaders here measure reputation in some way – higher than the global average of 71 percent – speaks volumes about the importance they assign to it,” Ziad Hasbani, Regional CEO of Weber Shandwick Middle East, North Africa and Turkey said.
“I think this also reflects a regional trend. On a daily basis, corporate reputation is at the centre of our support to clients, whether through listening to, engaging with, or anticipating responses from their stakeholders,” Hasbani added.
UAE executives attributed 68 percent of their company’s market value to the reputation of their top leader. The results came higher than the global average of 57 percent, according to the study.
80 percent said that for a company to be highly regarded, it is important for its senior leadership to have a visible, public profile and be active in local community activities.
The study also showed that companies should consider many drivers of reputation with relatively equal importance, such as quality of employees and products, financial performance and corporate culture.
While 91 percent of respondents said that their company’s reputation is important to board of directors, 52 percent reported it to be ‘very important’ to the board.
Seventy Nine percent say it is important that the CEO communicates the organisation’s values in order to be highly regarded.
Weber Shandwick conducted the survey in partnership with KRC Research among 2,227 executives in high revenue companies across 22 markets worldwide, including the United Arab Emirates.
(Reporting by Gerard Aoun; editing by Seban Scaria)
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