DLA Piper

Issue

DLA Piper, the world’s largest law firm, wanted to gain an understanding of the importance of trust in the business world. While there is a great deal of research concerning the public’s trust in politics and business, much less understood was the issue of trust between Britain’s largest companies and most senior business leaders. DLA Piper wanted to establish itself as a Thought Leader on the vital issue of trust between, and amongst, Britain’s senior business leaders and appointed Populus to conduct associated research.

Solution

Populus conducted more than 50, in-depth, interviews with Britain’s most senior business leaders, including the CEOs and Chairmen of FTSE 100 companies. These interviews built a rich, qualitative, picture of how – and why – trust mattered in business and how it had developed as an issue over time. Populus was able to secure interviews with such senior individuals by engaging them in a genuinely interesting conversation and by virtue of our reputation for high-profile, independent research.

Outcome

The research identified key changes in corporate trust:

•  Increasing public and stakeholder skepticism about the claims and actions of businesses.
• The fragility of trust, influenced by the media and social networks, and judged by disparate,

global audiences.

• As trust generally declines, its value rises and business leaders believe that those businesses – and leaders – that nurture trust will prosper. Trust is increasingly a defining characteristic of successful businesses and business leaders.

The Trust Deficit – Views from the Boardroom reinforced DLA Piper’s position as the leading business law firm and provided the firm with a licence to comment on trust and other issues.