Reputability is the leading consultancy specialised in reputational risk and its root causes. Our research demonstrates that most major crises are predictable, particularly to well-informed outsiders; and most are avoidable. This is where our insights will bring you valuable foresight.
We offer education tailored to the needs of boards and senior leaders about the nature and importance of behavioural, organisational and reputational risks. We guide them in responding to these issues. Reputability is outstandingly effective in this because of our unique blend of thought-leading research, experience and expertise.
“
Rethinking Reputational Risk: How to Manage the Risks that can Ruin Your Business, Your Reputation and You”, written by our Chairman Anthony Fitzsimmons and our late partner Professor Derek Atkins is a ground-breaking exposition of the field in which we work: behavioural, organisational, board and reputational risks. The Financial Times review is
here.
Our research shows that the root causes of most reputational damage and many corporate failures are behavioural, organisational and board risks. These fundamental vulnerabilities evade conventional risk analysis. Long-term success depends on leaders who understand and deal with these risks.
Using eight case studies, our book
‘Rethinking Reputational Risk: How to Manage the Risks that can Ruin Your Business, Your Reputation and You’ explains and illustrates these risks, before outlining how to deal with them.
The latest guidance from the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) expects companies it regulates to pay attention to behavioural, organisational and reputational risks. Such companies are expected to disclose and describe in detail Principal Risks including those with behavioural and organisational origins and reputational consequences
The FRC also expects boards to consider whether they, board committees and management have the skills knowledge and experience to assess the risks the company faces. Skill gaps are to be filled.
Boards should consider how to comply with this guidance and bring these risks within their risk management systems.
It is common to find that vulnerabilities with the potential to threaten the survival of a firm are well known to people within the firm - whilst the leadership remains in the dark. Internal politics, hierarchies, taboos, culture, incentives and glass ceilings often obscure these risks. This situation is made worse by the inability of people and organisations to see themselves as others can – what psychologists call cognitive biases.
We call this the ‘Unknown Knowns’ problem.
Our report, ‘
Deconstructing failure – Insights for boards’ confirms that previously unrecognised classes of behavioural and organisational risks both cause crises and tip them into reputational catastrophes. The report goes further, finding patterns and concluding that these potentially lethal risks typically have their origins in the board.
It is especially difficult for boards to uncover these destructive risks because classical risk management hasn’t evolved far enough to find them. That is how boards find themselves with a dangerous hole in the risk management systems for which they are ultimately responsible. And it is why the widely promoted 'Three Lines of Defence' risk management model gives boards a
dangerous delusion of security.
Board Vulnerability Evaluation is a new tool designed to help boards to see into this foggy area.
We combine confidential peer review with the know-how we have accumulated from extensive research into reputational risk and its behavioural and organisational drivers. We add the experience each of us has gained in senior roles, in diverse fields over many decades, to bring you fresh and compelling insights.
We use two main approaches. First, we provide tailored education for boards and risk professionals so that they gain the skills needed to meet the FRC’s expectations.
Second, we help boards, executives and risk leaders to develop an 'informed outsider' perspective which can reveal previously unrecognised risks and opportunities.
Our multi-disciplinary team shares deep and broad know-how which has been accumulated through diverse careers and thought-leading research. Each partner brings to bear a lifetime's experience and a different perspective to consideration of your issues.
Together we can offer clear insights and an attractive and persuasive proposition to all those who are seeking protection from, and mitigation of, reputational risk.
View the biographies of our team to see more:-
Anthony Fitzsimmons
Anthony read engineering at Cambridge, then became a solicitor specialising in international liability and insurance law.
He spent decades in a firm specialised in handling international disasters. He refined strategies to manage the legal fallout from crises whilst minimising reputational damage to clients. He advised major brands in the wake of severe adverse events.
Following his retirement from the law, Anthony founded Reputability, of which he is Chairman. Anthony is a co-author of ‘Roads to Ruin’, the seminal Cass Business School report for Airmic and, with the late Derek Atkins, of "Rethinking Reputational Risk: How to Manage the Risks that can Ruin Your Business, Your Reputation and You" Anthony is an regular speaker and participant in seminars in the field.
Jane Howard
After graduating in economics from the LSE, Jane joined a team, which sold into Saatchi and Saatchi. She went on to head the Leedex PR Group, joining the board of its parent company, Birkdale plc.
