How Microsoft Rebooted Its Reputation
March 1, 2006
What's the world's most-trusted company?
A survey of global opinion leaders, circulated at January's World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, by Richard Edelman, chief executive of the Edelman public-relations firm, tackled that question. Mr. Edelman's research found that certain companies rank high in their home markets -- Toyota Motor in Japan, Samsung Electronics in Korea, Siemens in Germany, International Business Machines in the U.S. But the reputation of one company was on the rise throughout the world: Microsoft.
Microsoft?
The same company that has been found guilty of anticompetitive practices on three continents? The company that is dubbed the "evil empire" on 3.6 million pages on the World Wide Web? Microsoft's predatory nature is so widely criticized it has become the stuff of satire. "Microsoft purchased evil from satan for $2.7 billion," read a news article posted on the humor Web site BBspot several years ago. The company "already controls 15% of the evil market, and with this purchase, that number nears 100%."
If Mr. Edelman's research is to be believed -- and it is worth pointing out Microsoft is one of his firm's largest clients -- the devil days may be over. Other studies seem to buttress the finding. Media research firm Delahaye culls newspaper stories for positive mentions, and it gives Microsoft the highest score in its latest index of corporate reputations. A survey in December by Burson-Marstellar found that Bill Gates is the world's most-admired chief executive. That is especially surprising because Mr. Gates hasn't actually been CEO of the company since January 2000, when he became "chief software architect" and gave Steven Ballmer the CEO title.
What gives? In part, these surveys simply reflect Microsoft's size and extensive reach. Moreover, Mr. Edelman believes, Microsoft benefits from a "halo effect" of the independent Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. It is hard to appear evil when you give $6 billion of your own money to combat disease -- even if the money was earned in part from anticompetitive practices.
But Microsoft has also changed. Its critics still find plenty to fault in its hard-charging business practices. But the company has settled most of the lawsuits against it, and has "placated" -- in some cases, with money -- many critics. It has also lost some of its arrogance, in part, perhaps, because computing has moved from the desktop to the Web, where Microsoft is less dominant and has less reason to be arrogant.
In addition, the company has been running what looks in some respects like a global political campaign, relying on the advice of Bill and Hillary Clinton's pollster Mark Penn, among others. In June 2002, Mr. Ballmer sent an email to company employees heralding a change in the corporate mission. The email emphasized values, put a new focus on "trustworthy computing," and talked about Microsoft's responsibilities to "customers, partners, shareholders, employees and communities in which we live and serve." Subsequently, company officials started focusing attention on programs serving "stakeholders" such as the arrangement announced yesterday with the U.S. Department of Labor, that provides computer-skills training in a number of cities.
Reputation is a hot topic in executive suites, largely because the overall reputation of business is so poor. Two weeks ago, the Business Council, a group that includes chief executives of many of the largest companies in the U.S., devoted a day to the topic at its retreat in Boca Raton, Fla. Some executives expressed surprise that the negative effects of corporate scandals have lingered for so long. Others felt victimized by a hostile press. But all seemed to agree that reputation has become increasingly important to their businesses.
A good reputation doesn't guarantee results. Microsoft's share price has been stagnant even as its reputation has been on the mend. But reputation can be especially important in recruiting and keeping employees, executives say. And it is certainly helpful in dealing with activist shareholders, nongovernment organizations and interventionist governments. "The consequence of reputation is much greater in today's environment than it used to be," public-relations executive Alan Towers says.
For its part, Microsoft hopes the boost in reputation will help in its showdown with European antitrust authorities. Faced with the threat of fines of more than $2 million a day for failing to comply with a 2004 antitrust ruling, the company has taken the unusual step of publicizing a 75-page "confidential" response that attacks European authorities for false, misleading and unfair charges. That confrontational tactic is reminiscent of the old Microsoft, but the new Microsoft may have just enough public support to prevail.
“邪恶帝国”不再邪恶
当今世界最受信赖的公司当属谁家?
