Organizational reputations are socially constructed, and many different factors influence an organization’s reputation. The types and quality of a firm’s products and services will influence its reputation, as will the words and actions of its employees, consumers, stockholders, and other stakeholders. There are many types of reputations (actual, conceived, ideal, desired), but they all involve some kind of communication in their creation, maintenance, and sustainment. This entry covers the co-creation of value, the evolution of value creation, the chance of devaluation, and implications for reputation management.

An organization’s reputation is an important resource because it shapes its relationships with publics. Organizations devote extensive resources that either directly or indirectly promote their reputation through marketing, public relations, corporate social responsibility programs, community outreach, social media, risk and ...