One of only a few Chartered Communicators, Jane has 30 years’ international and award-winning experience. Republic, the corporate communications business she founded was sold to Engine, the UK’s leading independent marketing services consultancy.
Jane is a partner at Reputability, a fellow of the Chartered Institute for Public Relations, a founding Fellow of the Public Relations Consultancies Association, a trustee of Fair Trials International and a Quantum NED.
John Tyce
After leaving Manchester University where he was a Research Fellow in Monetary Economics, John trained as an equity analyst at Philips and Drew, which later became UBS.
He has dedicated most of his working life as an investment analyst covering banks and financial companies. He was a partner at Laing and Cruickshank and was appointed as Head of European Research at Nomura, before moving on to Société Générale as senior bank analyst in London.
Today John is a partner at Reputability and Chairman of Blue Planet European Trust – a quoted Scottish Investment trust.
Peter Ayton
A Professor of Psychology at City University, Peter’s research centres on the psychological theories of judgement and discusses how people make decisions and judgements. His published books include ‘Subjective Probability’ and ‘Judgemental Forecasting’.
A member of the European Association for Decision Making, Peter has been a visiting Professor at the Anderson School of Business UCLA, Princeton and Carnegie-Mellon universities in the USA, as well as the Max Planck Institute in Berlin.
John Hurrell
John Hurrell has gained immense experience over nearly 40 years spent in the risk and insurance sector.
John joined our team after 9 years as Chief Executive of Airmic, the renowned London-based association for everyone who has a responsibility for risk management and insurance in their organisation. Before that he spent nearly 30 years at Marsh and McLennan group companies, most recently as CEO of Marsh Risk Consulting for the UK and Europe.
At Airmic he commissioned several pieces of ground-breaking research, including ‘Roads to Ruin’ and ‘Roads to Resilience’ and is a regular speaker on risk governance.
John is a Fellow of the Chartered Insurance Institute and a Chartered Insurer.
Vanessa Sharp
Vanessa started her professional life as a solicitor in a city firm specialising in handling multinational commercial and insurance issues.
She joined KPMG LLP as an in house lawyer and became General Counsel, a role she performed for 17 years. She advised on a wide range of legal, risk and reputational management issues, and as board secretary advised on, and managed board structures across UK and Europe.
She is now a Non Executive Director at ICE Futures Europe Limited, Companies House and Newable and is a member of the Audit and Risk Committees of each as well as being chair, or a member, of other board committees. She is also a charity trustee and a Council member and Chair of the Finance and Resources Committee at Goldsmiths College, University of London. In all of these positions she plays a role in governance and risk issues and board effectiveness.
We help boards to promote long term success and meet the latest standards for good risk governance. Our minimally intrusive processes help your board and leaders to see what intelligent outsiders would conclude if only they knew what insiders know. Our aim is to help you see reputational, behavioural, organisational and governance risks and their roots so you can fix them before they cause harm.
Reputational Risk Evaluation delivers our analysis of your organisation's exposure to reputational risks, identifying strengths as well as weaknesses and how to fix them.
Board Resilience Evaluation provides you with robust insights into the effectiveness of your board using our unique methodology. Corporate Resilience Evaluation complements this, delivering our analysis of your organisation's reputational, behavioural and organisational strengths and weaknesses, simultaneously identifying solutions. We also provide the evidence you need to report on board effectiveness and on these risks to FRC standards.
We offer a Triage Service to provide an initial overview of your organisation's reputational risks and board and corporate resilience to these risks
Our Masterclasses and Workshops for Boards and for Risk, Internal Audit and Human Resources specialistsbring you practical insights into the hidden behavioural and organisational risks that underlie reputational risks.
Please email our Chairman, Anthony Fitzsimmons, at ajef [AT] reputability.co.uk or telephone 020 3755 3309 for a confidential preliminary discussion.
Blog
Reputability LLP are pioneers and leaders in the fields of behavioural, organisational and reputational risk. We help business leaders to find the widespread but hidden behavioural and organisational risks that regularly cause reputational disasters. Our process also helps them to find unrecognised strengths.
Here are our thoughts on some recent stories which have captured our attention. We are starting to include views from guest bloggers. We are always interested to know what you think too.
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