Santiago Fernández-Gubieda: "Organizations must learn to manage the new 'red lines' of reputation".

What issues should companies consider in cultivating their reputation in an increasingly complex and challenging environment? The latest book from the University of Navarra's Center for University Governance and Reputation, "Sowing Reputation," addresses these and other questions.

Edited by Santiago Fernández-Gubieda, director executive of this Center and director of the Reputation Unit, and published by Eunsa, the book exposes, among other topics, the fundamentals for a corporate communication strategy, methodologies for measuring reputation, guidelines and good practices for the management of crises, methods and professional practices for the management of stakeholders and the development of listening systems in companies and universities.

The book is aimed at communication managers and is dedicated to understanding how organizations can better manage their corporate reputation. In 190 pages, it gathers nine conferences of the International Reputation Week, the congress that the University of Navarra and Corporate Excellence-Reputation for Leadership organized in October 2023, and which was attended by 200 corporate reputation professionals from 70 institutions and 20 countries.

"The main challenge of reputation is that its management is not always "under the control" of the organization, but resides in society, which has the "power" to trust or not depending on institutional behavior. For this reason, it is essential for organizations to learn which are the "network flags" that the new social context raises in the face of certain events or behaviors", says Santiago Fernández-Gubieda. In his opinion, society has a new sensitivity that raises red flags in the face of social, labor, emotional or environmental issues. For this reason, organizations must understand the "new map" of their relationship with the context and remain open to this new sensitivity, without falling into uncritical mimicry, but neither into blind isolation. "A good reading of the context and the expectations of stakeholders provides legitimacy and avoids crises of confidence," he says.

Corporate reputation is the set of perceptions that all stakeholders have about an institution; it is the basis of trust and, therefore, "is a strategic intangible asset for the current and future sustainability of any organization," he continues. According to Santiago Fernández-Gubieda, we live in societies that have "disconnected the fibers of trust" in the institutions that represent them or provide them with services. To regain trust, he highlights some keys: "Organizations must return to integrity, which means taking purpose and corporate culture seriously; really listen to their different stakeholders; understand and learn from the context in which they operate; and lead a strategy that provides a sense of belonging and differentiation in the market, and is permanently communicated".

Ángel Alloza, CEO of Corporate Excellence - Centre for Reputation Leadership states: "Corporate reputation is a feeling of admiration, respect, trust and good esteem for a business, institution, person or country. This feeling, when positive, crystallizes into supportive behaviors and behaviors by stakeholders. Regardless of its nature, any organization shares the challenge of managing its good reputation, building differentiation and guaranteeing its social licence to operate". 

Among the authors participating in this publication are Violina Rindova, professor and dean of the Merage School of Business, University of California-Irvine; Ángel Alloza, CEO of Corporate Excellence; Juan Manuel Mora, Vice President of Communication at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross; Martí Parellada, Full Professor of the University of Barcelona; Elena Gutiérrez-García, professor at School of Communication at the University of Navarra; Yago de la Cierva, professor at IESE Business School, University of Navarra; and Santiago Fernández-Gubieda himself.