Online Reputation Management Blog

Reputation Management for Jamie Dimon and JPMorgan

JPMorgan Chase Co-Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon is now the public face of a massive trading loss that has humbled the venerable bank. Potential losses of over $2 billion have shattered the Teflon image that helped JPMorgan navigate through the turbulent waters of the financial crisis and emerge, until now, as one of the best managed financial institutions in the United States.

As a result of the enormous error, JPMorgan accepted the resignation of the executive in charge of the unit that committed the error and more senior management departures are expected. Dimon approved the concepts behind the complex trades, but if reports are correct, didn’t effectively monitor their execution. He delayed a quarterly regulatory filing until he had a better understanding of the trades impact on the firm, but information pertaining to who knew what and when has been sparse.

The House Financial Services Committee will soon hold a hearing focused on JPMorgan to determine the implications on future regulations for the financial sector. Advocates of greater oversight over banks and brokerage firms are pointing their disapproving fingers at JPMorgan’s internal controls and are calling for more capital reserves and greater banking oversight in order to avoid the meltdown that engulfed Lehman and Bear Stearns when the financial crisis began.

One of the casualties of this massive trading loss has been Jamie Dimon’s reputation and JPMorgan’s standing among its Wall Street peers. In an unrelated but timely survey conducted by PR firm Weber Shandwick (The Company behind the Brand: In Reputation We Trust — CEO Spotlight), 66 percent of consumers agree that their perceptions of CEOs affect their opinions about the company’s reputation. Additionally, 59 percent of consumers said that they are influenced by the communications from company leaders. The study found that respect for CEOs dropped to 72 percent in the U.S., a declining trend seen for the last few years, that shows no signs of abating.

To Jamie Dimon’s credit, reputation management began almost immediately after news reports broke the story. He took immediate and full responsibility for the losses and vowed a full and thorough investigation. He has granted limited but sufficient access to media and by all accounts has diverted significant time and resources towards an unwinding strategy that will limit the pain for shareholders.

JPMorgan’s vow of transparency will help rebuild their corporate reputation, however they face an unusual dilemma. Unwinding the hedging strategies at the center of the trading loss can become more difficult if the particular details of the trades become known. JPMorgan’s outsized derivatives positions are already one of the worst-kept secrets on Wall Street.

Jamie Dimon has to thread a needle to help JPMorgan emerge with its reputation for prudent risk management intact and to rehabilitate his own public image. The recent loss of investor confidence and share price decline is directly attributable to the revelations of mismanagement at the very top. For the investment and commercial banks enjoying this rare moment of schadenfreude, they are watching a very expensive lesson in reputation management.

New Social Media Guidelines for Doctors

Last year, I wrote a post about 7 ways doctors can improve their online reputation. The American Medical Association published a social media policy earlier this year. Recently, the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) has come out with a new set of social media guidelines to help physicians stay professional in the online world.

FSMB’s Special Committee on Ethics and Professionalism created the recommendations so that state medical boards can use them when educating the physicians they license. The recommendations specifically refer to using social media and social networking websites. Their aim is to ensure that physicians are maintaining professional standards online, without overstepping the boundaries of patient confidentiality.

The new guidelines are a response to a study done in collaboration with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars, which found that 92 percent of state medical boards have received a complaint about a physician’s online behavior. That astounding statistic proves the need for physicians to be proactive in their online activities.

The guidelines are broken down into three parts:

1. Only interact with your patients online when you are discussing medical treatment; these conversations should never occur on Facebook or other social media websites.

2. Always uphold patient privacy and confidentiality, no matter what medium you are using to communicate with other physicians. This rule applies when you’re at a medical conference, or on a physician-only networking site, like Sermo.com. Never use any identifying information when discussing your medical cases.

3. Always be aware of what you’re posting on Facebook and Twitter. Anything you post on these sites could be shared with or read by other audiences, and therefore may be taken out of context. Ensure that you are utilizing strict privacy settings, only friending people you know, and don’t use social media to offer medical advice or discuss specific patients.

New Orleans Saints Tackle Reputation Management Issues

An investigation into the New Orleans Saints 2009-2011 seasons has tarnished the reputation of one of the most improbable football comeback stories over the past several years, culminating in the Saints Super Bowl victory in 2010.

