Chapter 8. Be Authentic

On March 24, 1989 the Valdez oil spill washed onto the Alaskan shoreline and did damage not only to Alaska’s pristine environment, but to the reputation of the oil company responsible for it—Exxon. In the 2001 Annual RQ survey we conducted in the United States, Exxon remained among the lowest rated companies despite 12 years of post-Valdez cleanup, new top managers, costly court settlements, and countless contributions to wildlife funds, save-the-tiger initiatives, local and national charities, foundations, and other social causes—not to mention a merger with Mobil that changed the corporate name to Exxon-Mobil. Why? Because of a lingering perception that the company that stands behind all these initiatives is not really ...

Get Fame & Fortune: How Successful Companies Build Winning Reputations now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.