The reason why CEOs should be kept totally distant from policy making

Nobody trusts a CEO, study finds

CEOs lack credibility, study finds
JULIAN LEE
SMH
March 1, 2010

AN ACADEMIC, a non-government organisation or a person on the street are regarded as more credible sources of information about a company than its own chief executive, a study has found.

The picture is even worse for governments in an election year, because people are more likely to trust businessmen before politicians, the survey by public relations company Edelman said.

Only 38 per cent of high-income earners surveyed said they listened to what a company's most senior executive had to say when they were formulating a view on a company.

Businesses can take heart, however, that over the past year their standing has risen - in last year's survey the figure was only 19 per cent.

For politicians, it was the reverse.

Their credibility plummeted from 41 per cent at the height of the global financial crisis to 15 per cent earlier this year, said the study, which measured people's trust in institutions and business.

Australia was the only country in the region to register such a decline in attitudes towards government.

The findings of Edelman's Trust Barometer also shed light on what people regard as important when assessing a company's reputation.

Respondents placed a higher premium on companies being able to offer high-quality products and services than their overall trustworthiness.

Bringing up the rear was whether or not a company introduced innovative or new products or services.

If companies want to be seen as more trustworthy, then the answer is simple: get into bed with a non-government organisation, such as charities or environmental groups.

More than 60 per cent of respondents were more likely to trust a company that hooks up with an NGO to battle global issues such as climate change, alleviating poverty or curing diseases.

Edelman surveyed 1575 tertiary-educated people between the ages of 25 and 64, and with an annual income of more than $50,000, as part of a global study, now in its 10th year.


When will people learn about the total destructiveness of self interested greed?

Income-trust crackdown: The inside story

When the telephone (from CEO Michael Sabia) rang, Flaherty knew he had to act
Globe and Mail
Nov. 02, 2006

High-profile directors and CEOs, meanwhile, had approached Mr. Flaherty personally to express their concerns: Many felt they were being pressed into trusts because of their duty to maximize shareholder value, despite their misgivings about the structure. Paul Desmarais Jr., the well-connected chairman of Power Corp. of Canada, even railed against trusts in a conversation with Prime Minister Stephen Harper during a trip to Mexico,