Corporate reputation and perceived risk in professional engineering services

The importance of corporate reputation is widely acknowledged in both contemporary and academic business writings. While reputation is a difficult concept to measure, managers frequently assume a positive relationship between business performance and corporate reputation. The literature avers that from a client's perspective, a healthy reputation may act as a risk suppresser. In this empirical study, the nature of corporate reputation and risk aversion in professional engineering consultancies is examined. Findings support a three-dimensional reputation construct, but there is no evidence to suggest that a good corporate reputation reduces clients’ perceived risk. Implications are drawn, limitations noted and directions offered for ongoing research.