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01 December 2003
Standard Bank was rated second after retail giant Pick 'n Pay in an independent survey on South Africa's most trustworthy company.
Absa came in third in the national survey of JSE-listed companies conducted by strategic research and consulting company, Ask Afrika.
Thirty of the top 80 companies listed on the JSE were surveyed in the first round of trustworthiness measurements earlier this year.
"This is the first of what is to become an annual event for consumers and other key stakeholders," says Andrea Rademeyer the Ask Afrika Trust Barometer? founder and Ask Afrika Managing Director.
The independent survey, funded by Ask Afrika, aims to increase awareness of how important trust is in stakeholder relationships, measure the overall trustworthiness of South African companies, and provide individual businesses with a practical tool for building trusting relationships with their stakeholders.
Interestingly, four of the five companies rated the highest were from the financial services sector - Standard Bank (2nd), ABSA (3rd), Old Mutual (4th), First Rand (5th) - with banks being perceived as significantly more trustworthy than life-assurance and insurance companies when it comes to total honesty. The retail sector was also well represented, with Pick 'n Pay (1st) and Woolworths (6th) among the top ten.
"Pick 'n Pay coming out on top is highly noteworthy if you consider that the survey coincided with the poison scare earlier this year," says Rademeyer. Pick 'n Pay was rated high on communication with stakeholders, is perceived to practise what it preaches and has illustrated that it cares about the opinions of other people. The company, together with Absa and Standard Bank, was also positioned as having the strongest value system. Standard Bank was rated as having the most trustworthy accounting practices.
"The crucial value of trust in business relationships came to the fore as a result of the recent spate of daily reports in the media on corruption, fraud, mismanagement, and poor corporate governance, says Rademeyer. "This has eroded the trust stakeholders have in companies and negatively affects business confidence, which impacts the country's economic development prospects."
Repeating the survey annually will provide participating companies with a benchmark to measure progress and plan interventions. On a national level, it will serve as an indicator to Government and international investors of the state of corporate governance and related trust variables, she says.
According to Ms Rademeyer, restoring trust in business should be a national priority for the African renaissance to become a reality. "By pioneering and funding South Africa's first national Trust Barometer?, Ask Afrika hopes to help companies regain the moral high ground in the eyes of their stakeholders - not only to ensure their continued survival, but also to enable an inclusive prosperity for all South Africa's people."
The Ask Afrika Trust Barometer? is the culmination of many months of research. A qualitative research approach was followed to construct the questionnaire or measuring instrument. The techniques involved in this approach included a thorough study of academic literature, in-depth interviews with business leaders, and focus group discussions with groups representing consumers, employees, journalists, members of the financial community and opinion leaders. Having gone the scientific route, I am convinced that the findings are an accurate reflection of companies' trustworthiness as perceived by these key stakeholder groups," Ms Rademeyer says.
The companies rated, in descending order of trustworthiness, were: Pick 'n Pay (1), Standard Bank (2), Absa (3), Old Mutual (4), First Rand (5), Woolworths (6), Telkom (7), Sanlam (8), Nedcor (9), MTN (10), Discovery Health (11), Shoprite (12), Investec (13), Netcare (14), Sasol (15), Anglo American (16), SAB MILLER (17), PPC (18), Rand Merchant Bank (19), Medi Clinic (20), Liberty (21), Santam (22), Foschini (23), Sun International (24), Truworths (25), Metro Cash & Carry (26), Dimension Data (27), Imperial (28), ISCOR (29) and Sappi (30).
For further information contact:
Ask Afrika
Andrea Rademeyer, Managing Director
Tel: +27 12 428-7400
Mobile: +27 82 564 5203.
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