The article draws attention to the role of the activity approach in the study of economic phenomena. Its application allows us to consider human problems in a special methodological aspect, in other conceptual plane. This contributes to the development of new ideas, points to the ways of solving a number of traditional and new problems. In particular, within the framework of this approach, it can be convincingly shown that not only subjects and objects participate in the activity, but also values (evaluative attitudes to the situation and the objects included in it). In this context, the enterprise appears as an organization to produce not only products, but symbols that, in turn, contribute to the stability and prosperity of an enterprise in the unstable economic environment. The results of the research described in the article allowed us to collect and present the quantitative data that allow estimating and comparing the management's understanding of the social reputation's role in the development of the companies in a number of countries, the company's visual image, the company's business image and other intangible assets that perform both symbolic and economic functions.