Samsung falls 26 notches in global corporate reputation ranking

South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. fell sharply in a global corporate social responsibility ranking to a record low of 90th this year, the US market survey showed.

In the 2019 Global RepTrak report released by the Reputation Institute, the world’s biggest memory chip giant moved down a whopping 26 steps in terms of its global reputation. The rankings are based on a company’s governance structure, social contribution and working conditions for workers.

It marked the lowest performance since the institute started compiling such data in 2012, even hovering below the 89th place posted in 2017 after the flagship Galaxy Note 7 smartphone was pulled from the shelves due to batteries catching fire while being recharged, Yonhap news agency reported on Sunday.

While the Reputation Institute did not provide details on the background of Samsung’s poor performance this year, industry watchers said various factors, including allegations that the firms’ executives oppressed the labour union, are presumed to have hurt its reputation.

South Korea’s top court also ordered a lower court to reconsider its suspended jail sentence for Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong earlier this year for his involvement in a political scandal, which led to the impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye.

The de facto leader of the country’s top conglomerate faces charges for bribing a long-time friend of the former as he sought the government’s help in securing the control of Samsung Group.

Other global brands that suffered a sharp decline in their reputations include Nestle, Amazon, Panasonic and Nissan, according to the report.