We issued more information today from our Safeguarding Reputation survey. The new release is about the triggers that cause reputation damage today. Guess who gets the blame? None other than my friend, the CEO. Global business executives assign nearly 60 percent of the blame to CEOs when companies lose reputation after crisis strikes. This finding did not significantly differ among regions. The global business world is indeed homogenous.

We also identified the key triggers of reputation failure that if caught early could reduce the chances and extent of CEO blame. This should interest those CEOs who wish for some protection against the elements. Interestingly, many of the reasons causing companies to suffer reputation loss are self-inflicted.

A majority of executives surveyed cite major triggers of reputation failure as financial irregularity (72 percent), unethical behavior (68 percent) and executive misconduct (64 percent). Other frequently mentioned strikes against reputation revealed by the survey are security breaches (62 percent), environmental violations (60 percent), and health and safety product recalls (60 percent). Financial irregularities, unethical behavior and executive misconduct are all issues that could be prevented if companies had better controls in place.

As more reputations deteriorate worldwide, companies need better reputation radar systems to identify and track approaching reputation threats – 33 percent of the Global Fortune 500 experienced reputation deterioration in their ‘most admired’ status in 2005. These are unusual times.