Recently MWW conducted a survey to explore the connections between corporate reputation and corporate culture. We surveyed 100 business leaders and human resources executives from companies with more than 250 employees and received consistent and clear feedback: they are intrinsically linked.

1. AN MWW SURVEY
EXPLORING THE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN
CORPORATE CULTURE AND REPUTATION

2. EXPLORING THE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN CORPORATE CULTURE AND REPUTATION
© MWW GROUP, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED | SURVEY 2
Recently MWW conducted a survey to explore the
connections between corporate reputation and corporate
culture. We surveyed 100 business leaders and human
resources executives from companies with more than 250
employees and received consistent and clear feedback:
they are intrinsically linked.
As a means to deeply explore the issue, we presented the
recent Goldman Sachs open resignation letter and asked
respondents to evaluate what the letter revealed about
Goldman Sachs’ internal culture and how it impacted the
company’s reputation.
The results point to the central role a company’s internal
corporate cultures plays in driving it’s external reputation.

3. EXPLORING THE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN CORPORATE CULTURE AND REPUTATION
© MWW GROUP, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED | SURVEY 3
3 OUT OF 4 BUSINESS LEADERS BELIEVE
CORPORATE REPUTATION IS SUBSTANTIALLY
DRIVEN BY THEIR COMPANY’S INTERNAL
CORPORATE CULTURE.
TRUSTIS A BIG PART OF HOW THEIR COMPANIES OPERATE.
MOST BUSINESS LEADERS BELIEVE THEIR
COMPANY STANDS FOR MORE THAN JUST
ITS SERVICES OR PRODUCTS AND SAY
ARE AMONG THE TOP TWO MOST
IMPORTANT GROUPS DRIVING
THEIR CORPORATE REPUTATION.
FRONT-LINE
EMPLOYEES
BUSINESS LEADERS BELIEVE THAT ONLY
DESPITE RECOGNIZING
THE IMPORTANCE OF
CULTURE, ONLY 5 PERCENT
STRONGLY BELIEVE THEIR
OWN ORGANIZATION’S
CULTURE WOULD PRECLUDE
AN INCIDENT SIMILAR TO
GOLDMAN SACHS FROM
HAPPENING TO THEM.5

4. EXPLORING THE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN CORPORATE CULTURE AND REPUTATION
© MWW GROUP, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED | SURVEY 4
CORPORATE CULTURE DRIVES
CORPORATE REPUTATION
Three out of four business leaders believe corporate reputation is at least
substantially driven by their internal corporate culture.
1%
Not at All
SUBSTANTIALLY
60%
15%
Entirely /
Almost Entirely
19%
Somewhat
5%
Slightly
In these difficult economic
times, the attitude and
working culture of our
employees is even more
important for and impactful
to our level of service
delivery which determines
our external reputation.
Our culture permeates
everything we do -
relationships with owners,
architects, vendors and
subs. They see us at work
everyday and how we behave
and react to things is based
on that internal culture.
­­­­— CORPORATE EXECUTIVE AT
A COMPANY WITH 1000-5000
EMPLOYEES
­­­­— DIRECTOR IN THE HR
DEPARTMENT AT A COMPANY
WITH 501-1000 EMPLOYEES

5. EXPLORING THE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN CORPORATE CULTURE AND REPUTATION
© MWW GROUP, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED | SURVEY 5
PHILOSOPHY ON CORPORATE CULTURE
Most respondents indicated a strong corporate culture was important to their organization. Trust is a big part of how
their company operates, and most believe their company stands for more than just its services or products.
However, nearly 30% of business leaders believe their corporate culture is not consistent from the executive level
down to the lowest level employees.
87TRUST IS A BIG PART
OF HOW WE OPERATE
AS A COMPANY
STRONGLY AGREE / AGREE
85%
81%
78%
74%
72%
41%
OUR COMPANY STANDS FOR
MORE THAN JUST OUR SERVICES
OR PRODUCTS
WE ACTIVELY PROMOTE A PARTICULAR
CORPORATE CULTURE BUILT ON
CORE VALUES
WE HAVE ADEQUATE MECHANISMS
IN PLACE TO ALLOW EMPLOYEES TO
REPORT UNETHICAL PRACTICES
EMPLOYEES TRULY BUY-IN TO OUR
CORPORATE CULTURE
THE CORPORATE CULTURE IS
CONSISTENT FROM THE EXECUTIVE
LEVEL DOWN TO THE LOWEST LEVEL
EMPLOYEES
THE BOTTOM LINE IS THE ULTIMATE
FACTOR IN JUDGING OUR COMPANY’S
SUCCESS REGARDLESS OF CULTURE

