Corporate Affairs and Proactive Reputation Building
An article by Firoz Patel Last updated on In today’s highly connected world, any information can travel around the globe within a short span of time. This speed and intensity are due to an increasing number of people having access to the internet and the growing popularity of social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and the like. While this is great news if you are want to publicize a new product or tell positive stories about your company, it could also create a huge dent in your reputation in case of any bad publicity. Hence there is a growing need for companies to actively indulge in reputation management.
Corporate Affairs Function
The Corporate affairs function is becoming increasingly significant due to the dynamic nature of business interactions today and an increasing need to proactively manage a company’s reputation. Usually, this function is responsible for branding and reputation management which includes oversight of all external and internal communication, defining public policy, maintaining media relations and most importantly establishing a social media strategy.
It is the job of the corporate affairs team to determine stakeholder sentiments. This information can be collected from a variety of sources. Sentiment analysis is usually used to gauge social media reactions. Today an unhappy customer can post a negative review using social media and it could only be a matter of minutes before this escalates and becomes a reputation damaging incident. Hence the corporate affairs team needs to be acutely aware of how company policies and decision could play out in the public eye.
Use Social Media To Your Advantage
Today analysts, investors and customers have become savvy enough to review a company’s reputation before making any decisions. So while corporate affairs professionals are coming to terms with the increasing complex business scenarios, there are an increasing number of ways by which they can manage reputation and use the risks associated with social media to their benefits by leveraging the platform to build the company’s reputation. Make sure your company has official accounts and use them to communicate with your stakeholders and send out the right messages.
Take A Look At Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility
Corporate Social responsibility is not a new concept. Many companies with a social conscience have been actively taking up initiatives that do social good be it providing education, better facilities, or providing opportunities to the underprivileged. This also helps in building a positive reputation for business. Many companies use CSR as a tool for positioning their values and to gain positive public support. To some extent, CSR also helps in reducing reputation damage during difficult times. Today the concept of strategic corporate social responsibility is gaining prominence. This implies undertaking initiatives that not only benefit the society but also provide a business opportunity usually through the build up of good will. This has the potential to generate a win-win situation for the company as well as the society at large.
About the Author: Firoz Patel
In 2005, I founded AlertPay Inc. – a versatile and globally-used online payments solution. As Chief Executive Officer, I directed and oversaw the entire operations of the organization. I have successfully brokered the acquisition of AlertPay's strategic assets by UK-based MH Pillars.
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