Managing Reputation Risk

Hans-Kristian Bryn

35 years: Strategic risk management and governance

In this video, Hans-Kristian talks about reputation and how it matters. He goes on to explain how we can measure reputation and reputational risk, and he concludes by discussing the board's critical role in challenging executive management decisions.

Risk Management

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Managing Reputation Risk

14 mins 52 secs

Key learning objectives:

Understand what reputation is and why it matters
Understand how can we measure reputation and reputational risk
Identify how can we bring reputational risk into decision-making
Outline the role of Board in decision making process

Overview:

Many organisations have increased their focus on ethics, compliance, 3rd party due diligence and, in some cases, the decision-making process itself. At the Board level, we can expect continued focus on reputation, particularly for key decisions in relation to areas such as ESG. There is also scope to enhance the availability of decision support for corporate affairs and risk functions. There is an opportunity for Corporate Affairs and Risk Directors to improve the quality of due diligence and deal evaluation processes. In a challenging economic environment with high uncertainty, it becomes even more important not to leave potential value on the table. No single function or individual can claim to have sole responsibility for this risk and value topic. This must be a cross-functional effort across the entirety of a business.

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Summary

What is reputation and does it matter?

Reputation is one of the biggest factors underpinning the valuation of corporates and Executive management and the Board are heavily focused on protecting this intangible asset. Identifying who has the day-to-day responsibility for managing reputation and how best to bring it into decision-making can be a difficult task. It is important to remember that there are two other Executives who play key roles in supporting the CEO on this agenda. The Financial Reporting Council defines Principal Risks as 'a risk or combination of risks that can seriously affect the performance, future prospects or reputation of the entity'. The Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee is responsible for ensuring that the framework for managing risk incorporates both financial and reputational impact.

This could be for example, in relation to M&A or the implementation of ESG, as well as how the extended supply chain is structured. Evidence suggests that there is less interaction between these two Executives than what we might otherwise have expected.

How can we measure reputation and reputational risk?

Adverse media coverage is one element that can be used to measure risk. Other measures and metrics include brand perception, focus group feedback and the capturing of feedback from key stakeholders such as investors, consumers and 3rd party service providers. From a risk management perspective, it is informative to consider how adverse or positive media coverage and stakeholder perception might translate into a quantifiable financial or value impact on an organisation.

What is the role of Board in decision-making?

The Board has a key role to play in challenging executive management on its decision-making processes, as well as on individual decisions. Many Boards have failed to arrive at an explicit articulation of what the appetite for reputational exposure is. In doing so, the focus should be on both risks with a financial and a Reputational impact.

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Hans-Kristian Bryn

Hans-Kristian Bryn is a strategic risk and governance advisor with over 20 years of partner level advisory experience. He is currently a senior advisor to Boards and ExCo's listed on the FTSE 100 & FTSE 250 on risk management and governance related matters. Prior to private advisory, Hans was a partner at firms such as Oliver Wyman and PwC and worked across a wide range of sectors.

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