From Top to Bottom—Everyone’s in Charge of Organizational Reputation

Organizations have two intertwined reputations: that of the overall firm, and that of the individuals who work there. In some cases, the most important people, reputation-wise, are those in charge of the company; in other situations, the front-line workers—sales-and servicepeople—are the ones most likely to leave an impression. Regardless, the behavior of whoever is the public face of the organization often blurs into a sense of the organization itself.

Some businesses have chosen to highlight their CEO or founder. Putting a specific face on the company—think Jack Welch and GE, Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook, or Steve Jobs and Apple—can work to humanize an enormous corporation (GE), give a new organization an identity (Facebook), or simply differentiate the company from the rest of the pack (Apple). In each case, there are costs and benefits to such identification.