Michael D. Moberly June 5, 2015 ‘A blog where attention span really matters’!
‘I really don’t know’ is my answer to this question. And, I should note that I am variously dubious of most who, for whatever reason, deem it necessary to say otherwise. That said, I trust my candid response does not deter further reading.
My rationale is, there are numerous sociological, psychological, economic, personal convenience and availability of equal or greater alternatives that play varying roles in how, why, or if consumers – stakeholders will react and if so, whether such reactions may be felt economically, in supply chains, or as diminution of competitive advantages.
I am writing this post in the early morning of June 4th. During the late afternoon of June 3d, a proposed class action lawsuit was filed in a Manhattan federal court by four former employees of CVS who presumably held loss prevention positions. They claimed their superiors had ordered them to track minority customers which, as most know, translate as requisites to racial profiling which they voiced objections.
What prompted me to write about this specific event, among others of equal or greater import, is that NPR (Morning Edition) presented a 3 minute and 3 second segment about the CVS lawsuit which I then read about it in greater detail at Reuters.com where the story originated.
The lawsuit (Simpson v. CVS Pharmacy Inc, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, No. 15-cv-4261) included the possibility that these plaintiffs may soon be filing a companion complaint with the EEOC. Should this occur, it would presumably allow plaintiffs to add more claims to their ‘federal’ case. I do not know whether CVS acquired a ‘heads up’ to the filing of this suit, but I suspect, with confidence, they did. Regardless, Carolyn Castel, a spokesperson for the Rhode Island based CVS Health Corporation, said ‘CVS was shocked by the lawsuit and would fight the claims’.
While I cannot presume to speak for CVS customers and stakeholders, I have come to be receptive to the ageless adage ‘if-where there is smoke there is usually fire’. My receptivity to this adage is embedded in multiple years of serving in various administrative capacities which, when adverse rumors, accusations, or innuendos came to my attention, I accepted a responsibility to engage each in a discreet follow-up to assess their voracity.
One can make the case that there are fewer business risks, when they may materialize, e.g., allegations that carry even the slightest adverse messaging can manifest as genuine reputation risks.
I, like numerous colleagues in the intangibles arena, listen to and/or read about the same company – management missteps and miscues in media (news) outlets charged with securing 24×7 content, which I suspect can render them receptive to portraying ‘news’ events in contexts with potential linkage to other events or imageries.
Ironically though, I seldom hear events which are clear predicates to potentially significant (company) reputation risk, not being characterized in the mainstream and/or social media conveyances as such. This, I remain particularly curious.
Media accounts are uncharacteristically absent language-narrative that reports the potential for reputation risk to arise even though growing numbers of adverse events that materialize produce some level of reputation risk fallout to the victim – targeted company before there has been a rebuttal or rational discussion as to its merits or truthfulness.
I am not suggesting the media standing alone are the instigators or precipitators of reputation risk to private sector firms but, to be sure, media characterizations do play a role in terms of how events are characterized for viewers, readers, and listeners, i.e., consumers and stakeholders.
Questions unanswered…
