Reputation Management: The Key to Successful Public Relations and Corporate Communication

Citation

Powell, J. (2008), "Reputation Management: The Key to Successful Public Relations and Corporate Communication", Journal of Communication Management, Vol. 12 No. 1, pp. 98-99. https://doi.org/10.1108/jcom.2008.12.1.98.1

Public relations' reputation remains tarnished yet the term reputation management is increasingly used to validate public relations practice, a means for the profession to reinvent itself as a management function in control, and capable of controlling organisations' most critical asset (Campbell et al., 2006). Can reputations be managed and what gives public relations practitioners the right to be the guardians of “reputation”?

The book, Reputation Management briefly acknowledges such critics and starts with the premise that reputation can be mismanaged. In a conversational style the US‐based authors John Doorley and Helio Fred Garcia, lay claim to a “new framework for reputation management”. The breezy writing makes this book engaging compared to more sober and occasionally self‐regarding texts, but whether it successfully translates for many European readers is questionable.

The book can be described as a survival manual for the public relations practitioner. It nods to communication theory (for example, the authors apply Grunig and Hunt's unmodified four models of communication pp. 75‐6), but stands out from the growing volume of corporate communication titles because the authors and contributors draw directly on both positive and negative experiences of their work as professional communicators. It offers an insightful guide to the best way to address common public relations problems and opportunities and the examples used will resonate with seasoned practitioners and provide invaluable know how for new recruits. In the chapter on media relations John Doorley, former head of corporate communications at Merck, candidly discusses his handling of the relationship with Business Week magazine and reporter Joseph Weber. From a down to earth perspective and with common sense, he explores the tensions between “media relations people” and journalists, and perhaps more interestingly, the tensions between the media relations team and other managers within organisations who may misunderstand the function. Doorley and co‐author Helio Fred Garcia have definitely “done it and taught it”.

The authors cover reputation management in the first 24 pages, dismissing organisations that have reputation management in their names as “actually reputation measurement organisations that offer little in the way of reputation management” (p. 7). Yet rather than providing a new framework for reputation management as they claim, the book's main focus essentially is best practice in corporate and organisational communication. Reputation management is used here more as a guiding principle under which corporate communication functions can operate, and the inconsistent application of the theme in each chapter detracts from the book's overall achievements. Others, such as Davies et al. (2003) have provided a richer analysis of reputation as a strategic driver of organisational success, as well as offering an approach for measurement and management.

The organisation of the book is familiar, subsequent chapters concentrating on one of the corporate communication disciplines including employee communication, investor relations, community relations, and integrated communication. The chapter on government relations is US focused, although universal values and ethics are discussed. Ethics and communication is given its own chapter. How to organise a book's contents is not always easy but it would enhance understanding of the challenge of ethical communication had it been embedded in the other sections. It was also surprising to see the communication plan rather lost in the issues management chapter, although justified as “an integral part of the crisis response plan”.

Reputation Management's strength lies in the real world experience of the authors; clearly recounted and offering useful, practical advice.

The book is an enthusiastic rally call to organisations to have formal programmes in place to manage reputation, and for communication to happen in an ethical and professional manner. The challenge is how to enable organisations to not only recognise reputation as a strategic issue, because it links image, identity, employee satisfaction, customer loyalty and financial performance, but also to make it actually happen. Reputation management is interdisciplinary. It is not something that necessarily can be left to public relations people to manage, although contributor Louis Capozzi argues strongly that corporate communications professionals used to complexity and contradiction are ideally suited to drive integrated communications. Ironically in the last chapter, “Challenges and opportunities in public relations and corporate communication”, Bill Heyman states that “The power of PR is limited by its role and value … It is significant that top‐level PR executives report that their superiors do not fully understand or appreciate what public relations can do for their organizations”. From public relations to reputation management, but has much changed for the communications practitioner?