Bancolombia, Grupo Nutresa, Alpina Lead Rankings for Best Organizational Reputation in Colombia

For the second straight year, the same three leading Colombian companies — Bancolombia, Grupo Nutresa, and Alpina — led the 2018 rankings for best organizational reputation in the country.

This was the exact same top three, in the same order, as 2017, with the Medellín-based banking giant once again topping all other contenders in the annual study conducted by Merco, a corporate reputation monitoring firm.

Another financial services giant, Sura, ranked fourth, moving up from 8th in the 2017 edition of the study, while cement maker Cementos Argos rounded out the top five. It fell one spot compared to the prior year.

Ecopetrol, despite causing a massive oil spill in a Colombian river earlier this year, saw its status improve, rising from 9th in 2017 to 6th.

Grupo EPM, however, saw some falloff following the dam catastrophe at its massive Hidroituango project in central Colombia that threatened to fail and devastate several communities downriver. Tens of thousands of people were evacuated as the situation, which has still not been fully resolved, grew increasingly dire earlier this year. That likely contributed to its ranking falling from the top five last year to 8th in 2018.

Avianca, the nation’s leading airline, saw an even more significant tumble. After being ranked 7th in 2017, the carrier, which suffered a prolonged pilot strike that led to thousands of canceled flights last fall, the carrier dropped down to 15th this year.

Financial services company Davivienda, by contrast, saw its reputation improve greatly. It moved from way down at 48th last year to 16th in 2018.

Two prominent universities, Pontifica Universidad Javeriana and Universidad del Rosario, also saw their status rise. Javeriana jumped from 31st to 17th, while Rosario moved from 36th to 18th.

(Credit: Juan Camilo Trujillo)