6. EXPLORING THE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN CORPORATE CULTURE AND REPUTATION
© MWW GROUP, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED | SURVEY 6
DESCRIBING CORPORATE CULTURE
Business leaders used words such as integrity, teamwork, communication and
customer-focused, when describing their corporate culture.

7. EXPLORING THE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN CORPORATE CULTURE AND REPUTATION
© MWW GROUP, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED | SURVEY 7
CORPORATEREPUTATION:INFLUENCING GROUPS
Business leaders believe that front-line employees and customers are the two most
important groups in driving their corporate reputation. Whereas, they believe that trade
media, business media, and financial analysts are the least important.
MOST IMPORTANT:
LEAST IMPORTANT:
55%
FRONT-LINE
EMPLOYEES
35%
EXECUTIVE
MANAGE-
MENT
62%
CUSTOMERS
0
10
20
30
40
50
44% 43%
3%
6%
16%
10%
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
5%
TRADE
MEDIA
9%
MID-LEVEL
EMPLOYEES
14%
FINANCIAL
ANALYSTS
15%
CONSUMER
MEDIA
5%
BUSINESS
MEDIA
43%
34%
TRADE
MEDIA
FRONT-
LINE
EMPLOYEES
MID-LEVEL
EMPLOY-
EES
EXECUTIVE
MANAGE-
MENT
FINANCIAL
ANALYSTS
CONSUMER
MEDIA
BUSI-
NESS
MEDIA
CUSTOMERS
55%
FRONT-LINE
EMPLOYEES
35%
EXECUTIVE
MANAGE-
MENT
62%
CUSTOMERS
0
10
20
30
40
50
44% 43%
3%
6%
16%
10%
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
5%
TRADE
MEDIA
9%
MID-LEVEL
EMPLOYEES
14%
FINANCIAL
ANALYSTS
15%
CONSUMER
MEDIA
5%
BUSINESS
MEDIA
43%
34%
TRADE
MEDIA
FRONT-
LINE
EMPLOYEES
MID-LEVEL
EMPLOY-
EES
EXECUTIVE
MANAGE-
MENT
FINANCIAL
ANALYSTS
CONSUMER
MEDIA
BUSI-
NESS
MEDIA
CUSTOMERS

8. EXPLORING THE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN CORPORATE CULTURE AND REPUTATION
© MWW GROUP, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED | SURVEY 8
EVALUATING
GOLDMAN SACHS

9. EXPLORING THE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN CORPORATE CULTURE AND REPUTATION
© MWW GROUP, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED | SURVEY 9
79THE LETTER SHED LIGHT
ON A TROUBLESOME
CORPORATE CULTURE AT
GLODMAN SACHS
STRONGLY AGREE / AGREE
77%
66%
14%
14%
GOLDMAN SACHS
REPUTATION WAS
NEGATIVELY AFFECTED
BY THIS LETTER
I WOULD EXPECT TO
SEE MORE OF THESE
SITUATIONS WITH OTHER
COMPANIES IN THE
FUTURE
THIS WAS AN ISOLATED
INCIDENT OF A SINGLE
DISGRUNTLED EMPLOYEE
AND NOT REPRESENTATIVE
OF GOLDMAN SACHS
COMPARED TO MOST
OTHER COMPANIES
GOLDMAN SACHS IS AN
ETHICAL INSTITUTION
LETTER’S EFFECT ON GOLDMAN SACHS REPUTATION
Business Leaders in the United States believe that Goldman Sachs is not a particularly
ethical institution and the open resignation letter only further hurt its reputation.

