Just back from one week off and promise to get down to business shortly. lgr

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I can’t recall the U.S. media covering who did not give funds during Hurricane Katrina. Instead I tend to recall the companies that did the right thing, not necessarily only financially but in kind provisions and volunteerism. Obviously a very interesting difference between Eastern and Western cultures when it comes to disaster relief and understanding of what corporate responsibility means. This experience made me realize how important it is to see the world through the eyes of different cultures and to recognize the power of civil society upon corporate behavior. The pressure from employees and the community were dramatically driving corporate giving.

I was also asked twice in Beijing what would happen if an earthquake occurred during the Olympics in August. This question reminded me of how I felt after the terrorist attack on in New York on September 11th which I witnessed up close. After 9-11, barely a day went by for nearly two years that I did not think that another attack was imminent in New York. For that very reason, I did not regard the question as strange although now that several years have passed, I do not think about it constantly. In response to that question, I believe that the Chinese government is as prepared as any country and learned a lot over the past six months to effectively handle such a crisis if it should strike. Hopefully the Olympics will be smooth sailing and triumphant for all.

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 Last night my gracious Weber Shandwick colleagues took me to a restaurant on the Bund that provided a view of the financial center and the old section of the city. The skyline is absolutely extraordinary — gleaming, tall, modern, flashy, whimsical, creative, and bold.  My first reaction was that the financial center looked like Second Life in real life. 

I am learning alot about the reputation of Shanghai and its cosmopolitaness. It is dynamic, energized and rushing to the future.

Just seeing the skyline caught my breathe. Beyond impressive.

Today I will be having lunch with clients, media interviews and even being interviewed on TV about my favorite topic. Reputation is certainly a hot topic here as China deals with the aftermath of the earthquake, the Olympics, globalization and building brand awareness and differentiation for its corporations and its country.

My son has lived in the future and his mom is just learning to understand what he saw.  I have alot of catching up to do.

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So far, I have visited Sydney, Singapore and Hong Kong. Off to Shanghai and Beijing this week and then back to NYC next weekend.

I was catching up on my reading this morning when I learned about presidential candidate Barack Obama’s newest web site. Talk about taking a lesson from corporate America on handling myths and rumors! My blog has previously referred to Starbucks and Coca-Cola having designated areas on their sites that let them refute rumors. Well, Obama now has one and it is worth visiting.  It is called Fight The Smears. The YouTube generation is sure shaking up the entire presidential election.  Obama’s YouTube Channel has nearly 1,200 videos. More than 50m people have apparently watched Obama’s videos.  The advocates are turning out in numbers for this unusual presidential candidate. We are learning that reputation-building online is infectious.

On another subject, am listening to BBC while posting and heard that more confidential documents were left on the subway by someone. The information reveals data on money laundering, drug trafficking and terrorism. Since this is the second such incident in a week, embarrassment is an understatement. The reason I raise this is that our 2006 research found that “security breaches” and “data losses” are among the top five triggers of reputation loss.  Fairly prescient I might say.

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Another reputation survey is out as well. Reputation Institute’s third annual Global Pulse survey is out and the following companies head the list. Again Google leads the best reputation list. This survey is among consumers which differs from the younger audience sampled in the Universum study. Congratulations to the folks at the Reputation Institute who have succeeded in delivering a top-notch survey and reputation monitoring business.

2008 Best Corporate Reputations in the US-Top 25 Companies
(Rank    US Companies    Global Pulse Score of 1-100)
1    Google    85.23
2    Johnson & Johnson    83.48
3    Kraft Foods Inc.    82.79
4    General Mills    81.34
5    Walt Disney    81.22
6    United Parcel Service    81.05
7    3M    79.79
8    Xerox    78.44
9    Colgate-Palmolive    78.04
10    Texas Instruments    77.22
11    Eastman Kodak    77.13
12    General Electric    76.82
13    Sara Lee    76.48
14    FedEx    76.28
15    Deere & Co    76.12
16    Goodyear    76.00
17    Apple    75.42
18    Hewlett-Packard    75.10
19    Intel    74.94
20    Publix Super Markets Inc.    74.91
21    Caterpillar    74.78
22    Whirlpool    74.41
23    Boeing    74.37
24    Costco Wholesale    74.33
25    Dell    74.26

Reputation Institute’s research model is built on 7 dimensions of reputation: Products/Services, Innovation, Workplace, Citizenship, Governance, Leadership, and Performance. What interested me was that when two drivers — Governance and Citizenship — are combined, they account for more than 30% of a company’s reputation. This proves that leadership at the top and corporate responsibility are critical to reputation today.

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The most favorable ratings were given to the U.S. Postal Service, the National Park Service and the U.S. Forest Service. The lowest favorability was given to FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (for the second year in a row FEMA came in last place). The poor handling of Hurricane Katrina has been responsible for lowering perceptions of FEMA’s reputation over recent years.

Interestingly, Americans did not know much about some agencies to be able to rate them. This included the Bureau of Land Management, the Administration of Aging, and the Securities and Exchange Commission. Hate to say it but they need some pr assistance on getting their reputations noticed!

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Enterprise Leadership Network (IT Strategies for Delivering Business Value) interviewed me about how C-level executives such as CIOs can build their reputations.

Thought you might want to tune into the podcast.  Enjoy if you are in the mood.

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The Economist asked the smart question about whether the colossal credit crunch was impacted by some companies’ reckless efforts to win the league tables’ crown. Here is their fun answer:

“Yet to blame league tables for their mishaps feels a bit like accusing the candlestick, not Colonel Mustard.”

According to the article, being at the top of the table does not necessarily translate into market share or even tell you what you need to know about the quality of service. But maybe it does tell you a few things that are not correlatable (is this a word?) or measurable such as whether this is a company culture driven to perform at its very best and wants the world to know about it.  With all the information overload today, these league tables sometimes give outsiders a sense of how the cards are stacked.

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• Have You Noticed Advertising at the Airport on Your Last Trip?
  Total Business Elite   59%
  C-Suite    59%

As well, the survey answered the question about viewing TV while waiting at the boarding gate. Nearly four out of 10 business executives said they do so. Again, another way to capture this audience although I imagine that the other six out of 10 are watching their blackberries or iphones.

• Have You Watched TV at the Gate on Your Last Trip?
  Total Business Elite   39%
  C-Suite    39%

One other fascinating fact that I picked up from the survey was that the U.S. business elite turn to the Internet first for “helping them in business.” Among CEOs, however, the first place they go to is business magazines. I guess that is why the business publication space is expanding despite the advertising decline over the past several years. In addition to the stalwarts – Fortune, Forbes and BusinessWeek, we now have Portfolio, a new Slate business site coming to us in June I believe and Bloomberg ramping up its business and news coverage once Norm Pearlstine gets in the door.

Clearly, the Internet is a main source of information for the U.S. business elite although national newspapers, cable TV, and business magazines are close competitors. Reputation building online is as important as ever but let’s not lose sight of the power of these other mediums.

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CEO Michael Dell on Dell: 

“I will care about what happens to the company even when I’m dead. I just can’t let it go.”  The Economist, May 3rd

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