Microsoft 'most reputable company' in the US

has taken the crown as Most Reputable Company of 2006, according to research conducted in the US.

This year's Annual RQ survey saw Microsoft jump seven places to reach number one with a Reputation Quotient of 80.74.

The study is conducted by research house Harris Interactive and measures the corporate reputations of the most visible companies in the US.

The study is meant to evaluate companies along six key dimensions that comprise corporate reputation:

• Vision and leadership
• Social responsibility
• Emotional appeal
• Products and services
• Workplace environment
• Financial performance

Robert Fronk, senior vice president for the brand and strategy consulting group at Harris Interactive, said: "Sixty-nine per cent of respondents rated the reputation of corporate America as either 'good' or 'terrible'.

"Corporations today need to measure, understand and holistically manage their corporate reputation and leverage it as an asset. Those who do will find that ratings and rankings take care of themselves.

"In the case of Microsoft, we find a company that, while always scoring well in our annual study, faced perceptual challenges regarding elements of its reputation."

Fronk explained that by focusing on the root causes of these perceptions, and not just imagery or messaging, companies are able to achieve higher levels of credibility with the general public.

"These types of perception shifts are not accidental and the value is nearly immeasurable," he said.

A number of other tech firms also showed up in the list. Google was at number four, Sony at eight, Amazon at 11, Intel at 16 and Apple at 22.

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