Amid a Leadership Vacuum

Samsung Electronics' corporate reputation in the global market has declined amid a leadership vacuum caused by the imprisonment of vice chairman Lee Jae-yong.

The company placed 31st in the 2021 Axios Harris Poll 100 released by Harris Poll, a U.S. public opinion survey company. The list names the world’s most reputed 100 companies. Samsung Electronics dropped nine notches from 2020 by scoring 77.5 points out of 100.


The drop in the ranking reflects market concerns about the leadership vacuum.

Samsung made its debut in the Harris Poll in 2012 by placing 13th. Its rankings rose to 11th in 2013, 7th in 2014, and 3rd in 2015. However, after falling to 7th in 2016, it plunged to 49th in 2017 due to Galaxy Note 7 fires and the arrest of Lee. Following Lee’s release and return to his office, the company’s ranking climbed back to 35th in 2018 and 7th in 2019. It fell to 22nd again in 2020 when judicial risks began to emerge.

Harris Poll announces the results of the poll without explaining the backgrounds of ranking changes. The scores a company earns in the seven evaluation criteria offer some explanation. Samsung Electronics saw its scores in all seven criteria fall from 2020. It fell from 11th in 2020 to 28th in 2021 in the growth category and from 19th to 38th in the vision category.

It seems that its credibility has also been damaged by judicial risks. Its morality standing dropped from 21st to 46th, and its corporate citizenship standing from 30th to 58th.

Harris Poll ranked companies through a survey of 42,935 adult men and women living in the United States from April 8 to 21.

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