Corporate identity and reputation intelligence

Abstract

This is a review of the literature covering existing studies that identify the ways in which corporate librarians/information professionals can work to enhance the reputation of the company. The author identifies some of the means by which the particular skills of the information professional may be of use to organizations in their striving for enhanced reputations, while seeking to understand both how these skills are identified and how they can be used by organizations to develop their reputations. The article also provides some examples of the contribution that information professionals can make to the growing field of strategic corporate reputation research and management. The major elements involved in corporate reputation and identity are listed, noting that reputation varies according to stakeholder groupings and any action which a company takes will impact on how its identity and reputation are perceived differently by different groups. The author traces these elements and places them in juxtaposition in such a way as to produce ‘reputation threads’ or ‘reputation traces’ which can be monitored continuously to detect potential threats. Some typical examples of the elements comprising such threads/traces are listed to show how they develop in the organization’s own unique context. Key sources to be monitored include: business pages of national media, particularly columns written by journalists who are hostile or have conducted campaigns against corporate entities; competitors’ websites; Weblogs; and trade magazines. Some data is reported from a survey of a sample of 150 display job advertisements for senior management positions in Irish companies, during Q3 2004, where threads were identified in such areas as: company growth or expansion; the company reported as a market leader in its field; financial reporting; the length of time in which the company has been in existence; the numbers currently employed by the organization; the international activities of the organization; recent successes; and the organization as the largest, or one of the largest, in its field.