Reputation as Strategic Game

Goals
Defensive
Offensive
Winning and then Being Robbed
Winning and then Becoming the Robber
Rules of the Game
Language of the Game
Keeping Score
Taking up Positions on the Field

Goals
Two outcomes:
Create and hold reputation better than rivals
Competitors must pay a significantly higher price to match their competitors
good reputation

Defensive versus Offensive

Exxon
Reputational risk
Invest in better reputation
FedEx

Winning and then Being Robbed

Dangers in having the best reputation
Apple, Starbucks, Google, Microsoft

Winning and then Becoming the

Robber
Validating reputation on reputation of others

Collective vs Competitive Reputation

Winn, MacDonald, Zietsma 2008)

Competitive reputation management activities undertaken

by a single firm to enhance its own reputation and
competitive position
May conflict with collective reputation management

Industry reputation = collective reputation

Collective reputation management
All activities and behavior undertaken by members of a collective to
deliberately alter judgments about the reputation of the collective.
Information sharing, joint R&D, establishing codes of conduct, allying
through trade associations, and performing industry-level public relations
and advertising

Reputation commons
When one firms reputation tied to others because
stakeholders can not differentiate performance from their
peers
Emerges when industry reputation threatened with
stakeholder sanctions or
When misdeeds of one member creates a triggering event
Incentives to engage in collective reputation management
outweigh costs and incentives for competitive reputation
activities

Action of leading firms

Collective action more likely to emerge when promoted and
supported by higher status firms especially when they are
targeted
Firms with greater visibility, size or proportion of their
business in industry more likely to engage in collective
action and are better positioned to get other firms engaged

Rules of the Game

3 Sets
Macro level: formal and informal rules: political system, judicial system,
cultural norms, kinship patterns
Individual parties in relationship: contractual, ownership, social (may be
stronger when macro level rules are weak)
Specified by stakeholders and communities: set by expectations

Language of the Game

Strategic assets
Reputation economy
CRO chief reputation officer
Stakeholders
Synonyms: standing, status, admiration, esteem, respect,
integrity, honesty, trust, fairness, legitimacy, dignity,
confidence

Games Keep Score

Reputation Rankings

Country
Persons
Industries
Firms
Public sector

Taking up Positions
Positioning
Corporate branding, identity

Theintangiblenatureofa brand.

IMAGE LEVELS

Product class
Brand
Company
Sector
Shop
Country
User

TYPES OF CORPORATE IDENTITY Branding strategy

Monolithic (branded house)
Shell, Philips, BMW
entire organization uses same visual identity

Endorsed GM, LOreal

daughter firms can have own identity

Branded (house of brands)

Unilever, Orkla
corporate identity undisclosed