Revista de Economía y Negocios

The Impact of Corporate Reputation in a Dairy Company

Abstract

Maria da Graça Casimiro Almeida and Arnaldo Matos Coelho

The purpose of this paper is to understand the importance of corporate reputation (CR) how main intangible asset of a company. This study investigates the role of CR on optical three group’s stakeholders: cooperants, workers and customers on loyalty in cooperative organizations. This study proposes a theoretical model tested using structural equation modeling. 1200 valid questionnaires were collected from a three group samples: cooperants; workers and customers of the biggest dairy union of cooperatives in Iberia. CR has a significant impact on loyalty in three group’s stakeholders on organizations cooperatives. Corporate reputation is revealed as an intangible asset, constituting, as the pillar of organizational development by providing ability to compete in the market and generate profits. This study is based on three cross-sectional data from a dairy company. This is a topic that, given the multiplicity of possible approaches, it is even less studied the theoretical level as regards the analysis of corporate reputation with applicability in the various organizational stakeholders. The results give new guidelines to redress the cooperatives traditional management, namely the management of intangible assets like reputation. This paper contributes to the competitiveness of a type of organization closed to the social structure of the rural population. This research with three types of stakeholders (cooperants, customers and workers) power shall be constituted as an important contribution to the literature, for what has been analyzed only works strand of customers (external) and/or employees (internal). The results bring the management challenges of the 21st century to the traditional principles underlying cooperatives management helping them to reinforce competitiveness. The intangibility is always a difficult area of research, in which old doors close and new doors open.