The 18 Immutable Laws of Corporate Reputation: Book Summary
Everything that a person or company does or produces
contributes to your reputation. Reputation is an intangible.
active, but very important. Somehow it’s even
better than having money in the bank, but not so easily
quantified.
A good reputation is its own stamp of quality and advertising.
It can generate customer loyalty that can cross several
generations and time zones. A good reputation can bring
more customers in good times, and be a protective buffer
in bad times.
The author has outlined what he calls the “18 Immutable
Laws of Corporate Reputation.” This book holistically
deals with the topic of reputation management in three
parties: establish a good reputation, maintain that good
reputation and repair a damaged reputation.
First Law: Maximize Your Most Powerful Asset
Reputation is an intangible asset, but it could be said to be the
most valuable asset to manage and maximize. A good
reputation can attract and keep customers, investors,
and employees. Therefore, a good reputation is like
a reserve of goodwill (towards the company) to help
resist bear markets, scandals or natural crises.
Conversely, a lost or damaged name can scar a business.
and provoke boycotts or expel new capital.
Law two: Know yourself – Measure your reputation
Before you can manage your reputation, you must first
measure it and keep score. Measuring reputation is
easily done through standard or market public opinion
studies; but since each corporation has different
stakeholders (target markets, shareholders, etc.) is
need to customize. Less than half of the corporations
They have custom research programs. there is no clear
methodologies, so it is important to identify the
stakeholders (from local to global) and the
attributes or quantities to be measured: the same
the company may rank differently in different surveys/studies.
Third Law: Learn to play for many audiences
No company is an island. Everyone has an opinion about
all. You can never please everyone.
Stakeholders are all the people involved with the
corporation. The group is as diverse as: customers,
employees, investors, market analysts, shareholders,
government, special interest groups, local communities,
retired, etc. Know who is important and play with them.
It is useful to think of stakeholders in terms of a
hierarchy or, graphically, as a pyramid with the most
influential at the top and others following on the way down
order. However, it is important to note that
Stakeholder influence is a dynamic relationship and the
same model or model is not necessarily applicable to others
markets/locals.
Fourth Law: Live your Values and Ethics
Studies of America’s largest companies show that a strong
reputation for moral and ethical conduct performed better
financially in terms of return on investment and
capital stock and the growth of its sales and profits. A study
mention that, on average, the excess value beyond
shareholder investment amounts to $10.6 billion plus
that companies without a clear code of ethics and
supportive behaviour.
Law Five: Be a Model Citizen
At Timberland, social responsibility is an integral part
of the company’s identity and is an important component
of your reputation. In addition to activities such as monitoring
your contractor’s facilities abroad, improving energy
facility efficiency and minimization of chemical waste;
encourage volunteering for community service by
considering it as paid leave.
Sixth law: convey a compelling corporate vision
What is this corporation trying to do? That is the
question answered by the Corporate Vision and guidelines
principle of its leaders and personified by the CEO.
Vision and leaders motivate stakeholders,
who in turn have a huge impact on reputation.
Seventh Law: Create Emotional Appeal
Emotional attractiveness is difficult to quantify or define; aim
is what breeds passionate customer loyalty and
strengthen reputation. It is formed mainly by the sum
of people’s long-term interactions with the company
employees, products, services and even advertisements.
Establishing emotional appeal is more than just satisfying
customers. It is also about making the client
identify happiness or satisfaction with the product. In it
fast-paced electronic world is also aided by a
personal touch or special treatment.
Eighth law: recognize your flaws
Take a look at your reputation and assess whether your current business
practices still build that reputation. only for the first
recognize discrepancies and problems can take action
to fix them. The sooner you clear up, the sooner you can
fix them and do “damage control” before it hits a
Crisis situation.
Law Nine: Stay Vigilant
Reputational damage can occur suddenly and over time.
Managers must be vigilant and act quickly on any
example because both can be equally harmful and have
Long-term effects. Someone must always be watching…
and thinking In the age of the Internet, even local news
it can be known globally in minutes. But not all news is
real news A sudden or instinctive and inconsiderate
response (such as an inadvertent admission of guilt with
an apology) is just as potentially harmful as doing
nothing in the hope that the situation will improve.
Tenth law: make your employees the champions of your reputation
Employees are the first direct contact between a
corporation and its customers. naturally employed
Behavior has a great impact on the company’s reputation.
both on and off the job, how they serve the
customer to how they talk about the corporation with
friends, relatives, etc.
Law Eleven: Control the Internet before it controls you
The World Wide Web is an extraordinary tool and can be a
blessing or ruin to his reputation. The World Wide Web has
no regulatory body that separates the truth from the lie.
It is estimated that more than 730 million people are able to
interact with each other – in 2006 it could be more than 1
trillions.
Surprisingly, a survey by Hill & Knowlton and Chief
Executive Magazine found that 16% of companies monitor the
Internet closely, 39% consult it regularly and 43%
do not bother yourself
Law Twelve: Speak with One Voice
Corporations allocate significant funds for construction
your brand As a corporation grows and diversifies its
products, there is a tendency to deviate from the
corporate brand. The result of this is the weakening of
the corporate brand and the weakening of its reputation.
An early example comes from IBM, which in 1993 had
more than 800 different logos!
Law thirteen: beware of the dangers of reputation
There is a saying that goes: “Birds of the same plumage
flock together”. When two or more corporations enter
in a partnership or work together; their reputations
can be attributed to each other. sometimes this is
desirable and is intentional. It is important to keep
in mind the intention does not necessarily translate
to the desired effect.
Law Fourteen: Manage crises delicately
No one and no corporation is immune to crises. crisis
may be in due to corporate transgressions, natural
calamities, malicious intent, a private comment taken
out of context, etc. The most critical period for
reputation damage control happens in the early days.
It is the tendency of companies to remain silent. This is a
mistake because critics will quickly use time to
Give your worst scenario and get a negative
spin. The corporation must quickly gather all
facts then make a public statement. the first declarations
It must be fast and safe. a mistake right now
contaminate all other subsequent statements. clients and/or
the public needs to be sure of the right and responsibility
action is being taken.
Law fifteen: fix it right the first time
There are many ways a company can try to fix its
reputation. Some companies may try to put on a new
image reinventing itself with a refocusing
business vision or restructuring. other companies
will try to rework an old formula. Will follow
be working against your successful and outdated reputation
which actually prevents them from making one more
contemporary painting. But it’s not enough to want the
exchange. The leader is key. The leader has to be dynamic.
and focused on guiding the company along the new path and
against old habits or instincts.
Law sixteen: never underestimate the cynicism of the public
People have become more cautious with companies. Claims and
The statements are normally met with skepticism. debacles
like Enron have worsened the loss of confidence Better
Communication is key to improving relationships. One
The company’s standard “no comment” response affirmed the
the public belief of his guilt. a better relationship
could mean winning concessions for the company
interests with favorable legislature or more community
support.
Law Seventeen: Remember: Defensive is Offensive
People appreciate frankness and contrition. Be
defensive is more likely to offend them. The public
you need to hear an apology and you need to know what’s going on
made to get out of the crisis. Often the best way to spread a
crisis is with a timely and sincere apology.
Law Eighteen: If All Else Fails, Change Your Name
Sometimes the best way to get rid of a bad reputation is to
to build a new one with a new name. but change name
it should not be taken lightly. Apart from the great expense,
a name change is confusing and causes loss of brand value.
I could lose everything good, and it’s not guaranteed
be free from evil At a minimum, a new name is opened.
the possibility that people are willing to listen to a new message.
