2018 Thunderbird Opinions Most Admired Companies Survey

Admiration is Innovation’s Venture Partner

The five significant insights we discovered about corporate reputation.

Jeff Cunningham
Sep 1, 2018 · 2 min read
  1. Corporate reputation waits at a traffic light. Public opinion determines whether it flashes red or green.
  2. When society feels confidence in a business, it hands over the car keys. It has the freedom to create, and equally important, to fail. Innovation seems to happen by chance, but in fact, it happens through society’s admiration.
  3. This is why Apple is the most admired company in America. This was done in an era of free lunches and foosball games. The daring leadership that propelled the company from near bankruptcy to trillion dollar valuation was able to do so by moving the scrimmage line between earth’s reality and ‘what we might be’ was worthy of our patience.
  4. When society mistrusts business, it takes away the car keys and sets a curfew. It is why there is noise about regulating Facebook, America’s least-admired company in high tech, after Mark Zuckerberg’s Senate hearing.
  5. The conclusion is that the intersection between business and society is temperamental and requires the highest level of integrity, vision, and attention to the needs and wants of stakeholders. Everything else is secondary, including foosball.

THUNDERBIRD OPINION CUSTOM RESEARCH

  • Corporate reputation research and strategies
  • Customer strategies and insights
  • Leadership style development
  • Media and social media influences
  • Demographic and attitudinal trends

Thunderbird Opinions

Thunderbird Opinions is an opinion poll and business trend researcher from the Thunderbird School of Global Management of Arizona State University. Our focus is on trends in global business and leadership.

Jeff Cunningham

Written by

Transformational leadership and crisis resolution. Professor @ASU @Thunderbird; columnist @ChiefExecGrp

Thunderbird Opinions

Thunderbird Opinions is an opinion poll and business trend researcher from the Thunderbird School of Global Management of Arizona State University. Our focus is on trends in global business and leadership.

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade