A Labor of Love? Understanding the Influence of Corporate Reputation in the Labor Market

This chapter focuses on a particular area and form of reputation which has been relatively under-researched but is acknowledged to be important, namely reputation in the labour market. This includes the reputation of employing organizations among both potential and actual employees and vice versa. We proceed by providing an overview of the literature on corporate reputation, examining some of the definitions of the term, before focusing on the multiple reputations that are held among different stakeholders (we term this ‘Reputation with whom?') because labour can be seen as one such stakeholder. Within this section, we briefly focus on the role of social networks and intermediaries in creating reputations. We then look at the literature on reputation for particular issues and activities (we term this ‘Reputation for what?'). Finally, the chapter focuses on the labour market and in particular the professional service organizations, as an exemplar of the sort of sector in which labour market reputation is said to be highly important. By considering why this is the case, we develop a broader argument about the conditions in which labour market reputation is likely to be considered critical to the survival and advantage of employing organizations