New Strategies for Reputation Management
Book

New Strategies for Reputation Management

Gaining Control of Issues, Crises & Corporate Social Responsibility

Andrew Griffin
Kogan Page, 2008
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Editorial Rating

7

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  • Concrete Examples

Recommendation

A person’s reputation is his or her most valuable asset. This is also true of corporations. As author Andrew Griffin explains, a corporation’s reputation is the result of how it manages social responsibility, crises and issues. Griffin notes that more corporations now acknowledge the importance of reputation, but few turn that awareness into anything tangible. Yet, unfortunately, when a firm’s reputation goes bad, it is nearly impossible to fix. By defining the key terms involved in reputation management and providing specific examples, Griffin makes his points clearly. He delves into issues management and the benefits of being a good corporate citizen. getAbstract recommends this book to business communication professionals and other executives who want to learn how to shape the way the public regards their corporations.

Summary

What’s Your Reputation Worth?

Reputation management entered the vocabulary of the corporate world about a decade ago. Though companies now acknowledge its importance, most do not practice it diligently. The massive corporate failures of Enron and Worldcom contributed to the popular perception that corporations are unethical. Some corporations, such as Dow and GSK, are proactive in this area and even have executives whose responsibilities include reputation management. Surveys show that 72% of executives are “somewhat concerned” or “very concerned” about how the marketplace perceives their companies.

Reputation involves how people think of your firm. Many constituencies have opinions about your company; their collective judgments and representations determine how the public views you. Corporate reputations are difficult to quantify and value, and hard to control since anyone can shape them. Experts confirm, however, that reputation deeply affects businesses and the people within them. For example, note how negative publicity and the subsequent decrease in sales affected Monsanto, Pan Am, Exxon and Nestlé.

The test of what a corporation actually values is evident...

About the Author

Andrew Griffin is a corporate-reputation specialist and the managing director of an international reputation risk management consultancy. He is a frequent speaker, writer and commentator.

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