Alex Harris (4)

To be quite honest here, I could not get into this book and I have never finished it. I forgot I even had it and that I needed to write a review. Cleaning off my bookshelves, I found it and wondered why on earth I had it... so I started looking at it again.
I am employed by a university and work in the business school there- I thought that this book would have the same sort of information that I am used to reading for my work (copy editing academic writing) but it is not that sort of book. Disappointingly so. I am not entirely sure who the audience for this book would be, it is a topic that few (if any) 'regular average folks' care about and it is not written in an authoritative academic style that business school faculty would find useful as a reference.
It seems more like the rantings of a fed-up PR person tired of her job as a 'spin artist'. I assume she is better at that then she is as an author. Kudos for trying.… (mehr)

"Your reputation is created at and affected by every touch point of the organization. Reputation management means addressing your organizational reputation as a strategic issue. It requires a whole-of-business approach to genuine corporate social responsibility and sustainability, and a culture of thinking beyond quarterly financial reports."

The quote above is the start of the epilogue to 140 pages of rivetting perspectives about and examples of the way organizations mis-manage reputation, the risks and consequences of such actions, and insights into best practice. Reading Reputation at Risk will leave you in no doubt about the clear link between business success and effective reputation management, and the umbellical cord that connects reputation and corporate social responsibility practices and reporting. Alex Harris, the author, was born in Papua New Guinea and now lives in Australia, so this book has a healthy helping of Australian stories and references, and a lively, provocative style which brings the Alex's passionate temperament to life for the reader.

Reputation at Risk provides a view of corporate governance and the lack thereof that caused the GFC (Global Financial Crisis), the role of business schools , the risks to reputation from CGM (consumer generated media (no, i didn't know what that meant either), crisis management and more. There is a checklist of positive corporate responses to a crisis or a serious issue and some good advice: "Too often, companies assume the crises will occur in normal working hours when all the key executives and trained operatives will be available. They rarely do". Alex promotes Corporate Social Responsibility as a key element of business, contributing to public image and reputation. She advocates that CSR should be part of the DNA of the business as csr influences a business's abilty to attract and retain skilled staff, maintain effective customer relationships and shareholder satisfaction and more. Reputation at Risk speaks in favour of corporate transparency and reporting - "The way companies communicate their CSR activities is just as important as the CSR itself".

Whilst Reputation at Risk is not classic text-book style writing (an advantage, in my view), it is certainly a book to learn from. I enjoyed it greatly and recommend it to those who are interesting in learning about Reputation Management and corporate communications and risk.

elaine cohen… (mehr)