Boycotts, Trust, Reputation: Managing Risks in Uncertain Times

Who are the 4 most important stakeholders to every business? How can corporations identify problems before they escalate? And what does effective government relations look like today?

In today’s polarised and digital world, corporate reputation and crisis management are more critical than ever. From managing complex government relations to leveraging data-driven stakeholder strategies, Conall McDevitt, President of The Penta Group, sheds light on how businesses can navigate these challenges and turn them into opportunities.

With decades of experience in public affairs, crisis management, and stakeholder solutions, McDevitt emphasises trust as the foundation of reputation and advocates for a 360-degree view of your key stakeholders: staff, investors, regulators, and customers.

In this episode of Enterprise Explores, we discuss how organisations can measure and manage reputation using data, stay ahead of crises, and align with evolving regulatory landscapes.

Here are some key highlights from the conversation:

- Stakeholder Focus: Penta advocates managing relationships with four critical stakeholder groups—employees, customers, regulators, and investors—to build trust and resilience.

- Data-Driven Insights: Learn how organisations can track reputation through metadata analysis, sentiment tracking, and primary research, ensuring issues are addressed before they become crises.

- Reputation & Crisis Management: McDevitt outlines the “Measure, Monitor, Analyze, Track” framework for identifying early signals of reputational risks.

- Evolving Public Affairs: Government relations are shifting from being relationship-led to research-led, emphasising data to bridge the gap between organizations and policymakers.

- Proactive Advocacy: McDevitt shares examples of grassroots campaigns influencing policy and mitigating regulatory risks, highlighting the importance of understanding unintended consequences.

- Trust Signals: Spotting trust erosion through tools like Glassdoor trends, social media sentiment, and customer feedback is key to reputation management.

- Strategic Leadership: Why large organizations might need a Chief Stakeholder Officer to integrate insights across all stakeholder groups.