Reputation Management in the Context of Strategic Communications: Aspects of Intercorrelation

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to reveal the aspects of intercorrelation between reputation management and strategic communications.

Research methodology. In the process of studying the theoretical and methodological basis on the issue of reputation and the role of information and communication component in relations with stakeholders groups, methods of analysis and synthesis were applied; the aspects of intercorrelation between reputation management and strategic communications were revealed by means of descriptive method and generalization.

Results. The article describes certain aspects of the correlation between strategic communications and reputation management. Reputation is presented as the totality of audience evaluation impressions, and strategic communications are presented as the system activity of forming the company’s informative field and implementing communication relations. It is revealed that one of the basic imperatives of a reputation institute is trust, which, in turn, is the strategic aim of organizations’ communication. The category of trust was defined as the common dominant of the studied phenomena, and it is the reason and consequence of long-term and mutually beneficial relations with stakeholders, the embodiment of which is the company’s «bank of trust.» It was defined that the important component of strategic communications is a narrative that forms the content-semantic covering of the organization and through which its practical activity is perceived and thus the public’s impression is formed. The significant role of business in the implementation of the national grand narrative is also emphasized. It is noted that both reputation and strategic communications are based on the systematicity of actions and the systematic nature of their realization, and, thus, they need corresponding management. The information and communication tools of reputation management implementation are described. The significance of information flow formation and the application of heterogeneous communication methods is defined. 

The novelty consists in defining and describing correlation aspects of reputation management and strategic communications, understanding of which contributes to the consonance of their implementation and increasing the effectiveness of cooperations between companies and stakeholders.

Practical significance. The principles that were revealed will become useful to the specialists during development of strategic communications for a company and in the course of reputation management.

Key words: reputation, reputation management, strategic communications, information and communication component, society, stakeholders, trust, narrative.