Nowadays, no public utility company can operate alone. Its success, legitimacy and existence
largely depend on its reputation, gained over time, and users’ trust. Although reputation is
gaining interest in this context, the existing instruments for measuring it cannot be used, as most
of them pay attention to factors, which are not central to the public utility company. The focus
of this master’s thesis is on creating an adapted customer-based model for measuring the
reputation of public utility companies in Slovenia. The established instruments and existing
literature on corporate reputation, organizations in the public sector, Slovenian utility sector,
service marketing and user satisfaction served as a starting point. Our empirical research
confirms that corporate reputation is a multidimensional construct, which influences the
relationship between the public utility company and its users. It offers a fresh approach towards
corporate reputation in the academic field and allows managers of public utility companies to
look more clearly through the eyes of its users. We advise the managers to focus more on
different aspects or dimensions of reputation, rather than the overall reputation score, and work
on those areas, which contribute to the overall score the most. They should address their
weaknesses on an ongoing basis and create a good stock for difficult times.
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