Keeping your reputation out of the mud

Jon Young: How does reputation management differ from other areas of PR?

Richard Piotrowski: Reputation management is the long-term outcome of continuing public relations and the creation of a triple bottom line that helps manage the social, environmental and economic responsibilities of a CEO or director. When looking at it from a business enterprise perspective, it can be viewed as a reflection of that organization over time as seen through the eyes of its stakeholders, who consider such factors as product quality, management, social responsibility, financial performance and market leadership.

Looking at this view, one might come to the conclusion that reputation is therefore earned and not bought. Auction site eBay is a great example of an online marketplace that has a reputation management system put into place. Its feedback system allows each user to post their opinion on the person they transacted with. This feedback is displayed by the user's ID and is visible to all. Having a more positive feedback "score" will improve a user's reputation and will make others feel more comfortable dealing with that individual.

Where and why is it being employed in Poland?

The whole concept of reputation management is fairly new to the Polish market. PR is one of the only elements that can be seen employed by various enterprises on the market, and this is obviously a small part of the overall process. Reputation management might be present in several multinational companies that have entered Poland, where they have been introduced to the concept earlier in their home country (England, North America, etc,).

Enterprises in these home countries have experienced, in the last couple of years, various scandals that were echoed and multiplied on a global scale. Many reputations have been tarnished, and therefore a greater focus was placed on reputation management, where, instead of only looking at the share price, it is very important to have this triple bottom-line perception - that means monitoring the social, environmental and certainly economic impact of your activities as a director or CEO of a company.

Are foreign companies fearful of setting up in Poland given the perception that corruption is a problem here?

Well, I think a popular global indicator for enterprises when considering to enter with their product or service into a country is the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) which is compiled by Transparency International. The CPI ranks 180 countries by their perceived levels of corruption, as determined by expert assessments and opinion surveys, and was first released in 1995. In 2007, Poland ranked 61, with one being least corrupt and 179 being most. It has a confidence range that lies between 3.6 and 4.9, just slightly above average. This still worries companies, as they feel that there is still a high risk of being dragged into corruption scandals.

Can reputation management allay that fear?

Companies that already support a strong reputation management system within their firms will find that it will be easier for them to avoid being caught up in scandals and crises that might arise - and they will be more successful when faced with such surprises. They shelter themselves by taking both a proactive and reactive approach, where they can anticipate and head-off potential nasty surprises, acting to put themselves in the best position with consumers against competitors, creating a favorable environment with other stakeholders and responding to crises and bad news.