What happens after big-name CEOs leave their jobs? Do their reputations recover over time if they are fired or leave under pressure? How should they re-enter the public dialogue? The ousting of GM’s long-time leader Rick Wagoner brings the question to mind, along with Monday’s Bloomberg TV interview of former HP CEO Carly Fiorina. (Both [...]
Entries from March 2009
No such thing as “personal” when it comes to CEO reputation?
Et tu America?
Princeton economist Paul Krugman opines in a March 29th New York Times column America the Tarnished, “The financial crisis has had many costs. And one of those costs is the damage to America’s reputation, an asset we’ve lost just when we, and the world, need it most.”
As the world’s global economic powers gather for the [...]
Reputation watch — the ratings services
A company’s reputation is a composite of many factors. Often, one of the contributing factors to a company’s reputation within the financial community and publicly is the company’s credit or bond rating from the leading ratings services. As the world continues to absorb the shock of how vulnerable so many well-regarded, highly rated institutions proved [...]
Same as it ever was
Watching Ben Bernanke and Tim Geithner get grilled by senators on CSPAN, one word came to mind: Watergate. Why? Not because of nefarious doings and political intrigue. It was the hammering away, in multiple questions from Senators of many states, on one underlying aspect about the bonuses. It all went back to, “What did you [...]
Too much visibility for “transparency?”
Whenever business disappoints society, the call for transparency comes from critics and policy makers. In between, the dialogue about transparency and disclosure is ongoing, but often technical.
Managing corporate reputation in China
What are the risks and crises a company faces in its daily operations? How a company prevents and manages the risks and crises determines its viability and relevance in the fast-moving world of business. In practice, companies face many risks, and for that matter, opportunities, that are structural in nature. As a result, they must [...]
Media gasoline on your fire?
When is does media coverage stop and media exaggeration begin? Many companies in a crisis have the feeling that their problems are being blown out of proportion as a moral lesson or to highlight an underlying issue. Others think the media just wants to heighten the entertainment value of a situation to stoke their audience [...]
Reputation matters — even more in difficult times
In the March 22 Sunday New York Times, an excellent ongoing series follows small businesses and how they are coping with the recession. The story includes a profile of the owner of a small restaurant, and a quote that shows the fundamental role of reputation. Despite financial pressures, long hours and far less business, Mouhamad Shami says [...]
What would Axelrod do?
President Obama’s special advisor, David Axelrod, is emerging as the ultimate message man. The New York Times describes this month how Axelrod has established himself in the White House as the framer and protector of the President’s messages and image. He reviews the messaging of every speech, coordinates the responses to the crisis of the day, and [...]
Asia gets smart about its corporate reputation
On January 7, 2009, B. Ramalinga Raju, the founder and key promoter of Satyam, wrote a letter to his Board of Directors. In it, he admitted committing a variety of corporate transgressions – falsification of financial documents, fraud, and deceiving his fellow board members, among them.
The admission rocked the closely-knit world of India Inc. and [...]
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