"The prestige of corporate communications is decided by many factors and the active management of corporate information resources is considered a very important link in the reputation risk management process. To win the trust of the community in corporate brand, a company must go a very long way that requires uniformity and consistency in development strategies and operations. A successfully established reputation will be an invaluable property that helps a company carry out following strategies easily," said a survey titled “Top 10 prestigious listed companies on media in 2015” carried out by Vietnam Report Joint Stock Company and online newspaper VietNamNet and administered by the Ministry of Information and Communications. This research was based on communication content quantifying analysis model to assess the image and reputation of companies using the Agenda Setting Theory on influences and impacts of communication information on the position and image of businesses announced by Professor Maxwell McCombs and Professor Donald L. Shaw in 1968 and applied by Vietnam Report in cooperation with its partners.
Based on this methodology, Vietnam Report selected and coded newspaper articles about the 100 biggest listed companies by market capitalisation rates and liquidity in Vietnam published on investment, finance and securities categories on five newspapers, namely Vietnam Economic Times, Saigon Economic Times, Café F, Vietnam Investment Review and Securities Investment Magazine July 2014 to June 2015, with 12 specific criteria. A total of 2,707 coding units on operations, business results and market to the image and reputation of business leaders assessed the degree of influence, the amount of positive news on the media as well as public confidence in these companies. Besides, companies also received warnings and alerts about potential image risks, weaknesses to be improved and strategies for communication objectives to be achieved.
According to the research result, Vietnam Dairy Products Joint Stock Company - Vinamilk (VNM), Bao Viet Holdings (BVH) and Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam - Vietcombank (VCB) topped the list of media prestige. Particularly, Vinamilk is always a leading light in the Vietnamese economy in general and the dairy industry in particular. Vinamilk CEO Mai Kieu Lien is the centre of domestic and international media thanks to her outstanding contributions.
The research shows official media information tends to increase. For example, Bao Viet Holdings (BVH), Hoa Phat Group Joint Stock Company (HPG) and FPT Corporation (FPT) are now very active to provide information to the public (with about 40 percent of information censored). This shows that Vietnamese companies are now somewhat aware of the importance of actively providing information to the public. Moreover, this work helps them manage their images in a better way and avoid communication risks and partly consolidate their position in the community.
The diversity and transparency in information disclosures of listed companies is always a top priority for investors and demonstrates the professionalism of companies and the operation and regulation of market authorities. From administration, personnel, policies and social work to business strategies and operating results are more frequently updated in reports. Vinamilk and Vingroup Joint Stock Company (VIC) are among listed companies with the most diverse forms of information published. For years, Vinamilk is always a leading light in the Vietnamese economy not only because of its successful business performance, but also because of its active participation in social work. Vingroup is seen as one of the strongest economic groups in Vietnam driven by robust growth in many investment and business fields ranging from real estate to retailing. In recent years, with many well-known acquisitions, especially the takeover of OceanMart retail supermarket chain, Vingroup is the centre of public attention.
The outnumbering of positive information from surveyed companies shows that Vietnamese companies are somewhat ‘more experienced’ in information administration. There are two reasons attributed to this progress. Firstly, they are now VN30 companies - the group of 30 stocks with the highest market value and liquidity on the exchange. Their well-reputed status, effective performance and positive images draw public attention. Secondly, the Vietnam stock market is full of positive news in late 2014 and early 2015. According to the Ministry of Finance, the market capitalisation value of the stock market in the first six months of 2015 equalled 31.1 percent of GDP (an increase of 9.3 percent over the same period of 2014). Transaction value increased 9.7 percent over the same period in 2014. Companies raised over VND96 trillion via the stock market, including above VND82 trillion of government bonds.
According the research, well-reputed companies will have a lot of advantages to carry out their business and investment strategies to create a solid foundation for building a positive image on the media.
Quynh Chi
Vietnamese
