Reputation Building: Small Business Strategies for Successful Venture Development

A positive corporate reputation can be crucial to successful venture development. Making use of the Strategic Reference Point theory, four reputation strategies were conceptualized: 1) dynamic exploitation of existing assets; 2) development of core competencies; 3) image management; and 4) strategic alliances. In a comprehensive investigation of three software enterprises in Israel, companies were found to differ in policies that possibly could lead to a good reputation. One company emphasized the long–term establishment of core competencies and remained a fairly unknown enterprise. A second company accentuated the short–term exploitation of assets and had a middling success in reputation building. A third enterprise invested in a broad spectrum of reputation building strategies and quickly developed a reputation for excellence in the field. In conclusion, corporate success often depends on the extent to which managers develop an integrated package of policies for systematically building the intangible asset of corporate reputation.