74% Asian executives fear for corporate reputations
In fact, more than 70% of top Asian executives fear that their own companies’ reputations are threatened in the wake of growing online risks.
By ET Online |
NEW DELHI: Reputation management is challenging. And while managing and protecting company reputation is difficult now, it will get tougher in 2009. This can be gauged from the growing concern of top executives about the reputation of their companies. In fact, more than 70% of top Asian executives fear that their own companies��� reputations are threatened in the wake of growing online risks.
These are the findings of a survey conducted by Weber Shandwick in association with the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). The survey ���Risky Business: Reputations Online��� was conducted among 703 senior executives within more than 20 industries in 62 countries spanning North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and other markets, to gauge the effect of the Internet on corporate reputations worldwide.
���Our research found online reputation management (ORM) officially making it to the top of leadership agendas as executives recognise that new challenges can topple even carefully-built corporate reputations,��� says Tim Sutton, chairman of Weber Shandwick, Asia Pacific.
���As the Internet���s influence sweeps through corporate corridors, cubicles and boardrooms, the research identifies the reputation-building and reputation-busting forces online and offline dramatically shaping corporate reputations and what can be done about them,��� adds Tim.
The survey found that employee sabotage and misdirected e-mails are among executives��� greatest concerns, fueling the belief among 74% of top Asian executives that their own companies��� reputations are threatened. Those surveyed in other parts of the world are less likely to regard their companies��� reputations as vulnerable ��� 64% of Australian executives and 67% of executives globally.
According to the survey, a convergence of issues that include the evolving online community, heavily fragmented stakeholder groups, intensified media scrutiny, escalating scandals, globalisation and demands for stronger governance and corporate responsibility, will only complicate an issue that is already testing the very best and most established organisations.
Further, the complexity and nature of reputational risk means that the damage done to an organisation is often long-lasting and rarely ���removable���. There is no such thing as a digital eraser. Organisational mishaps have a habit of re-emerging for the simple reason that information, good and bad, is permanently accessible to anyone who wants it.
The influence of the Internet also cannot be over-estimated. It has swept through corporate corridors and boardrooms, forcing transparency of anything and everything. Companies have been transformed from steel-framed monoliths to glass houses. Risks that did not exist a decade ago now dominate reputation protection and management���internal e-mails going astray, negative online campaigns by dissatisfied customers, and online grumblings from disenchanted employees, bloggers and anyone else who has a point of view.
���Leaders��� short-sightedness about employees going online to complain about their bosses, discuss salaries and leak confidential information highlights one of the most dangerous threats to corporate and professional reputations now and in the years ahead,��� says Leslie Gaines-Ross, chief reputation strategist at Weber Shandwick.
These are the findings of a survey conducted by Weber Shandwick in association with the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). The survey ���Risky Business: Reputations Online��� was conducted among 703 senior executives within more than 20 industries in 62 countries spanning North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and other markets, to gauge the effect of the Internet on corporate reputations worldwide.
���Our research found online reputation management (ORM) officially making it to the top of leadership agendas as executives recognise that new challenges can topple even carefully-built corporate reputations,��� says Tim Sutton, chairman of Weber Shandwick, Asia Pacific.
���As the Internet���s influence sweeps through corporate corridors, cubicles and boardrooms, the research identifies the reputation-building and reputation-busting forces online and offline dramatically shaping corporate reputations and what can be done about them,��� adds Tim.
The survey found that employee sabotage and misdirected e-mails are among executives��� greatest concerns, fueling the belief among 74% of top Asian executives that their own companies��� reputations are threatened. Those surveyed in other parts of the world are less likely to regard their companies��� reputations as vulnerable ��� 64% of Australian executives and 67% of executives globally.
According to the survey, a convergence of issues that include the evolving online community, heavily fragmented stakeholder groups, intensified media scrutiny, escalating scandals, globalisation and demands for stronger governance and corporate responsibility, will only complicate an issue that is already testing the very best and most established organisations.
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Further, the complexity and nature of reputational risk means that the damage done to an organisation is often long-lasting and rarely ���removable���. There is no such thing as a digital eraser. Organisational mishaps have a habit of re-emerging for the simple reason that information, good and bad, is permanently accessible to anyone who wants it.
The influence of the Internet also cannot be over-estimated. It has swept through corporate corridors and boardrooms, forcing transparency of anything and everything. Companies have been transformed from steel-framed monoliths to glass houses. Risks that did not exist a decade ago now dominate reputation protection and management���internal e-mails going astray, negative online campaigns by dissatisfied customers, and online grumblings from disenchanted employees, bloggers and anyone else who has a point of view.
���Leaders��� short-sightedness about employees going online to complain about their bosses, discuss salaries and leak confidential information highlights one of the most dangerous threats to corporate and professional reputations now and in the years ahead,��� says Leslie Gaines-Ross, chief reputation strategist at Weber Shandwick.
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