Sacred cows and the known unknowns

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe a methodology to identify potential reputation threats systematically before they become full-blown crises. Design/methodology/approach – The methodology is based on using the filter of four forces for change – demographics, technology, economics and future – to identify impending points of collision between an organization’s business and changing popular sentiment. Findings – The methodology, if applied retrospectively, could have identified such reputation damaging events as the emergence of data breaches through the loss of laptops, for example, in advance enabling companies with customer data to take precautions such as advanced encryption. Practical implications – Applied rigorously, the issues mapping process can help organizations predict and potentially avoid reputation-threatening crises. Originality/value – The paper is based on the personal experience, research and analytical work of the author, and while there may be similar frameworks in use by other practitioners, the authors do not believe they have been described publicly before.