Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Reputation is “the overall estimation in which a company is held by its constituents. A corporate reputation represents the ’net‘ affective or emotional reaction – good or bad, weak or strong – of customers, investors, employees, and the general public to the company’s name” (Fombrun, 1996: 37). For an organisation to remain competitive, achieve its goals and thrive a favourable reputation is the platform for approval and acceptance by the different stakeholders of the organisation. Reputation is also a way in which companies can attain competitive advantage from other similar organisations by displaying its unique competencies or differences. A good reputation of a company is an intangible asset that plays a major role in a company’s general success. A positive corporate reputation assists with employee recruitment, attracts investors, aid premium pricing and product quality, make financial resources availability easier and constrain the movement of competitors (Watson, 2007: 371). A reputational crisis is “the loss of the common estimation of the good name attributed to an organisation”. In recent years, more companies experienced reputational crises. These crises can occur in the form of a product-harm crisis, a recall crisis or any other form of situation that can damage a company’s reputation and where the company was not prepared for the subsequent events (Booth, 2000: 197). This research paper provides an overview of the Toyota recall crisis to put the events and situation the company faced in context and consequently discusses the current crisis management methods and crisis communication strategies methodology. The argument for the usefulness of a new approach to crisis management, namely the Qualitative Politicised Influence Diagram (QPID) approach, is presented and applied to the Toyota reputational crisis. As companies in the global age of communication, environmental responsibility, the internet and social media experience the snowball effect of any issue that can become a major threat to its reputation, a new approach to the management of a crisis can be of significant value. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Reputasie is "wat mense oor die algemeen van 'n maatskappy dink. 'n Maatskappy se reputasie verteenwoordig die ‘netto’ affektiewe of emosionele reaksie – goed of sleg, swak of sterk – wat kliënte, beleggers, werknemers, en die algemene publiek aan die maatskappy se naam koppel" (Fombrun; 1996:37). Vir 'n organisasie om kompeterend te bly, om sy doelwitte te bereik en te floreer, moet hy 'n gunstige reputasie hê om deur die verskillende belanghebbendes van die organisasie goedgekeur en aanvaar te word. Reputasie is ook 'n manier waarop maatskappye 'n mededingende voordeel kan verkry teenoor ander soortgelyke organisasies deur hulle unieke vaardighede of verskille te vertoon. 'n Maatskappy se goeie reputasie is 'n ontasbare bate wat 'n belangrike rol speel in sy algemene sukses. 'n Positiewe korporatiewe reputasie help om nuwe werknemers te werf, beleggers te lok, premiepryse en produkkwaliteit te ondersteun, die beskikbaarstelling van finansiële hulpbronne makliker te maak, en die beweging van mededingers te beperk (Watson, 2007:371) 'n Reputasiekrisis is wanneer "'n organisasie die algemene mening dat hy 'n goeie naam het, verloor". Die afgelope paar jaar ervaar al hoe meer maatskappye reputasiekrisisse. Hierdie krisisse kan in die vorm wees van 'n produk wat skade kan veroorsaak, 'n produk wat herroep moet word, of enige ander soort situasie wat 'n maatskappy se reputasie nadelig kan beïnvloed, waar die maatskappy nie voorbereid is op die daaropvolgende gebeure nie (Booth, 2000:197). Hierdie navorsing gee 'n oorsig oor Toyota se herroep-krisis ten einde die gebeure en die situasie wat die maatskappy in die gesig gestaar het, in konteks plaas, en bespreek daarna die huidige krisisbestuurmetodes en krisiskommunikasiestrategiemetodologie. Daar word geargumenteer waarom 'n nuwe benadering tot krisisbestuur, naamlik die “Qualitative Politicised Influence Diagram” (QPID), nuttig sal wees, en genoemde benadering word op Toyota se reputasiekrisis toegepas. Soos maatskappye in hierdie era van globale kommunikasie, omgewingsverantwoordelikheid, die internet en sosiale media die sneeubaleffek ervaar van enige kwessie wat 'n groot bedreiging vir 'n maatskappy se reputasie kan inhou, kan 'n nuwe benadering tot die bestuur van 'n krisis uiters waardevol wees.

<p>There are many views in the concept of corporate reputation and the massive research in the area tends to result in many new definitions. Research has shown that a good corporate reputation has a positive relation to Sustainable Competitive Advantage, financial performance and attraction to competent employees. The many views in the concept make it especially interesting to examine the view on corporate reputation in a perspective of big Swedish corporations. Another interesting area to examine is whether the companies manage their reputation or not. The empirical findings of this essay are based on qualitative interviews to get a deeper understanding in the area of reputation. In the analysis the empirical findings were linked to the theoretical framework chosen for the study and earlier research in the area. Through this study it has been shown that companies are defining reputation as a part of the brand. They also explain reputation as the stakeholders aggregated view of a company. The companies manage their reputation, but as an integrated component in the work of brand and communication. The companies had difficulties in separating the concept of reputation andthe concept of brand.</p>

