The impact of resilience on corporate reputation in Muslim Countries

Abstract

This study addresses the relationship between resilience and Corporate Reputation (CR) in Muslim countries (Iran, Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and UAE). The problem of the study was determined by the nature of the relationship between financial flexibility and the reputation of banking companies, which is a problem in itself. And studying the methods used in banks to face reputational risks and knowing the extent to which indicators of financial flexibility can be applied in banks, and knowing what is the level of relationship between the indicators of the study variables and their nature  This study investigates whether and how resilience affects CR in Muslim countries. This study is causal correlational. It used information from the companies listed on Tehran Stock Exchange in Iran, Bahrain, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and UAE from 2014 to 2019. Hypotheses are tested via Logistic Regression. Findings show a positive and significant relationship between resilience and CR in the studied Muslim Countries. This relationship is higher in more resilient companies with higher reputations. The coefficient of determination and McFadden’s value indicates that Bahrain companies have the highest relationship while Kuwaiti companies have the lowest. Since this study is conducted in the emerging financial markets of Iran, Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and UAE, with their unique economic and political situations, it provides a wealth of information. This study and the mentioned ones found that enhancing the firm’s resilience improves the interested parties’ perceptions because the company’s reputation is regarded among its performance, behaviors, and policies (Lombardi et al., 2020). Managers should cooperate more with their colleagues, suppliers, distributors, and customers. Therefore, they can receive support during the crisis and be more resilient. Therefore, according to the hypothesis test results, companies must pay considerable attention to resilience.