Bulletin No. 13 | January – Februari 2003
COMMUNICATIONS
The world is divided into people who do things – and people who get the credit (Dwight Morror)
Organizations have hierarchies and they do mean something. The trend may be towards flatter organization structures and more informal styles, but senior people are, well – senior. There is something of a balancing act to be done therefore. When you come to this situation, remember that you need to
- Cultivate friendly relationships
- Maintain an appropriate degree of respect and distance
- Create a good working relationship with people
Balance respect with involvement to create appropriate positioning on the hierarchical ladder.
Assuming that you are relating to people in the right sort of way, another important factor is timing. Therefore, – Consider timing carefully – Plan and schedule ahead as far as possible – Stick to time
Source : The Managing Upwards, Patrick Forsyth
RESEARCH
CEO and Company Reputation Issues
For the past year it has not just been the markets that have been falling – across the corporate world there has been a serious run on corporate reputation. The political uncertainties post September 11th, corporate collapse and a general decline in economics across the world has seen the reputations of many international business challenged. Alongside these factors, we have seen some high profile celebrity CEOs falling, driven by unimpressive financial performance or just plain ‘events’ (even those which have had little to do with their performance in office). A significant minority of international companies report that their Board of Directors use corporate reputation management as a factor in evaluating and compensating CEO performance.
These are some of the main things coming from hill and Knowlton’s Corporate Reputation Watch 2002, conducted by Harris Interactive, which examines the views of over 800 CEOs and senior managers in nine countries on corporate reputation issues.
- What percent of your company’s corporate reputation is based on the CEO’s reputation?
Here is the result :
Italy has the highest percentage (67%), followed by US (46%) and the Netherlands (42%). Next UK (39%), then Belgium and Germany which has the same percentage (35%).
- The five top influential issues in building and protecting reputation within Europe
According to the survey is reported the following :
Ability to communicate (78%), Ability to innovate (76%), Human values (71%), Financial Performance and Treatment of Staff has equal percentage (70%)
- Which of the following threats are you most concerned about?
US – Europe – UK
- Criticism of the company products in print / broadcast media (49% – 58% – 66%)
- Unethical corporate behavior (42% – 33% – 24%)
- A disaster which disrupts operations (36% – 45% – 62%)
- Litigation or adverse court judgement (35% – 26% – 30%)
- Allegation by an interest group or customers about product safety (29% – 55% – 58%)
- Allegation by government officials about product safety (24% – 29% – 32%)
- Criticism of the company / product on the internet (13% – 18% – 12%)
- What does the research tell you?
“There is a strong belief that the ability to communicate is the most influential factor in building and protecting a company’s corporate reputation”
Source :
IPRA frontline, the Global Public Relations Quarterly, December 2002 contributed by Andrew Pharoah, the Managing Director, Public and Corporate Affairs, Issues and Crisis, Hill and Knowlton UK.
LEADERSHIP
Leadership develops every day, not in one day. When a genuine leader talks, everybody will listen. The potency of a leader depends on the people around. If you want to be a leader, do not ever lose the momentum. If you want to grow, lead the followers – if you want to multiply, lead the leaders. The higher you climb, the more you need leadership quality. A leader is the one who sees more than the others, who see further and earlier than the others. No matter how much you learnt in the past, it won’t be enough for the future.
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