From: Deon Binneman [mailto:
deonbin@icon.co.za]
Paul,
You are quite right. In my experience the corporate culture has a lot to
do with it. However I want to come in at another angle that will add to
your question.
I believe that Enron did not have in place a process to manage their
reputation. Managers were not educated in the importance of governance
and perception management. No one was sensitised to ask the question:
"If we do this will it harm our good name (and my own name).
Not only has the company been damaged, so is the individual reputation
of the people who worked there and their auditors.
Corporate reputation today is an essential element affecting corporate
strategy. Once considered simply goodwill, corporate reputation today
can be a facilitator or an inhibitor of corporate progress. And as an
area of great potential risk it should be managed proactively.
Take for instance the following question:
What has Exxon, Bill Clinton, Union Carbide and Michael Jackson got in
common?
A single act of indiscretion shattered their reputation. Reputations
that was painstakingly built over many years and at great cost. No
wonder that "Reputation management" is the newest buzz phrase in
management circles. The reason for this new and intensive focus is
simple: A good image is a terrible thing to lose! It has been said that
30 years of hard work can be destroyed in 30 seconds.
Managing perceptions is like managing, financial assets or managing
people - that is-it is and should be a fundamental business discipline
and therefore it should be managed with the same care and attention as
other basic assets and liabilities of the enterprise.
Reputation is an intangible asset and is therefore largely ignored.
Unfortunately unmanaged reputation can work out, but they run a high
risk because they are left to chance. A better way of increasing the
odds that you are going to have a good reputation would be to manage
reputation as if it were an asset.
The most effective way to do that is to create a process that cast a
look at all aspects that could impact on the organisation's perceptual
asset. (Did Enron do this?)
It is also not as simple as employing PR experts to build a favourable
image. It is also not to say that organisations do not try to protect
their reputations. In fact many companies do quite a bit.
Take a look at the budgets of public relations, advertising, and the
management time put into determining how decisions will impact all their
audiences. But it is not enough. The reason for that is reputation is
intangible, and the budget on managing tangible assets receives more
funding. Intangible challenges are almost always under funded, because
what you don't see, you simply don't spend as much time dealing with.
However, when reputation turns against a company, the consequences
become very real. And then what happens is the company spends an
inordinate amount of money just dealing with consequences. Damage
control. Damage control that could have been prevented if managers were
trained in the discipline of Reputation Management. //....//
Warmest Regards,
Deon Binneman, mailto:
deonbin@icon.co.za
Phone/Fax +27 011 4753515
Mobile: 083 4254318
Speaker, Trainer & Consultant,
Managing member: REPUCOMM
Johannesburg, South Africa.
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Reputation Management, Strategic
Communication (Public Relations)
Counselling,Training & Facilitation
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"REPUCOMM...because your reputation matters."