A longtime broadcast journalist, ABC News correspondent, and business communication strategist shows how you can craft an honest and authentic response to any scandal, rather than try to deny it, and ultimately bolster your brand. In two decades as a television reporter, T. J. Winick covered many scandals. The biggest mistake he saw brands make was to try to make it go away by refusing to apologize, declining to comment, or going on the attack-anything to deflect attention. Often that kind of response becomes a scandal of its own. In his book, Winick argues instead for transparency, honesty, authenticity, and empathy. Handled correctly, the way you address an egregious violation of your standards can increase your reputation capital. It can remind people of what those standards are and how strongly you believe in them. Drawing on his intimate insider knowledge of the media, Winick addresses every conceivable aspect of how to respond to a scandal. He includes his Ten Crisis Commandments-universal dos and don'ts-and the seven qualities for an effective response. Using dozens of examples, he covers critical issues such as choosing when and how to apologize and when not to, creating a crisis communication plan and forming a response team, making the press your ally; choosing the right social media channel to deliver your message, navigating controversial social issues, and much more. Winick's experience covering brands in crisis and then defending them makes this book an invaluable resource. I have been both the hunter and the hunted, he writes. If you've built your reputation capital through years of living the ideals you espouse, this book will help you protect and defend it when that inevitable crisis strikes.

• ... release reputation bearers from the burden of being constantly mo- tored and reduce the likelihood of government or public supervision and control. • ... strengthen client trust, ease the recruitment and retention of capable employees and improve access to capital markets or attract investors. • ... legitimate positions of power and build up reserves of trust which - lowed companies and politicians – but also researchers and journalists – to put their issues on the public agenda, present them credibly and mould them in their own interests. But a fear of loss is not the only reason for the steadily increasing - portance of reputation in corporate management today (or more especially, in the minds of top management). Rather, the main reason is that corporate reputation has shifted from being an unquantifiable ‘soft’ factor to a me- urable indicator in the sense of management control. And it is a variable that is obviously relevant to a company’s performance: recent studies by the European Centre for Reputation Studies and the Ludwig-Maximilians- Universität of Munich compared the stock market performance of a port- lio of the top 25% of reputation leaders (based on regular reputation me- urements in the wider public) with that of the German DAX 30 stock m- ket index. The results show that a portfolio consisting of reputation leaders 1 outperformed the stock market index by up to 45% – and with less risk. Fig. 1. Performance of ‘reputation portfolios’ vs.

Publisher Description

What creates corporate reputations and how should organizations respond? Corporate reputation is a growing research field in disciplines as diverse as communication, management, marketing, industrial and organizational psychology, and sociology. As a formal area of academic study, it is relatively young with roots in the 1980s and the emergence of specialized reputation rankings for industries, products/services, and performance dimensions and for regions. Such rankings resulted in competition between organizations and the alignment of organizational activities to qualify and improve standings in the rankings. In addition, today’s changing stakeholder expectations, the growth of advocacy, demand for more disclosures and greater transparency, and globalized, mediatized environments create new challenges, pitfalls, and opportunities for organizations. Successfully engaging, dealing with, and working through reputational challenges requires an understanding of options and tools for organizational decision-making and stakeholder engagement. For the first time, the vast and important field of corporate reputation is explored in the format of an encyclopedic reference. The SAGE Encyclopedia of Corporate Reputation comprehensively overviews concepts and techniques for identifying, building, measuring, monitoring, evaluating, maintaining, valuing, living up to and/or changing corporate reputations. Key features include: 300 signed entries are organized in A-to-Z fashion in 2 volumes available in a choice of electronic or print formats Entries conclude with Cross-References and Further Readings to guide students to in-depth resources. Although organized A-to-Z, a thematic “Reader’s Guide” in the front matter groups related entries by broad areas A Chronology provides historical perspective on the development of corporate reputation as a discrete field of study. A Resource Guide in the back matter lists classic books, key journals, associations, websites, and selected degree programs of relevance to corporate reputation. A General Bibliography will be accompanied by visual maps noting the relationships between the various disciplines touching upon corporate reputation studies. The work concludes with a comprehensive Index, which—in the electronic version—combines with the Reader’s Guide and Cross-References to provide thorough search-and-browse capabilities

Corporate reputation is important in gaining long-term competitive advantage and building company value. Thus, the author points out the need to manage reputation, which, due to its complex nature and multidimensional character, is a serious and difficult challenge. The author develops a strategic model for family business reputation management. The book presents the review, systematization and synthesis of views on the notion of reputation and its role in building company value, the determinants of reputation; the identification of the characteristics and distinguishing factors of family businesses, areas of reputation building and resources involved in family business reputation building processes; and the description of determinants, components and processes in the field of corporate reputation management, and the identification of key links between them. It also identifies the key elements of the concept of family business reputation management and the relationship between them and practical recommendations for the use of reputation management concepts in improving the functioning of family businesses. The developed model can undoubtedly be seen as a pioneering contribution to research into the competitiveness of enterprises. The book will therefore be useful to researchers, students and managers who are interested in decision-making in family businesses, entrepreneurship and small business management, and leadership studies.

Praise For Corporate Reputation: 12 Steps to Safeguarding and Recovering Reputation "In a sea of business books, Corporate Reputation is a beacon of light for all leaders and future leaders looking for direction in the treacherous waters of a volatile business environment. It delivers a message that's provocative, insightful, and needs to be heard." —Heidi Henkel Sinclair, Director of Communications, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation "Every CEO, senior executive, and, increasingly, board member now appreciates the importance of building and protecting a company's reputation. Anyone who depends upon or shapes a company's reputation—customers, employees, news media, NGOs, and bloggers—will benefit from reading Dr. Gaines-Ross's book and will learn more about the influence they wield over corporate reputations." —Dr. Robert G. Eccles, Senior Lecturer, Harvard Business School "At a time when companies are facing unprecedented reputation crises comes a timely primer from Dr. Gaines-Ross that tells us what companies need to do to bring their reputations back from the brink. The book's 12-step reputation recovery model captures what we know about effective crisis management, and brings the process to life with a host of detailed case examples. It's right on the mark!" —Dr. Charles Fombrun, CEO, Reputation Institute "Finally, a book that clearly, realistically, and compellingly explains how companies of all types and sizes can protect and restore an invaluable company asset—corporate reputation. Brilliant insights and practical solutions leap from each page! A definite must-read for business professionals everywhere." —Anthony Sardella, CEO, Evolve24 and Adjunct Professor at the Olin School of Business, Washington University in St. Louis

Pt. 1. Corporate identity -- pt. 2. Corporate communications -- pt. 3. Corporate reputation.