News Room

Leading executives view Children's Hospital Boston as the most esteemed medical institution, Harvard University as the state's most reputable academic center, and Fidelity Investments as the local for-profit company with the best reputation, according to the results of the second annual Massachusetts Corporate Reputation Survey (MCRS).

It was Harvard University's second consecutive appearance at the top of the reputation survey conducted exclusively for Morrissey & Company, a national reputation management and public relations firm based in Boston. Rounding out the top 10 were: Children's Hospital Boston, Boston University, Massachusetts General Hospital, Tufts University, Boston College, Northeastern University, Fidelity Investments, Brigham & Women's Hospital and Staples, respectively.

''An organization's reputation is its most valuable asset. It is the composite picture of how it is viewed by its key audiences,'' said Peter A. Morrissey, president and CEO of Morrissey & Company. ''The highly rated institutions in the Massachusetts Corporate Reputation Survey have earned the recognition, credibility and trust of the area's business leaders through their actions and behaviors, not through words alone. For them, reputation is about deeds, not spin.''

The complete results of the 2004 MCRS, as well as the results of last year's inaugural survey, can be found at www.reputationsurvey.com.

Business executives gave 10 of the 69 organizations ranked in the 2004 MCRS a ''superior'' reputation rating, a score of 60 or higher out of a possible 100. Fifteen enterprises scored between 50 and 60, achieving ''very good'' reputations; and eight were rated with ''good'' reputations, scoring between 40 and 50 points. The remaining 36 organizations, many of them Massachusetts newsmakers on a regular basis, scored below 40.