FOREWORD
EDWARD DE BOCK
Sometimes all it takes is five minutes for a company to find itself in trouble. In a moment of carelessness, someone clicks on a link in a dubious email. A colleague whose integrity seemed beyond question proves to be dishonest. Or the media raises an outcry about some incident at a company, even if the incident has already been resolved. Sadly, these scenarios sound familiar to all of us.
As Warren Buffett aptly puts it: “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that you’ll do things differently.”
Companies and organisations are seeing their reputations change faster than ever before. As society’s views continue to shift – leading to immense improvements – what is acceptable today might be construed differently tomorrow.
Cybercriminals are getting more sophisticated, and the influence of social media is growing. At the same time, the stakeholder mix is also becoming increasingly complex: from shareholders to customers and from “the general public” to employees and prospective employees.
In this transition that we are in, a company’s willingness and ability to change and take responsibility for its actions will determine its success in the long term. Not so long ago, companies often focused on their image: how they presented themselves to the outside world. With reputation, it depends on more factors. It can be affected by every single stakeholder’s perception, whether favourable or unfavourable.
In spring 2021, our firm surveyed almost a hundred leading legal teams, directors and executives to find out their views on reputation management. What factors did they see as risks to their own organisations, and how did they handle those risks? The most frequently identified reputational risks were cyber security, fraud and corruption, and social pressure.
We then invited various directors, executives and general counsel to join us for a round table session to discuss these topics as they relate to reputation. Even though the topics reflect vulnerabilities, everyone agreed that it is vital to share knowledge to stay abreast of the dangers and for organisations to be critical of their own actions.
Those who follow Buffett’s advice will do things differently. So what is different – or more precisely, what is better? This publication seeks to answer that question, drawing on the lessons learned from people’s expertise and experiences.
If you know me, you know that I love to quote Winston Churchill, and some of his comments are relevant to this particular topic. “History will be kind to me, for I intend to write it.” Anyone who controls their own strategies and actions in the present, and chooses to do what is right, will control their own reputation as well. Essentially, this is what reputation management is.
We hope that you enjoy reading this magazine.
Edward de Bock
Managing Partner
HISTORY WILL BE KIND TO ME, FOR I INTEND TO WRITE IT
FOREWORD
EDWARD DE BOCK
Sometimes all it takes is five minutes for a company to find itself in trouble. In a moment of carelessness, someone clicks on a link in a dubious email. A colleague whose integrity seemed beyond question proves to be dishonest. Or the media raises an outcry about some incident at a company, even if the incident has already been resolved. Sadly, these scenarios sound familiar to all of us.
As Warren Buffett aptly puts it: “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that you’ll do things differently.”
Companies and organisations are seeing their reputations change faster than ever before. As society’s views continue to shift – leading to immense improvements – what is acceptable today might be construed differently tomorrow.
Cybercriminals are getting more sophisticated, and the influence of social media is growing. At the same time, the stakeholder mix is also becoming increasingly complex: from shareholders to customers and from “the general public” to employees and prospective employees.
In this transition that we are in, a company’s willingness and ability to change and take responsibility for its actions will determine its success in the long term. Not so long ago, companies often focused on their image: how they presented themselves to the outside world. With reputation, it depends on more factors. It can be affected by every single stakeholder’s perception, whether favourable or unfavourable.
In spring 2021, our firm surveyed almost a hundred leading legal teams, directors and executives to find out their views on reputation management. What factors did they see as risks to their own organisations, and how did they handle those risks? The most frequently identified reputational risks were cyber security, fraud and corruption, and social pressure.
We then invited various directors, executives and general counsel to join us for a round table session to discuss these topics as they relate to reputation. Even though the topics reflect vulnerabilities, everyone agreed that it is vital to share knowledge to stay abreast of the dangers and for organisations to be critical of their own actions.
Those who follow Buffett’s advice will do things differently. So what is different – or more precisely, what is better? This publication seeks to answer that question, drawing on the lessons learned from people’s expertise and experiences.
If you know me, you know that I love to quote Winston Churchill, and some of his comments are relevant to this particular topic. “History will be kind to me, for I intend to write it.” Anyone who controls their own strategies and actions in the present, and chooses to do what is right, will control their own reputation as well. Essentially, this is what reputation management is.
We hope that you enjoy reading this magazine.
Edward de Bock
Managing Partner
COMPANIES AND ORGANISATIONS ARE SEEING THEIR REPUTATIONS CHANGE FASTER THAN EVER BEFORE
