CEO and Businesses are Losing Trust: Comparison of EU, USA, Czech and Slovak Republic

This article presents an in-depth study based on open-source data analysis (Edelman Trust Barometer and EuropeanCommunication Monitor) concerning the general loss of trust, which both commercial companies, governments and,on a minor scale, also NGOs have been experiencing since the Global Financial Crisis in 2008. Trust is an essentialline of corporate communications, public relations and reputation management of companies and it is personalizedby the CEOs and top management. According to the data, the trust of CEOs saw the biggest decline in the U.S.while in Slovakia the trust is still quite high; on the contrary, in the E.U. in general, the level of trust of CEOs reacheda historical minimum of 30%. The overall shift from trusting the traditional authorities, such as government, CEOsand offi cial representatives to academics, stakeholders, employees and general “vox populi” can be seen globally.The aim of this article is to defi ne trust and the social and communications context of building trust as a key factorin a company′s reputation. Finally, clear managerial implications on reputation management focusing on Czech andSlovak CEOs and businesses will be given.