The author is president, IMRB International

Lists hold great fascination. But some more than others. The 'India's Most Respected Companies' survey, which captures perceptions and expectations of India's business leaders, is one such. Awaited eagerly by CEOs and custodians of corporate reputation, this study reveals the image of companies in the eyes of its peers. In a sense, this recognition is the ultimate reward for any company.

However, are these laurels and recognition the only gains? There are many benefits of a positive reputation - it helps companies attract and retain the best talent; generate new business enquiries and, thus, potential sales; gain support on issues dealing with public policy; and minimise the deleterious effects of negative press coverage. So, the respect a company commands strongly influences its financial performance and health.

But, to get to that level, one issue that most CEOs grapple with is how to influence reputation. What can be done to climb the charts? Looking at the climbers in 2003, we can see the influence that financial success has in generating respect. There appears to be a positive spiral in the relationship - financial success breeds respect which, in turn, creates the environment for even greater financial success. There is a complex web of factors which govern respect - business growth and shareholder returns, quality of products and services, global competitiveness, new product or service innovation, ethical management, response to social and environmental issues, among others. Different stakeholders have different drivers, making it hard to pick out a single aspect that governs respect.

But the positive spiral between financial success and respect can easily turn into a negative spiral. Poor financial performance resulting in loss of respect could make it even more difficult for the company to pull itself out of the morass.

While the role of advertising and media coverage in enhancing a company's reputation has been well documented, it has its limitations. Advertising can only reinforce an existing image, or build an emotional bond. It cannot create an image where there is no basis for one. So, great advertising is only as good as the benefits or values that are sought to be communicated.

However, managers of corporate communications and image have had an eventful year. The limited run on a particular bank in Maharashtra, product quality issues for some of the multinational food companies, among other occurrences, brought to the fore the need for companies to have a reservoir of goodwill to tap into during periods of adverse media coverage. It is crises such as these that bring out the mettle in corporate management. The speed and nature of the management's response - whether the company owns up to the problem and works to a resolution or not - can determine the speed with which it will regain its position on the charts.

Many companies commission their own corporate image surveys. However, such image surveys rarely have the width of coverage of companies in the comparator basket and respondents that this study has. Some studies cover only the sectors in which the client company operates. In the Most Respected Companies survey, we can see from a comparison of sectoral rankings and the overall ranking that the parameters used while looking within a sector are different from those used when comparing diverse sectors. These influences can be so strong that the order of preferences within a sector can be different from the order of preferences when measuring company reputation across sectors. A survey such as this truly captures the standing of companies. It is a reason to celebrate for those companies that have shown strong upward movement, and a battle cry for action for those which haven't been as fortunate.