Reset

As consumers, our access to-and appetite for-information about what and how we buy continues to grow. Powered by social media, we scrutinize the companies behind familiar products and are disappointed when their actions do not meet our expectations. With citizens acting as 24/7 auditors of corporate behavior, one formerly trusted company after another has had their business disrupted with astonishing velocity. Control of the corporate narrative has shifted to engaged stakeholders in the new social landscape, requiring a radical change to company practices.

James Rubin and Barie Carmichael provide a strategic roadmap for businesses to navigate the new era, rebuild trust, and find their voice. Reset traces the global decline of trust in business at the same time that the public's expectations for business's role in society are rising. Today, businesses must bridge this widening gap, which requires strategic solutions anchored in a critical outside-in understanding of the stakeholder footprint of the business model. C-suite executives who proactively mitigate the negative social impacts inherent in their business models, strategies, and operations can find win-win solutions that not only benefit both their business and society, but also enable sustainable growth in the challenging new social landscape. Rubin and Carmichael offer case studies of reputations lost and found, suggesting fundamental strategies to mitigate risk and build the corporate brand. Reset is an essential guide to navigating the pitfalls and taking advantage of the opportunities of the reset.

“This is a timely book. Today, a web-enabled public is perpetually auditing the stakeholder footprint of business strategies, radically shifting how a corporation communicates and engages. Every executive needs to understand how this "reset" affects their company.”

Reset hits the nail on the head with the increasingly self-evident idea that corporations must embrace the inherent risks in their business model when it is out of sync with prevailing public sentiment voiced by key stakeholders. The prescription is for corporate communication practitioners to close the gap, that is, to thoroughly know and clearly tell the story of what it does. -- Tim P. McMahon, Creighton University Heider College of Business

James Rubin (1951-2016) was assistant professor of business administration and coordinator of the Management Communication area at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business. Barie Carmichael is a fellow at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business and a senior counselor at the global public-affairs consultancy APCO Worldwide. She has over twenty-five years of experience in corporate communications, with positions including Visa U.S.A.'s executive vice president of corporate relations and Dow Corning's vice president and chief communications officer.

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