Tag: reputational damage

On March 12, 2020, a plaintiff shareholder filed a securities class action lawsuit against Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, alleging that the company was employing misleading sales tactics related to COVID-19 bookings and cancellations. Another D&O claim was lodged soon after against Inovio Pharmaceuticals relating to statements the company made about developing a vaccine for COVID-19.

Bank hackers, email phishing scams and identity theft are synonymous with fraud in the financial sector. According to a statement by the South African Banking Risk Information Centre (SABRIC), more than R 800 million were lost over the last couple of years in South Africa due to fraud.

Global demand for greater tax transparency, emanating from corporate scandals such as Google, Amazon, Starbucks, Apple and Nike, is leading the boards and audit committees of South African corporations to ask more difficult questions than ever before about how organisations are governing their tax affairs and managing tax risks. The risk of reputational damage and financial loss is simply too high to be ignored.

There are several factors today that can cause serious reputational damage to brands, these range from social media to fake news to cyberattacks. As such companies must have measures in place to minimise the possibility of reputational damage. Brand consistency, which is critical to establishing trust, can provide a layer of brand security for both organisations and their customers.

It’s the era of living in fear of saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. So be prepared as the history of reputational damage is littered with the debris of bad choices, poorly worded tweets and terrible articles.