CLOs

September 14, 2024

Boeing employees are striking for…more input into product safety. This labor action is a manifestation of lost reputation value. This labor action is a stark reminder that angry, disappointed employees are one of many expressions of a reputation crisis. Corporate leadership and governors must be mindful that that the long tail of reputation risk typically includes costly investor, regulator, and yes, employee actions.

Boeing employees are striking for…more input into product safety. This labor action is a manifestation of lost reputation value. This labor action is a stark reminder that angry, disappointed employees are one of many expressions of a reputation crisis. Corporate leadership and governors must be mindful that that the long tail of reputation risk typically includes costly investor, regulator, and yes, employee actions.

September 12, 2024

Reputation Risk Hinted by Nickname Nurse Death

Reputation risk arises from the failure to meet expectations. All too frequently, reputation risks arising from material operational problems known to insiders are dismissed by those in charge or authority. Nicknames can indicate an issue with ethics, innovation, safety, security, sustainability, and quality. “Junior doctors were referring to Lucy Letby as “Nurse Death” … two years before she was arrested. […] Letby, 34, was sentenced to 15 whole-life orders after she was convicted across two trials of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder seven others.” Board members should note that there are many windows into human resource-based organizational risk.

September 9, 2024

Affirming in practice what it disclosed in January, Blackrock "engaged 2,683 times on strategy, purpose and financial resilience-related themes with 2,014 companies — more than any of its other engagement priorities — this proxy year. Given this information, board directors may want to prioritize financial resilience in their own work and in engagement with index funds." Steel City Re can provide metrics and tools to support innovative strategies for strengthening financial resilience.

Affirming in practice what it disclosed in January, Blackrock “engaged 2,683 times on strategy, purpose and financial resilience-related themes with 2,014 companies — more than any of its other engagement priorities — this proxy year. Given this information, board directors may want to prioritize financial resilience in their own work and in engagement with index funds.” Steel City Re can provide metrics and tools to support innovative strategies for strengthening financial resilience.

August 7, 2024

Board members and those in C-suite executive positions view the reputational risks posed by litigation as the most significant risks facing their businesses. This suggests that litigation risk counts as one of the principal, strategic considerations of large companies, rather than being a purely operational or legal concern.

FTI Consulting’s research found that Board members and those in C-suite executive positions view the reputational risks posed by litigation as the most significant risks facing their businesses. This suggests that litigation risk counts as one of the principal, strategic considerations of large companies, rather than being a purely operational or legal concern.

July 25, 2024

Seventy-seven per cent of respondents to the July 25 2024 Airmic Big Question said their organisations model and quantify reputational risk – making it the top climate transition risk that their organisations measure. […] With the rise in cases of greenwashing reported around the world, reputational risk – as it relates to the climate transition – has emerged as a top concern.

June 13, 2024

The last lap of Southwest's 18-month reputation crisis. Activists investors! Link to a podcast on the meaning of all this for your company.

And now, the last bits of the tail of a reputation crisis. “Hedge fund Elliott Investment Management announced yesterday that it has a $1.9bn position in Southwest Airlines, comprising 11% of the company’s shares. It issued a letter to the airline’s board, calling for new directors, a new CEO, more executives from outside, and a comprehensive business review. In its letter, Elliott wrote, ‘While Southwest has a proud history, that history is not an argument for supporting poor leadership and sticking with a strategy that no longer succeeds in the modern airline industry.’” Relevant podcast on what this means for your company: https://5-minute-aventures-in-risk-resilience.zencast.website

May 31, 2024

Corporate swatting--calling the DoJ when there is no known issue just to see if something shakes looses--is no longer unthinkable.

Manifestations of complex interconnected risks generally culminate in reputational crises, but they can be managed. Relying only on reporting systems when insiders may become aware of such risks…is not risk management. Reporting systems are unlikely to mitigate federal investigations and follow-on issues because today the risk/reward balance favors whistleblowing over internal reporting. In fact, the rewards of whistleblowing are so great right now that corporate swatting–calling the DoJ or SEC with a hot tip when there is no known issue just to see if something shakes looses–is no longer unthinkable.