PEARSON EDUCATION Reputational Risk: How to Manage for Value Creation (MB Finance)

"Our assets are our people, capital and reputation. If any of these are ever diminished, the last is the most difficult to restore." From Goldman Sachs' Business Principles Two years after the publication of the Turnbull Report on corporate governance in the UK, it has been acknowledged that "many companies now find reputation risk a central cause of concern". And recently, several large, high profile and established companies have found that if they lose the trust of a particular group of stakeholders, the costs can be very high. They have seen first-hand that brand equity is a function of these relationships and how it can impact on access to capital, long-term profitability, cash flow and sustained shareholder value. As this book went to press, British Airways experienced a rare bout of wildcat industrial action that left its reputation reeling. In many ways, this incident captured much of the essence of what can happen when relationships sour with customers, employees and also with shareholders. Today, the new "rules of the game" concerning corporate reputation are taking shape. These go well beyond corporate image or identity and are in a very different league to public relations. Corporate governance and company law reforms now demand that the duties of directors and company reporting requirements explicitly deal with the imperatives of reputation. Reputational Risk - How to Manage for Value Creation focuses on the relationships that underpin reputational risk management and points the way on how to effectively manage reputational risk. The Briefing demonstrates that the best way for a business to report on reputational risk management is to report on the strength of its stakeholder relationships and the benefits that these can bring. It discusses why reputational risk must be aligned with an organisation's strategic priorities and integrated into its approaches to risk and business management - demonstrating how investing in and maintaining reputation as a critical corporate asset can both build brand equity and help to deliver shareholder value. Essential reading for all senior decision-makers who are responsible for business strategy and value creation, this Briefing demonstrates - in a language they can understand and through examples to which they can relate - how value creation will increasingly depend upon a proper understanding of what reputational risk really means.