Grey Skies…Are Gonna Clear Up? The Global Crisis of Confidence
Dr. Charles Fombrun reflected on the reputational effects of the recent economic crisis. Examples of congressional hearings on issues related to the crisis were a stark demonstration of the inconsistencies between what companies communicate, how they behave, and how they are perceived. These inconsistencies have lead to a serious deterioration of trust since the crisis started in late 2007.
Combined with this, there has been a significant decline of the reputation of the United States in the international community. President Obama is in a good position to start rebuilding the US country reputation. But how can corporate America rebuild its tarnished reputation?
Reputation Institute’s recent research shows that perceptions around the dimensions of Governance, Citizenship, and Workplace are of increasing importance and are now key to any reputation building effort, particularly in the United States. It is not enough to just communicate existing stories about these dimensions better, but to develop and communicate much richer narratives, particularly around these dimensions. These must not just lead to corresponding values but become ‘values-in-use’, meaning they need to be consistently enacted.
From a communications perspective, avenues to contribute to the improvement of corporate reputation include more dialogue with stakeholders, particularly on critical issues…improved sustainability reporting, building a community with critical activists, demonstrating openness and the integration of key functions in the corporation to deliver against the promise of reputation management.