爱德曼国际公关集团(Edelman)的首席执行长理查德?爱德曼(Richard Edelman)在1月达沃斯世界经济论坛期间针对与会代表的一项调查问卷上就提出了这样一个问题。此次调查的结果显示，一些公司在其本土市场享有很高的声誉－－如丰田汽车(Toyota Motor)在日本，三星电子(Samsung Electronics)在韩国，西门子(Siemens)在德国，国际商用机器(International Business Machines)在美国－－然而，有一家公司在全球范围内所享有的声誉都在不断上升，它就是微软(Microsoft Corp.)。
微软？
难道就是那家在三大洲都被发现有反竞争不当行为的微软？就是那家在互联网上找到的360万个网页都将之冠以“邪恶帝国”之名的微软？微软的掠夺本性受到了极其广泛的批评，以至它在很多地方都已成了讽刺挖苦的对象。“微软花了27亿美元从撒旦那里买来了邪恶，”几年前发表在幽默网站BBspot上的一篇新闻报导中如此写道。这家公司“已经控制了15%的邪恶市场，加上这次新添置的，几乎100%的邪恶市场已尽在其掌握之中。”
如果爱德曼的调查结果可以信赖－－值得一提的是微软是爱德曼最大的客户之一－－那么或许可以说魔鬼时代已经结束了。其他一些研究结果似乎也都给爱德曼的结论提供了印证。媒体研究公司Delahaye通过搜集报纸上的相关正面报导来给公司打分。在其最新发布的公司声誉指数中,它给微软打了最高分。Burson-Marstellar去年12月进行的一项调查的结果则显示，比尔?盖茨(Bill Gates)是世界上最受敬仰的首席执行长。鉴于盖茨早已不担任公司首席执行长的事实，这一点尤为令人感到惊讶。自从2000年1月将首席执行长的权杖交给巴尔默(Steve Ballmer)之后，盖茨便一直担任微软的首席软件设计师之职。
盖茨何以能够享此盛誉呢？原因之一是这些调查只反映了微软的规模和其在全球的广泛触角。另外，在爱德曼看来，盖茨基金会(Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation)所产生的“光晕效应”功不可没。如果一个人从自己口袋里拿出60亿美元用于人类防治疾病的伟大事业，那么即便这些钱中有一部分是通过垄断市场挣来的,人们也很难把这个人同“邪恶”挂起钩来。
而实际上现在的微软也已不是从前的微软了。批评者依然可以从微软那咄咄逼人的商业行为中挑出许多毛病。但是微软如今已经妥善解决了大多数针对它的诉讼官司,也让很多的批评者得到了一定的“抚慰”（有时候是用钱）。与此同时，微软也少了些许从前的傲慢，从一定程度上讲，这或许是因为电脑应用已经从台式机转向了网络，面对网络这个自己占有相对较小优势的领域，微软当然也就少了些继续傲慢的理由。
另外,听从了曾给克林顿夫妇(Bill Clinton/Hillary Clinton)当过战略顾问的马克?培恩(Mark Penn)和其他一些专家的建议，微软一直在运作一项从某些方面看像是一场全球政治运动的计划。巴尔默于2002年6月给公司所有员工发出了一封电子邮件，宣布了公司使命的变化。邮件中强调了价值观，提出了新的“可信计算”概念，并谈及了微软对“客户、合作伙伴、股东、员工及其所生活和服务的社区”所担负的责任。随后,公司管理人员开始将精力集中到了那些服务于所谓“利益相关的参与者”(stakeholder)的项目上，比如说周二公司就与美国劳工部共同宣布了一项在部分城市提供电脑技能培训的项目。
企业声誉当前是高管圈内的一个热门话题，这主要是因为目前商界总体声誉太过差劲。两周前，由美国许多顶级公司首席执行长组成的商业委员会(Business Council)在佛罗里达州的度假胜地博卡雷顿(Boca Raton)用了一整天时间讨论这个这个问题。一些与会者对公司丑闻所带来的负面影响竟会如此久久挥之不去表示出了极大的惊讶。有些人则感觉自己成了敌意媒体报导的牺牲品。但是所有人似乎都有一个共识，那就是声誉对于企业而言日益变得至关重要。
良好的声誉并不能保证公司取得良好的业绩。微软的声誉虽然日渐好转，但是它的股票价格依然萎靡不振。但是高管们说，企业声誉对于招聘和留住员工尤其举足轻重，而对于公司跟激进份子股东、非政府组织以及喜爱干涉的政府部门打交道当然也是颇有助益。“在如今这种环境下，声誉能够起到的作用可是比以前大了许多”一位涉身公共关系的高级主管如是说。
从微软自身来讲,它希望公司声誉的提升能在其与欧盟反垄断部门的较量中对其有所帮助。面临因未遵守2004年的一项反垄断裁定而遭受每天200万美元罚款的威胁，微软现已采取了一项非同寻常的行动，将其回复欧盟的一份长达75页的“密件”公诸于世。文件中对欧盟当局虚假、误导和不公正的指控进行了严厉的抨击。这种针锋相对的策略让人想起了从前的微软，但如今的微软或许能获得充分的公众支持来取得胜利。
