Reputation

Realizing Value from the Corporate Image

Charles J. Fombrun

Publisher: Harvard Business School, 1996 , 441 pages

ISBN: 0-87584-633-5

Synopsis:

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Good reputations, says Charles Fombrun, create wealth. In this thoroughly accessible book, Fombrun shows that by developing strong and consistent images, well-regarded companies generate hidden assets — or reputational capital — that give them a distinct advantage:

• Their products ans stocj offerings entice more customers and investors — and command higher prices.
• Their jobs lure more applicants — and generate more loyalty and productivity from their employees.
• Their clout with suppliers is greater — and they pay lower prices for purchases and have more stable revenues.
• Their risks of crisis are fewer — and when crisis do occur, they survive with less financial loss.

Reputation examines how companies in a variety of industries, such as international fashion, investment banking, packaged goods, and even U.S. business schools, compete for prestige and achieve celebrity. Fombrun takes readers on a tour of the identity consulting business and provides in-depth case studies of reputation management at J. P. Morgan, Church & Dwight (the makers of Arm & Hammer products), and Salomon Brothers, revealing lessons for any company on nurturing, exploiting, and protecting reputational capital

Fombrun outlines an integrated approach to reputation management that begins with a reputational audit: a thorrough inquiry into — and a potential redefinition of — both the firm's corporate culture and its competitive strategy. Reputation management must be coordinated with the traditional corporate functions of marketing, finance, human resources, communications, and operations, and it must inform relations with all the company's stakeholders: customers, employees, investors, regional and federal governments, and the public at large. Because the task of maximizing reputational capital crosses the borders of traditional corporate structures, Fombrun urges companies to designate a chief reputation officer (CRO) as a member of their senior management teams.

Vital, relevant, and readable for professionals in public, community, investor, and employee relations as well as brand and marketing managers and senior executives, Reputation challenges traditional fragmented approaches to managing reputation and provides insights into building, sustaining, and defending a unique and inimitable asset — your company's good name.

Table of Contents:

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• Introduction: Why Reputations Matter
• Part One: The Hidden Value of a Good Reputation
  1. As Good as Gld
  2. What's in a Name?
  3. Enlightened Self-Interest
  4. Reputational Capital
  5. Identity Traits
  6. Shaping Consistent Images
  7. Of Pageants and Horse Races
  8. The Reputational Audit
• Part Two: The Ups and Downs of Reputation
  9. Fashion's Ins and Outs
  10. The MBA Academics under Siege
  11. So You Want a New Identity...
  12. Pitching Arm & Hammer
  13. The Deal Makers
  14. Doing Good, the Morgan Way
  15. Song of Salomon
• Conclusion: The Burden of Celebrity