According to the study, the majority of managers and supervisors believe that their company is on the right path to success, but at the same time they perceive the Internet as a significant threat. According to the survey, which was conducted among more than 300 CEOs, managing directors, managers, middle managers and supervisors in the Province of Barcelona, nearly four out of ten managers (36.9%) are highly conservative and do not trust online presence strategies.

Overall, the respondents assessed their organization’s knowledge of the Internet and corporate strategy very highly. The respondents scored the managers of their own companies more highly than the managers of other companies, and they put this down to their experience.

When answering questions on social media strategy, the respondents gave their opinions on the managers of their own companies and of other companies. In the question on direct attribution of knowledge (“The managers know what they are talking about”), the respondents rated their own companies much more highly than they rated others. When it came to the question on knowledge gained through experience (“They know what they are talking about and they have implemented strategies in other organizations”), the difference was even greater. On the other hand, when responding to questions on indirect knowledge or knowledge gained through “hearsay” (“They know what they are talking about because they have gained knowledge from a case that has appealed to them”), they scored other companies more highly than their own. The same was true for the question on knowledge gained from reading articles, i.e. from theoretical or information sources.

However, the fear of the unpredictable nature of the Internet is immediately apparent when looking at the comparative details. For example, when asked about whether or not managers understood social networks, the answer was a clear “Yes”, but when asked if those same managers believed it was necessary to have a social media strategy, the answers were very cautious and some people even answered “No”. The definitive question on the crisis in reputation management confirmed this mixture of courage and caution. In the question “In the event of a misunderstanding or problem with clients due to a fault with a company product…”, 63.1% answered in accordance with the recommendations of reputation management experts, i.e. they chose the option “It is necessary to have a strategy to deal with these situations on the Internet”. However, a significant number of those surveyed (36.9%) were very conservative and selected the option “It is better not to get involved in the Internet and instead use a strategy based on traditional methods or direct contact with clients”. Other questions on strategic development revealed an interest and a need to implement them, but reluctance when it came to deciding to make them a reality.

These are the initial findings of the thesis by doctoral degree candidate David López, who worked under the supervision of Dr. Guillem Bou. Within a few months, a detailed study will be available on the relationships between the variables, profiles, trends, etc. when defending the online corporate reputation management of Barcelona-based companies.