1. JANE GITAU, COMMUNICATIONS SPECIALIST (ILRI) CHAIR, PUBLIC RELATIONS SOCIETY OF KENYA TEL:0718173388 EMAIL: JANEGITAU2000@YAHOO.COM JANEGITAU2000@YAHOO.COM TWITTER: @ SHIKOS Corporate Reputation and Communication

2. World Conference on PR in Emerging Economies 15-18 November 2015 International Livestock Research Institute Universities should work more closely with professionals Sunday Nation 22 nd Feb, Woman to Woman

3. Today’s agenda Understand Corporate Reputation Know the components of Corporate Reputation Corporate Reputation Management Reputation as a strategic risk Branding image and identity Reputation and strategy

4. Understanding PR A Management Function to establish mutually beneficial relationships between an organization and its publics. (formal) The practice of doing the right thing— of performing—and communicating the substance of that performance.(practical)

5. What is Corporate Reputation? is the sum total of perceptions in which an organization is held by its internal and external stakeholders. judgment is based on its past actions and probability of its future behavior. Each stakeholder views the organization according to their experiences or what they have heard about it from others.

6. A good reputation is: not forced; it is earned. not awarded; it is established. an enduring and powerful feeling evoked when a company name is mentioned. is an intangible asset that affects the tangible elements of a company’s bottom line, such as sales, stock prices, employee retention, and long-term sustainability. lends credibility and security to the choices you make. It describes the character of a person or enterprise. It informs your decisions every day.

7. Components of corporate reputation- 1 Ethical: the organization behaves ethically, is admirable, is worthy of respect, is trustworthy. Employees/workplace: the organization has talented employees, treats its people well, is an appealing workplace. Financial performance: the organization is financially strong, has a record of profitability, has growth prospects.

8. Ethical Google http://www.google.com/green/

9. Components of corporate reputation -2 Leadership: the organization is a leader, is innovative. Management: the organization is well managed, has high quality management, and has a clear vision for the future. Social responsibility: the organization recognizes social responsibilities, supports good causes.

10. Components of corporate reputation - 3 Customer focus: the organization cares about customers, is strongly committed to customers. Quality: the organization offers high quality products and services. Reliability: the organization stands behind its products & services, provides consistent service. Emotional appeal: (it is an organization I feel good about, is kind, and is fun.

11. Socrates

12. Best companies to work for in Kenya 2008 1. East African Breweries Ltd. 2. Kenya Women Finance Trust 3. Nation Media Group 4. APA Insurance 5. British America Tobacco 6. Old Mutual 7. Pan Africa Life 8. Total Kenya http://www.capitalfm.co.ke/campus/best-companies-to-work-for-in-kenya-uk-and-us/

13. Reputation management process Reputation is mainly perception. Actions and behaviors are the basis for that perception. experience and information are the two main sources of corporate reputation. A favorable reputation requires consistent molding over many years.

14. What influences reputation? Source of informationProportion Personal experience64% Major business magazines37% Articles in national newspapers35% Word of mouth31% Articles in trade journals30% Television news14% Articles in local newspapers24% Television current affairs programs13%

15. No control …. Operate in a sound & ethical way. Communicate this to stakeholders. Strengthen the areas considered important to reputation Employ stakeholder relationship activities Watch actions and attitudes the competitor. Listen to comments from industry observers. Reality Check: perceptions shared online and offline, in the media and face to face

16. Impact of Corporate reputation

17. Reputation as a strategic risk Corporate reputation is a ‘soft’ concept. Yet, there is a high cost to pay for losing reputation, the good standing among stakeholders. When in good standing its main customers, will prefer to deal with it ahead of the competition, influence other potential customers by word of mouth.