There are many views in the concept of corporate reputation and the massive research in the area tends to result in many new definitions. Research has shown that a good corporate reputation has a positive relation to Sustainable Competitive Advantage, financial performance and attraction to competent employees. The many views in the concept make it especially interesting to examine the view on corporate reputation in a perspective of big Swedish corporations. Another interesting area to examine is whether the companies manage their reputation or not. The empirical findings of this essay are based on qualitative interviews to get a deeper understanding in the area of reputation. In the analysis the empirical findings were linked to the theoretical framework chosen for the study and earlier research in the area. Through this study it has been shown that companies are defining reputation as a part of the brand. They also explain reputation as the stakeholders aggregated view of a company. The companies manage their reputation, but as an integrated component in the work of brand and communication. The companies had difficulties in separating the concept of reputation andthe concept of brand.

A brand reputation is constantly in danger of being tarnished whether it is by their owninability to meet consumers’ standard when it comes to product quality, their disregardfor ethical business, or being unlucky with the force of nature. But one crisis is seldomlike another, and neither are their effects. This study utilizes dimensions of consumerbased brand equity in order to explore how reputational crises stemming in a corporation’sown ability to produce quality goods and reputational crises stemming in corporate socialirresponsibility affect those dimensions and to see, is there a difference? The theory used based on Aaker, a marketing researcher who has come to be a prominentfigure in terms of consumer based brand equity, Brown &amp; Dacin who are largely to creditfor making the discussion regarding different types of crises relevant, and authors whomore often than not refer to the works of the previously mentioned prominent figures. In order to find out if there is a difference in consumer reaction between corporate abilityand CSR related crises a quantitative approach where means from a population, dividedinto two groups which received similar questionnaires with the same brand but thecorporate ability or CSR crisis being the difference, were compared in order to find anypotential differences between the groups. The results from the survey were that corporate ability and CSR had a negative effect onpurchase intention while there was no difference in the magnitude of the negative effect,likewise regarding product evaluation CSR and corporate ability had a negative effectwhile there was no difference in the magnitude of the effect, and for corporate evaluationCSR had a negative effect while corporate ability had no negative effect. To elaborate onthis study, further research which includes variables such as brand loyalty while usingother types of product categories is proposed

Esta investigación tiene como objetivo analizar la comunicación durante la crisis reputacional de Graña y Montero, así como la intervención del directorio en la gestión de la misma. El primer capítulo plantea las preguntas y objetivos inherentes a la investigación, con énfasis en crisis reputacionales por falencias en gobierno corporativo, similares al caso en mención. El segundo capítulo incorpora el marco teórico y analiza conceptos como gobierno corporativo, reputación e imagen corporativa, crisis reputacional y comunicación corporativa. El tercer capítulo busca ubicar al Grupo en el macroentorno del sector construcción, graficando su relevancia en el Perú. El cuarto capítulo aborda la crisis del Grupo y sus características dentro del contexto del caso Lava Jato, cómo se organizó para enfrentar la crisis, y analiza su estrategia de comunicación entre diciembre 2016 y diciembre 2017. El quinto capítulo detalla el marco metodológico aplicado, de tipo cualitativo, con enfoque exploratorio, fenomenológico, descriptivo y relacional. La información pública disponible ha sido complementada con entrevistas en profundidad a directivos y ejecutivos de la empresa, así como a personas que interactuaron con la crisis. El sexto capítulo contiene los resultados del análisis de las entrevistas que responden a: la hipótesis, las preguntas de investigación y los objetivos. En el séptimo capítulo se propone un modelo de gestión de comunicación que podría permitir a los directores monitorear, prever y gestionar los riesgos desde el enfoque transversal y holístico de un dircom. Finalmente, el octavo capítulo contiene conclusiones y recomendaciones como resultado del análisis realizado. / The objective of this research is to analyze Graña y Montero Group’s reputational crisis from the perspective of communication and the intervention of the board in its management. The first chapter raises the research questions and objectives, with an introduction on reputational crises due to corporate governance problems similar to this case. The second chapter incorporates the theoretical framework and analyzes concepts such as corporate governance, reputation and corporate image, reputational crisis and corporate communication as a strategy. The third chapter seeks to locate the Group in the macro environment of the construction sector, charting its relevance in Peru. The fourth chapter addresses the Group's crisis and its characteristics within the Lava Jato context, how it was organized to deal with the crisis, and analyzes its communication strategy between December 2016 and December 2017. The fifth chapter details the applied methodological framework, of a qualitative type, with an exploratory, phenomenological, descriptive and relational approach. The public information available has been complemented by in-depth interviews with board members and company executives, as well as people related to the crisis. The sixth chapter contains the results of the information analysis and the interviews, in order to answer the hypothesis, research questions and objectives. The seventh chapter, proposes a communication management model that allows boards of directors to monitor, foresee and manage risks from the cross-sectional and holistic approach of a dircom. / Trabajo de investigación