ESTABLISHING THE DETERMINANTS OF INTERNAL REPUTATION - THE CASE OF RESEARCH-AND-DEVELOPMENT SCIENTISTS

This paper discusses the factors which determine the human resource re putations of science-based organisations. Reputation, in this context, refers to the extent to which scientists regard the department in whi ch they work as a good employer, and implicitly, a good place to pract ise science. As a consequence, this study is concerned with internal r ather than external reputation. The R&D departments of ten science-bas ed organisations employing approximately 1500 scientists were included in the study. The sample of 402 respondents was representative, in te rms of age, sex, qualifications and experience, of the population of s cientists in the organizations included in the research. All employees were educated to at least the level of a Bachelor of Science degree ( BSc) and in many cases had obtained a higher degree, Master of Science (7.0%), or Doctor of Philosophy (35.6%). The perceptions of employees are reported; it was beyond the scope of the research to examine the managerial views on reputation.