The current panorama is full of challenges for professionals and organizations, who face many problems simultaneously, in economies with high levels of debt, inflation that is not completely contained and in an increasingly complex geopolitical environment due to the worsening of war conflicts. Forced to navigate uncertainty, in a permanent need to manage the crisis, the search for new models of more responsible organizations with conscious and long-term leadership is required. Hence, corporate reputation and reputational risk lead the trend ranking of the 9th edition of the Approaching the Future 2024 report. Trends in reputation and management of intangibles, prepared by Corporate Excellence-Centre for Reputation Leadership in collaboration with Canvas Sustainable Strategies and Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management as worldwide partner.
Six out of ten professionals consider reputation management and reputational risk as the most important intangible, rising to the top of the ranking from third place last year. Seven out of ten say that in the last three years its importance has increased significantly. In fact, it is the issue that has grown the most in investment and resources compared to the previous edition (+7.8 points), and more than half of the companies (54%) are already actively working on managing their reputation. And although 57% acknowledge that they are not measuring reputation, they do use direct surveys and reputational rankings. It is also observed how reputation is reported and consolidated in management committees and boards of directors (68%), entering into strategic and business decision-making.
For Ángel Alloza, general director of Corporate Excellence-Centre for Reputation Leadership, “the management of intangibles and the promotion of reputational leadership translates into growth and corporate excellence.” “Companies that are committed to strengthening their reputation and mitigating reputational risks will find a solid source of trust and support from all their stakeholders,” he emphasizes.
This ninth edition of the study, which is prepared from surveys of nearly 2,200 professionals (4 out of 10 belong to senior management) and the qualitative analysis of 11 experts, points out the nine major trends that impact the strategic agenda of the companies. organizations from a transversal and interconnected vision of the management of intangibles.
Artificial intelligence
This year, generative artificial intelligence and its impact on business disruption are incorporated for the first time, completing the ranking. 28.5% of organizations are already making progress in this area, mainly to achieve its integration into business processes (43%) and train their employees in its use (35%). Ensuring ethical use of AI is one of its main challenges, although only 24.9% currently dedicate resources to this purpose.
Responsible leadership, as a conscious management model guided by corporate purpose and a strong culture anchored in values and principles, is the second most relevant trend for companies: 53.3% claim to be dedicating resources to develop it. In these new leadership models, practicing active listening to stakeholders and being able to align their concerns with the company’s purpose are the main challenges.
Isabel López Triana, co-founder and general director of Canvas, maintains that “the uncertain context makes responsible leadership, which sets the course and acts as a lighthouse, acquire even more value. “Conscious leadership guided by corporate purpose and a strong culture anchored in values and principles that allows us to lead social transformation.”
In third position is sustainability, which is also the third area most worked on by the professionals consulted (51.8%). The main focus of organizations that advance sustainability is its integration into the business strategy (which is, in turn, the main challenge), together with the need to adapt to the new regulatory framework and maintain a vision of potential opportunities for sustainable corporate development.
Constanza Nieto, project director at Canvas, highlights that “the new European regulatory framework on sustainability poses great adaptation challenges for companies, but it also opens important opportunities to move towards increasingly strategic and transversal management of sustainability.”
The ranking is completed, in this order, with the corporate purpose; corporate communication; digitalization and cybersecurity; the corporate brand; the management of new work models, and artificial intelligence. The study is a reference for understanding the priorities of organizations, the issues to which they dedicate greater resources and the challenges and difficulties they face.
The vision of large companies
Sustainability. The Approaching the Future 2024 report has had significant participation from large companies, those with workforces of more than 5,000 employees (21.9% of the total sample). For this segment of companies, sustainability is the most important trend, followed by corporate reputation and responsible leadership. It stands out that digitalization and cybersecurity is valued as the fourth most important issue, two places above the global ranking. In the case of Spain, this issue occupies third position in terms of priorities and resources. The top 5 is completed by the corporate purpose. Sustainability is not only the most important issue, but it is also to which the most resources and efforts are dedicated. Seven out of ten large companies focus on sustainability, almost 20 points above the global average (51.8%). These companies also advance in resources dedicated to digitalization and cybersecurity (62.2%), corporate reputation (55.3%); the purpose (48.2%), and corporate communication (47.6%).
High direction. For senior managers (39.3% of the sample), the five most important areas are responsible leadership, corporate reputation, sustainability, corporate purpose and corporate communication. Responsible leadership is the most important trend both globally and in Spain and Latin America.
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