18. The strategic risk… Suppliers will trust the organization’s ability to pay and to provide fair trading terms. Government regulators will trust you more, and be less inclined to punish some mistake A potential employee will be more likely to sign up if an organization has a good reputation for treatment of staff

19. Quote from Theory? “a reputation develops from a company’s uniqueness and from identity-shaping practices, maintained over time, that lead stakeholders to perceive the company as credible, reliable, responsible and trustworthy…Best regarded companies achieve their reputations by systematically practicing mundane management. They adhere rigorously to practices that consistently and reliably produce decisions that the rest of us approve of and respect. By increasing our faith and confidence in the company’s actions, credibility and reliability create economic value.” Professor Charles Fombrun, Stern School of Business, New York University, founder The Reputation Institute

20. Building a Corporate brand, image and identity Stakeholder perceptions of company behavior are now the lead driver of enterprise value. Studies show that companies with high reputations are worth as much as 150% more than those with low reputations. ------from The Reputation Institute

21. Reputation vs the bottom line We call this new operating environment the Reputation Economy. You live in it. And your company’s constellation of stakeholder and influencer relationships is your reputation ecosystem. Something you can clearly map, measure and influence. It’s global – and mission-critical for companies like yours to understand and navigate. – Reputation Institute

22. EABLs’ tusker project fame

23. Six attributes to organizational character qualified leadership and a commitment to excellence reliable products and services, attention to social responsibility, adherence to ethics and corporate governance, a positive workplace environment, and strong and consistent financial performance.

24. Steps to build reputation Actions speak louder than words. Communication programs create awareness of good operational practices, enhance the organization’s relationships with stakeholders. Spending on communication by the top 200 of the most admired companies in USA far exceeded that of those ranked in the bottom half of the table. Dialogue with stakeholders helps shape organizational practices.

25. Brand and reputation

26. Industry realities A US survey by Burson-Marsteller found that 95% of CEOs believed that corporate reputation plays an important or very important role in the achievement of business objectives. Yet only 19% had a formal system in place to measure the value of their corporate reputation. If corporate reputation is so important, why don’t more organizations measure it?

27. Industry realities - 2 Reputation is an intangible and complex concept, which takes time to change. The monetary value of improvements to a growing reputation is difficult to quantify. Senior managers are obliged to deal with more immediate and demanding operational priorities – reputation is a long-term concept.

28. Exxon Valdez Oil Spill pix from Trustee council

29. Lessons from Research A good reputation increases corporate worth and provides sustained competitive advantage. A business can achieve its objectives more easily if it has a good reputation among its stakeholders, such as its largest customers, opinion leaders in the business community, suppliers and current and potential employees.

30. 5 step journey

31. The competitive advantage of corporate reputation Many knowledge-based organizations such as professional services firms and universities consider their greatest asset to be their good name or reputation. They work actively to build their good reputation, to build the ‘bank of goodwill’ towards them Customer preference in doing business to you over other companies’ products and services ability to charge a premium for products and services;

32. The impact of corporate strategy on a firm’s reputation Stakeholder support for your organization in times of controversy; Your organization’s value in the financial marketplace. The overall scope and direction of a corporation and the way in which its various business operations work together to achieve particular goals.scopecorporationbusiness operationsworkachievegoals

33. Reputation vs strategy is difficult to allocate specific responsibility for work on enhancing the corporate reputation to individual functioEach of these business operations will impact the customer and other stakeholder. What will their experience be? Strategy should be mindful of the consistent action and inevitable reputation to ensure sustainability. Reputation ranges over such a broad area of the organization’s activities that it is difficult to allocate specific responsibility for work on enhancing the corporate reputation to individual functional areas.

34. Quotable quotes Today we all operate in a Reputation Economy; a marketplace where stakeholder support is now based more on perceptions of your company than perceptions of your products or services. Who you are matters more than what you produce. (Reputation Institute) Thank you- Jane Gitau

35. References: Kim Harrison is a recognized authority in the public relations field. His website, www.cuttingedgepr.com, provides a wealth of informative articles and resources on public relations techniques and management. The Mount Vernon Report, “ Issues Affecting Reputation Management and Strategic Communication ” Fall 2003 vol. 3 n o. 3 http://www.reputationinstitute.com/ http://citizentv.co.ke/tpf/