Managing Reputational Risk

REPUTATION and Its Risks.
By: Eccles, Robert G., Newquist, Scott C., Schatz, Roland,
Harvard Business Review,
Feb 2007, Vol. 85, Issue 2

Recognize that reputational risk is a distinct category of risk and give one person unambiguous responsibility for managing it. This person can then identify all the parts of the organization whose activities can affect or pose risks to its overall reputation and enhance the coordination among its functions and units. The improvements in decision making will undoubtedly result in a better-run company overall.

Robert G. Eccles (reccles@perceptioncos.com) and Scott C. Newquist (snewquist@perceptioncos.com) are founders and managing directors of Perception Partners, a firm based in West Palm Beach, Florida, that advises companies on corporate governance, corporate reporting, and reputational risk. Roland Schatz (r.schatz@mediatenor.com) is the founder and CEO of the Media Tenor Institute for Media Analysis, a firm based in Lugano, Switzerland, that helps organizations manage their reputations through strategic media intelligence.