Editor’s note

Citation

(2011), "Editor’s note", Journal of Business Strategy, Vol. 32 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/jbs.2011.28832eaa.001

Editor’s note

Article Type: Editor’s note From: Journal of Business Strategy, Volume 32, Issue 5

The art of the cover-up is dead. Neither individuals nor organizations can hide in today’s world. Very smart and very successful people often think they can pull off the perfect cover-up but, almost always, the truth leaks out and then the torrent begins. It is so much better to “fess up” early on than to compound a crisis by lying and subterfuge.

For years, public relations and strategy firms and professionals have counseled companies to have crisis communication plans. Sooner or later, a company will have a crisis. In some cases the crisis marks the end of the company because it is so destructive. But crises are usually manageable, and damage can be controlled. Acknowledging the situation counts as step one.

Some corporate heads, however, are thicker than others and some corporate leaders can not seem to learn the dangers of stonewalling the public. Politicians have the same problem. Toyota is one of the latest examples of corporate denial, or stonewalling, in connection with model recalls beginning in 2007. The authors of “Toyota in Crisis: Denial and Mismanagement” explore the fallout from the automaker’s recent crisis and the strategic implications.

The paper on personal branding meshes unexpectedly well with Stuart Jackson’s column on the power of weak connections. These are the kinds of connections people make on new media such as LinkedIn and Facebook that can lead to business deals. It happens rarely but still enough to suggest that no avenue of connection should be dismissed, even if the path is dimly lit. Harris and her co-authors maintain that personal branding, using the same media Jackson discusses, entails leveraging the connections and visibility available through new media.

In “Performance Leadership”, George Yip and his co-authors argue for flexibility in measuring corporate performance elements. Using exactly the same criteria to measure success in different business units lacks a logical basis.

For those who believe that money constitutes the primary reason good people stay with a company, the paper on “Pride and Professionals” demonstrates that low turnover depends more on company pride than price. When people believe they are working for a company that truly cares about them and their careers and is socially responsible, they are more likely to remain with the organization.

We hope you find these and the other papers in this issue worthwhile.