Apple Computeris reputation rose significantly in 2005, according to the annual Reputation Quotient ranking published by Harris Interactive of Rochester, NY. Apple climbed seven spots in this yearis survey, landing as the company with the 27th best reputation in the U.S., up from #34 in 2004.
According to a report in the Wall Street Journal (subscription required), the Reputation Quotient study was developed jointly by Harris and the Reputation Institute in New York. The survey is conducted in two parts, the first of which is to ask 6,977 respondents to name the two companies they think have the best reputations. That part of the survey takes place between March and June,
During September, another 19,564 people rate the top 60 companies mentioned most often in the first part of the survey, and those ratings are used to find the "reputation quotient" for the 60 companies. The ratings themselves are based on 20 attributes intended to measure emotional appeal, financial performance, quality of products and services, social responsibility, vision and leadership, and workplace environment.
Google was the biggest gainer in the survey, debuting at #3, an unprecedented result. Microsoft fell one place to #7, Sony gained a spot to #6, and Dell fell three spots to #15.
Other tech company results:
| 2005 | 2004 | Company | RQ Score in 2005 (highest possible score=100) |
| 3 | -- | 79.52 | |
| 6 | 7 | Sony | 78.75 |
| 7 | 6 | Microsoft | 78.11 |
| 10 | 11 | Intel | 77.27 |
| 14 | 16 | Walt Disney* | 75.88 |
| 15 | 12 | Dell | 75.73 |
| 19 | 25 | IBM | 73.42 |
| 27 | 34 | Apple Computer | 70.59 |
| 30 | 32 | Best Buy | 69.74 |
| 31 | 20 | Hewlett-Packard | 69.44 |
| 42 | 46 | Gateway | 65.17 |
| 46 | 42 | Time Warner | 63.85 |
(*We included Walt Disney in the above list only as it relates Apple CEO Steve Jobsi other company, Pixar.)
You can find all 60 companies in this yearis rankings at the Wall Street Journal.
Also notable
The survey results found that the tech industry as a whole enjoyed an increase in reputation, while American corporations in general were found to have worse reputations. The WSJ noted that 71% of respondents rated American businessesi reputation as "not good" or "terrible," compared with 68% in 2004.
We also noted a quote in the Journal from Tamara Maimon, a university administrator in Novato, Calif. as being telling, if not a wake up call: "Corporate America continues to demonstrate a tremendous amount of greed, dishonesty, incompetence and a general lack of humanity that I believe is contributing to dissolving values and the work ethic in America. Many young people that I come into contact with donit believe they have to work hard to make a lot of money; they believe they just have to make the right connection or BS or bully their way to the top."