Air NZ has best corporate reputation - survey

Photo / supplied

Air NZ has edged out New Zealand Post to claim the top spot in a study of corporation reputation, while Telecom has avoided the wooden spoon - but only because Exxon Mobil has just joined the list.

The Corporate Reputation Index by research consultancy AMR and the Reputation Institute, measured how 1119 New Zealanders perceived the country's largest 25 companies by revenue, using products, governance, innovation, workplace, leadership, citizenship and financial performance as criteria.

Exxon Mobil, a new entrant in this year's list scored the lowest of any of the companies, just below Telecom which was last year perceived as the country's worst corporate.

Oliver Freedman of AMR Interactive said Air New Zealand was a clear leader in this year's rankings, moving up eight points from last year.

"It had significant improvements across the board, including consumers' perception of its citizenship, product and innovation."

The company's successful product changes, and its support of the Pike River mining community and the Christchurch community following the earthquakes may have contributed to the improvement, he said.

Fisher & Paykel ranked third after being included in the index for
the first time this year.

The Warehouse dropped five points and is now sitting sixth on the table. It also dropped 12 points in the leadership score, falling from first to seventh in that area.

Telecom rival Vodafone New Zealand, also a new entrant this year, ranked 15th, well ahead of its Australian counterpart.

Vodafone Australia's reputation took the biggest hit in the Australian rankings this year, with the company slipping from 35th last year to 59th out of 60 companies this year.

"In certain industries it is tougher to be up the top of the list, particularly the service industry.

"Customer service has been a challenge for telecommunications companies and probably that area of governance in terms of being open and transparent about plans may not have been as good as consumers would have liked," Freedman said.

Fonterra saw a decline in its score across the specific measurements of workplace and governance which was most likely the result of the "milk powder scandal in 2010", said Freedman.

Of the banks, ASB scored significantly higher than the others, with strong increases across the board and "continued innovative performance for online banking capabilities".

1. Air New Zealand
2. New Zealand Post
3. Fisher & Paykel
4. ASB
5. HJ Heinz
6. The Warehouse
7. Goodman Fielder
8. Foodstuffs
9. Shell NZ
10. Zespri
11. Fletcher Building
12. Harvey Norman
13. Fulton Hogan
14. Sky Network Television
15. Vodafone
16. Bank of NZ
17. Woolworths/Progressive Enterprises
18. ANZ Bank
19. Westpac
20. Fonterra
21. SkyCity
22. Chevron NZ
23. BP New Zealand
24. Telecom
25. Exxon Mobil

- NZ HERALD ONLINE