Protecting reputation

Enron, WorldCom, Parmalat, Skandia, Andersen... court cases involving insider trading and cartel accusations. At a time when top executives are being escorted away in handcuffs, enterprises are paying out massive sums in compensation and global brands are disappearing from the world map, who can claim that reputation does not matter? However, when it comes to the relationship between the business sector and reputation, business scandals are only the tip of the iceberg. Typically, most of the problems and mistakes that can affect a company’s reputation and brand are small, but have the potential to lead to major crises if managed badly. In the 21st century business world, stakeholder groups and media do not assess a crisis-ridden enterprise on the real reason or cause of the crisis but on how well or badly the crisis was managed. This is why all companies should leave crisis management and crisis communications to the professionals. The key goals of crisis management are to ensure that the company will stay in business and to retain the confidence of its stakeholders. The majority of the extraordinary situations and crises that enterprises face do not come about by accident or as a result of a completely unrelated event. On the contrary: most crises are due to the company itself.

Typically, the biggest threats to businesses’ reputations are financial uncertainty, misconduct by the management or staff, negative media publicity and various customer service issues. Although reputation and loss of reputation have become major business risks, only a few enterprises have actually sat down and assessed their reputation-related threats or devised adequate procedures and action plans for dealing with such situations.

On one hand, protecting reputation is about identifying different kinds of risks and preparing for them in advance, and, on the other, about managing acute crises efficiently. Enterprises also need to have tools for monitoring and interpreting warning signals, no matter how weak they are. We at Pohjoisranta specialise in reputation-related risks and help our clients to manage crises. We are here to protect your reputation.

The following are examples of the services that Pohjoisranta offers for protecting reputation:

  • Senior management consultancy
  • Reputation risk assessment
  • Crisis communications plans
  • Crisis training
  • 24/7 crisis hotline
  • Media training
  • Media relations management
  • Internet-based reputation monitoring