How Much Cultural Assumpt?ons Matter In “Corporate Reputat?on D?mens?ons” of the F?rms: A Study from Turk?sh Telecommun?cat?on Industry

Abstract

The main purpose of this study is to examine the impact of cultural assumptions on corporate reputation perception of Turkish
citizens mainly in Turkish telecommunication industry. Today in the globalised markets, in which the life cycles of products becomes
shorten and differentiation between products diminish, as a company to be preferred, the key of the success lies in intangible assests.
“Reputation” is such an intangible and valuable asset which makes a company preferred by whole stakeholders and which creates a
competitive advantage for the companies. During the process of building of the reputation perception, cultural assumptions and values of
the stakeholders are going to be influenced by national cultural values of the stakeholders (customers, suppliers, citizens, society,
rivals..) Within the scope of this study impact of two cultural dimensions are tested namely: Individualism/ Collectivism and Masculinity/
Feminity. According to study results, horizontal individualism and feminity are the dominant cultural assumption prevaling in Turkish
telecommunication sector in determining corporate reputation perception, whereas horizontal collectivist assumptions are the most
prevailing one in determining the sector free general perception of reputation quotient. The people who have horizontal collectivist
cultural assumptions, give importance much more to the inner dynamics of the company (i.e, workplace environment, leadership and
financial performance) in their perception of RQ (reputation quotient). This study’s theoretical contribution is the examination of effects of
cultural dimensions on corporate reputation perception of the companies in a comprehensive model; proposing new variables (affect of
corporate reputation on employee attitudes and behaviors like organizational commitment, intention to turnover, job satisfaction,
organizational citizenship behavior etc in terms of organizational behavior; and on customer satisfaction, brand loyalty and company
performance as strategic management variables) in the model and filling this gap in the research.