Beyond Reputation Management: The Quest For Corporate Integrity and Communication Candour

Ronel RENSBURG University of Pretoria

2.Uluslararası İtibar Yönetimi Konferansı 3-4 Ekim 2013, İstanbul

Beyond reputation management: the quest for corporate integrity and communication candour

Ronel Rensburg

University of Pretoria South Africa

Objectives of the presentation

• The quagmire of the business environment and the lack of integrity -defending reputation at all costs

• Why Aristotle is still relevant today?

• Enter corporate governance and communication’s licence to operate

• The Stockholm Accords

• The Melbourne Mandate

• Integrated reporting

• Moving beyond reputation

• Business integrity reporting through communication candour

• The way forward: not only corporate sustainability but business continuity – creating a balance through communication capital

Global Corruption Barometer 2013

DANTE’S INFERNO

In the 8th circle of the vestibules of hell – the corrupt politicians and the spin doctors: they are punished by being thrown into a hole of boiling pitch… To this we add the corporate despots that run perverted corporate regimes enshrined in the cosmetics of PR under the veil of reputation management

http://b-i.forbesimg.com/stevedenning/files/2013/05/Death-of-Corporate-Reputation.jpg

Greed and corruption through the centuries

Through the centuries, these phenomena have emerged for

periods ranging from a few years to a few decades. During

those periods,organisations arrogantly claimed to have

invented a new kind of economy, to which economic

fundamentals of production of goods and services for real

customers did not apply. They claimed to be making money

out of money. But sadly, these bursts of “creativity” always

proved to be unsustainable.

Therefore, according to Edelman and others: today there is a dire crisis in

leadership and government across the world- yet again….

So why do the teachings of Aristotle become relevant again today?

Two reasons and his Politics and Rhetoric provide answers

Reason 1: Chrematistics

“The act of getting property”

This can be natural – “true riches” is the limited amount needed for a good life

This can be unnatural – when the “riches and property have no limit” (Politics 1257a) – as in when the acquisition thereof becomes harmful, excessive and greedy

And the people suffer…..

Reason 2: Rhetoric

Logos, ethos and pathos – still relevant in any communication today

“By using the power of communication justly - one would do the greatest good and unjustly – the greatest harm…”

Enter the King Reports on corporate governance

• The King l, ll, and lll Reports on corporate governance

• In chapter 8 of the King lll report communication finds its “license to operate” in engaging relationships with stakeholders – with all stakeholders and not only shareholders

• This led to numerous different areas of investigation as to strategic communication activities

• And the Global Alliance community went onwards to create the Stockholm Accords….

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The Stockholm Accords

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The Stockholm Accords, June 2010

• Governance

• Management

• Internal communication

• External communication

• Alignment between internal and external communication

• Sustainability

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http://melbournemandate.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/melbourne-mandate-the-three-dimensions-of-the-dialogue-march-2012_blog2.jpg

And the concept of integrated reporting followed…. It now becomes pivotal that the “non-financial issues

and stakeholders in general” are becoming as important as the “financial issues and shareholders specifically”. Not only the organisation but everything within and

outside of business has a reputation to maintain: individual leaders, culture, society, countries, the

earth…”

As it had been before the onset of integrated reporting initiatives

An accountant’s perspective A communicator’s perspective

• Triple bottom line

• Managing financial, social and environmental risks, obligations and opportunities

• Profit • People • Planet

• Resilience over time

• Working with stakeholders to solve the complex problems we share

• People • People • People

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What this means

• A resource-based view

of the organisation

• A bundle of tangible and

in-tangible assets

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The wider world

• Complex

• Connected

• Compressed

• Co-dependent

• Context

• Co-creation

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A new compact between business and society

• Everyone has a stake in the future • The problems are too complex for singular answers • Collaborative action is the only way forward

And the questions: • How is a ‘right to be heard’ gained • How is trust established? • How is ‘engagement’ undertaken? • What is the role of communication?

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What the Financial Times says

Future practices in business sustainability

• Stakeholder engagement • Reporting and disclosure • Life cycle analysis • Environmental management systems • All through transparent communication • Beyond reputation management • Integrated reporting towards integrity reporting

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Enter corporate integrity…

Corporate character, values and ethics can no longer

remain static. Now, the decisions and actions organisations

and their stakeholders take, day after day, are on full and

almost immediate display. To earn trust, organisations and

all of the stakeholders must consistently behave in a

manner that is authentic with communication candour.

Corporate integrity is what corporate integrity does

Abraham Lincoln on reputation

Character is like a tree and reputation like a sCharacter is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing…..ow. The shadow is what think of it; the tree is the real thing…..

Enter Winston Churchill

The difference between management and leadership is communication

Crucial roles for communication

Organisational purpose

Communication

management contribution

• Social orientation • What is our role in society? • What are our obligations? • What are the implications for

our organisation?

• Values based: stakeholder -oriented

• Essential to values and strategy development

• Builds the organisation • Maintains legitimacy • Puts performance into

perspective

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Constituting and Enabling

Crucial roles for communication

Corporate decision making

Communication management’s

contribution

• What is the shape of our business?

• How shall we deploy our resources?

• How will we build our business?

• Internally oriented: resources and capability oriented

• Informed decision-making

• Coaching management on the communicative implications

• Communication capital and the new accountabilities

• Respect in the corporate lexicon

• A spiral of continuous interaction

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Articulating communication as an asset – assisting reputation-building and maintenance Articulating communication as competence - relationships and cultural alignment Articulating communication as moral DNA – the organisation is not just an economic force, but also a way of being social with all stakeholders

Core imperatives for communication management

• A profound understanding of the brand

• An acknowledgement of the changed nature of leadership

• Communication is NOT a soft skill

• Communication IS a core competence for organisations

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The results of strategic communication

• Sustainable world

• Sustainable communities

• Sustainable organisations

• Business continuity

• People

• People

• People

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Business continuity and communication

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Public sentiment is everything….. with it nothing can fail: without it nothing can succeed.

Abraham Lincoln

Conclusion

And to Aristotle’s logos, ethos and pathos we add mythos (corporate integrity through communication candour)