The fallout stems from revelations about a program whereby some New Orleans Saints football players, in  an informal pool orchestrated by defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, provided money to reward players who took “out” key opposing players during NFL games. As much as $50,000 is said to have been in the pool, with rewards of $1,500 for taking someone out of a game, $1,000 for getting an opposing player carted off the field, and up to $10,000 given to a single player for causing a game-ending injury.

Recently, the National Football League announced the punishments for the four Saints players involved in the bounty scandal.  Along with the punishments for the Saints leadership, this is the toughest punishment ever enacted on a team in the history of the NFL.

Linebacker Jonathan Vilma  received the harshest punishment: a one-year suspension from play for the entire 2012 season. Defensive lineman Anthony Hargrove was suspended for eight games without pay; Will Smith, defensive end, was suspended for four games, and Scott Fujita, linebacker, suspended for three games.

Vilma received the harshest punishment since it was found that he personally offered $10,000 to any player to take out Minnesota quarterback Brett Favre in the 2009 NFC Championship; and $10,000 to any player to injure Arizona quarterback Kurt Warner in the 2009 divisional playoff game.

Hargrove signed a declaration admitting to the program’s existence and his participation as well as acknowledging his efforts to obstruct the NFL’s investigation. Smith and Fujita pledged large amounts of their own money to the bounty pool.

The players involved were not the only ones to receive a punishment for the bounty scandal. Former Saints defensive coordinator Williams has been suspended from the league indefinitely for his role in orchestrating the bounty program. Saints coach Sean Payton has been suspended for one year, and the team faces a fine of $500,000. Additionally, Saints General Manager Mickey Loomis is suspended for eight games, and linebacker coach Joe Vitt is suspended for six games. The Saints also lost second-round draft picks for the next two years.

It’s going to take a while for the Saints to repair the reputational damage caused by the actions of their coaching staff and current and former players. However, there are some encouraging signs that players, staff and management are taking the matter very seriously and working hard to restore the trust of fans and opposing players.

Online Reputation Management for Psychologists

Psychologists, psychiatrists, therapists and other mental health professionals may be used to helping others, but when it comes to online reputation management, they often need a little help, too.  If you work with patients who show signs of manipulation, anger, or issues controlling their emotions, you need to worry about the patient (or former patient) spreading negative or untrue things about you online. You also need to be especially protective over your online personal privacy to ensure your patients don’t find out your home address or details about your family life.

Protecting yourself and your practice is a priority for every psychologist and mental health professional. So take a seat on my couch, take a deep cleansing breath and get ready for some tips on reputation management and privacy.

1.       Ensure your online personal life is locked up:  Some psychologists shy away from using social media, like Facebook and Twitter, for fear that their patients will access their personal data. But don’t let that fear keep you from connecting with family and friends. See my recent post on how to how to change your Facebook privacy settings.  Implement a policy on “friending” patients, so that in the event that a patient asks you why you’re declining their friend request, you have a ready-made answer that will not breach that “third wall” critical to the doctor-patient relationship.

2.       Monitor your name online:  Just as your patients take time to meet with you each week, block off some time in your calendar to Google yourself. This way you’ll find out which of your patients is using sites like HealthGrades.com or RateMDs.com, which allow patients to write a review of your services.

3.       Buy your own domain name and blog: Capture your domain before someone else does. There are a number of free downloads such as WordPress or Blogger that you can use to help you build your own website, without having any serious computer knowledge. Create your website to showcase your practice areas and education. It’s another way to gain new patients and referrals. Also, consider starting a blog on your website. You can choose to write about your practice area, new research (by yourself or colleagues), and new therapy techniques. If you’re ever stuck for content, you can write a series of “quick tips” for patients regarding stress reduction, what to do when dealing with a crisis, or how to deal with a break-up. These topics will help generate traffic to your site, and ultimately may lead to new patients boost your online reputation.

4.       Hire the best online reputation management firm:  An online reputation management company will elevate positive content and minimize the impact of any negative reviews, blogs or news articles. Select a U.S.-based online reputation management firm and make sure your services agreement includes strict confidentiality provisions. Since ethics surrounding psychologist marketing and advertising vary from state to state, you will want to make sure any web postings include any required disclosures.