10. EXPLORING THE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN CORPORATE CULTURE AND REPUTATION
© MWW GROUP, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED | SURVEY 10
A LOOK INWARD
Despite recognizing the importance of culture, only 5 percent of business leaders
strongly believe their own organization’s culture would preclude an incident
similar to Goldman Sachs from happening to them.
WE HAVE A CULTURE THAT
WOULD PRECLUDE THIS
TYPE OF SITUATION FROM
OCCURRING
THESE TYPES OF
OCCURRENCES GENERALLY
BLOW OVER FAIRLY QUICKLY
WE HAVE THE COMMUNICATIONS
AND CRISIS TOOLS/PLANS IN PLACE
TO HELP US EFFECTIVELY DEAL
WITH THIS TYPE OF SITUATION
DIGITAL AND SOCIAL MEDIA CAN
ALLOW A SITUATION LIKE THIS TO
QUICKLY GET OUT OF HAND
5% 41%
40%
47%
46%
6%
9%
44%
STRONGLY AGREE AGREE

11. EXPLORING THE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN CORPORATE CULTURE AND REPUTATION
© MWW GROUP, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED | SURVEY 11
CHANCE OF THIS HAPPENING TO YOU
40% of business leaders are concerned a disgruntled employee could cause a
similar negative effect on their company’s reputation.
How Much Of An Impact Would A Similar Letter Have On Your Organization’s
Reputation?
% % %
13 %
0 %
02838
HIGH SOMEWHAT
HIGH
SOMEWHAT
LOW
LOW VERY LOW
NOT
CONCERNED
CONCERNED
UNDECIDED
40%
22%
38%
21% % % %
13 %
0 %
02838
VERY HIGH HIGH SOMEWHAT
HIGH
SOMEWHAT
LOW
LOW VERY LOW

12. EXPLORING THE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN CORPORATE CULTURE AND REPUTATION
© MWW GROUP, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED | SURVEY 12
RESPONSE
As a result of the letter, 1/3 of business leaders have taken preventative action
in their own organizations to preclude a situation similar to Goldman Sachs,
including making changes to employee contracts, their onboarding processes, and
training. Another 1/3 is considering such actions.
OVERALL
REVIEWED OR CHANGED
EMPLOYEE CONTRACTS TO
PREVENT SUCH SITUATIONS
REVIEWED OR CHANGED
EMPLOYEE OFF-BOARDING
PROCESSES
ENHANCED TRAINING OF KEY
STAFF TO HANDLE THESE
SITUATIONS MORE EFFECTIVELY
33%
TAKEN ACTION
TAKEN ACTION
15%
16%
29%
34%
NOT CONSIDERING /
NO ACTION
NOT CONSIDERING /
NO ACTION
59%
56%
39%
CONSIDERING
CONSIDERING
26%
28%
33%
33%

13. EXPLORING THE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN CORPORATE CULTURE AND REPUTATION
© MWW GROUP, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED | SURVEY 13
WORK TITLE
68%
CORPORATE EXECUTIVE
7%
OWNER/FOUNDER
7%
OWNER-FONDER / VP
7%
OWNER-FONDER / VP
18%
DIRECTOR
18%
DIRECTOR
18%
DIRECTOR
RESPONDENT PROFILE
SIZE OF COMPANY (BY NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES)
SEX
20%
10000+
36%
1001-5000
19%
250-500
14%
501-1000
12%
5,001-10,000
78%
MALE
22%
FEMALE
7%
VP

14. EXPLORING THE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN CORPORATE CULTURE AND REPUTATION
© MWW GROUP, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED | SURVEY 14
METHODOLOGY
WHO: n= 100 Respondents
+ Business Leaders
• Corporate Executives: 75
• HR Decision Makers: 25
+ At a company with 250+ employees
WHEN: April 2012
WHERE: USA – Online
HOW: Recruitment via online panel and self administered

15. EXPLORING THE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN CORPORATE CULTURE AND REPUTATION
© MWW GROUP, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED | SURVEY 15
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Carreen Winters
Executive Vice President, Corporate Communications Reputation Management
201.964.2410 | cwinters@mww.com
MWW
304 Park Avenue South, 8th Floor
New York, NY 10010
212.704.9727
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