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Reputation
The Alignment Factor:
How to Link Up All
Stakeholders in Order
to Achieve Business
Excellence
What determines the success of corporate strategy? What are key success factors
from the viewpoint of managing intangibles? Should one take into account
only clients and shareholders when developing the corporate strategy, or should
employees, suppliers, regulators and the societies also be involved?
In order to win, one has to align. Such is the
conclusion made by Cees B. M. van Riel, Professor
of Corporate Communication of the Rotterdam
School of Management and Vice Chairman of
the Reputation Institute, in his book titled The
Alignment Factor (“Alinear Para Ganar” in its
Spanish translation). The book highlights the
need for support on the part of stakeholders in
order to enter different markets, obtain operating
licenses and minimise potential obstacles.
The message is clear: alignment of different business
units and departments of an organisation, as well
as alignment of the corporate strategy with the
expectations and interests of the stakeholders
is the key tool at present for building excellent
reputation. The best strategy may fall through if it is
not supported by key stakeholder groups.
This statement is illustrated with numerous
examples of multinational companies such as
Unilever, Deloitte, ING, Google, Southwest
Airlines, IBM, Philips, Ikea, Toyota, McDonald’s
or Nestlé, as well as many Spanish companies, for
example Telefónica, BBVA, Santander, La Caixa,
Iberdrola, Repsol or Gas Natural Fenosa.
The importance of internal
– external alignment
Luis Abril, Chairman of Corporate Excellence,
believes that today, in the context of the reputation
This document was prepared by Corporate Excellence – Centre for Reputation Leadership and among other sources contains references to
research of Cees B. M. van Riel, Professor of Corporate Communication at the Erasmus University Rotterdam Business School and Vice
Chairman of the Reputation Institute, and comments of Luis Abril, Chairman of Corporate Excellence – Centre for Reputation Leadership
and General Manager and Chairman Chief of Staff of Telefónica, and Ángel Alloza, CEO Corporate Excellence – Centre for Reputation
Leadership, made during the presentation of the book “Alinear para ganar”, the first title in the Corporate Excellence Library published by LID
publishing house. The presentation was held at EOI Business School in Madrid, on April 19, 2012.
The Alignment
Factor: How to Link
Up All Stakeholders
in Order to Achieve
Business Excellence
Figure 1: Perspectives on identity issues
Desired
identity
Perceived
identity
Projected
identity
Source. Van Riel, Cees (2012): The Aligment factor,
economy, it is possible to achieve prestige and
recognition by projecting a coherent message onto
the society, thus aligning internal stakeholders
(employees and shareholders), as well as external
stakeholders (suppliers, clients, regulators and
associations) with one’s corporate strategy.
Ángel Alloza, CEO of Corporate Excellence –
Centre for Reputation Leadership, believes that
this is a very important observation, because the key
to building reputation is the identity: reputation is
built from within, starting with the employees, and
is achieved through coherence of identity, values,
brand, communication and corporate reputation as
a result of this effort.
Van Riel points out in his text that there are three
identity types in an organisation:
1. Desired identity: a search for the direction.
2. Projected identity: derived from
communication.
3. Perceived identity: evaluated by the employees.
The first objective and the first stage is to align
these three identities and to make sure that the
employees take part in the initial vision, share the
mission, establish mutually beneficial relations and
thus achieve alignment with other stakeholders
(external stakeholders). This is because according
to van Riel alignment with internal stakeholders
ensures better results: alignment improvement by
10% leads to a 6% increase in satisfaction and a 2%
increase in business results.
“Reputation is built from
within, starting with the
employees, and is achieved
through coherence of
identity, values, brand,
communication and
reputation”
In this sense, the behaviour of the employees and
their alignment with corporate objectives that goes
beyond formal commitment and connection with
the organisation, is essential. If commitment does
not lead to specific behaviours, it is of little use
and value. Adjustment of these two factors may be
extraordinarily beneficial for the organisation and
may be achieved by analysing and trying to bridge
possible gaps.
Designing a clear and elaborate roadmap
In order to achieve this result, it is extremely
important to design a roadmap. The roadmap is
also helpful for improving efficiency by choosing
the right focus that can have an impact on
business results and anticipating the obstacles that
the company may face, thus making it easier to
overcome them.
First, certain techniques should be used for alignment,
including the following two main work directions:
1. Negotiation: asking (holding consultations via
internal presentations and negotiations) and
Figure 2: Techniques for creating alignment
Negotiation
Confrontation
Consultations
• Presentations and negotiations with unions
• Presentations and discussions with the
committee (s) of company
Replication
• Exposure inevitable internal messages
• Use of external corporate announcements to
persuade domestic public
• Assignment of trainers to key management targets
set role behavior
Consensus
• Briefings
• Management meetings
• Improvisations
Power game
• New organizational structures and decisionmaking processes
• Appointment of new directors in key roles
• Training in internal training programs
• New rules for evaluation
Source: Cees BM Van Riel, The Aligment factor, 2012.
Books
2
The Alignment
Factor: How to Link
Up All Stakeholders
in Order to Achieve
Business Excellence
Figure 3: Drivers of strategic alignment
behavior
Information
Motivation
Strategically
aligned behavior
Training
Source. Van Riel, Cees (2012): The Aligment factor
reconciling (holding meetings for informing and
choosing the direction).
2. Confrontation: replicating (internal and
external messages) and power game (decisionmaking, new appointments, reviews and training
programmes).
Therefore, it is essential to hold consultations first,
then to inform involved actors, then to motivate,
empower, and finally, achieve the results, follow up
and compare them to the objective.
The next stage consists of paying due attention to
communication, trying to provide answers to the
following questions:
1. Who is the source of initiative and leader of the
process.
2. What strategy means for every actor.
3. What is the key audience.
4. How consistent are the messages.
5. What abilities should be developed.
6. Who should avoid being silent and made to
speak up.
The final stage consists of analysing and securing
support of different stakeholders by creating and
building on relations based on mutual and shared
benefit, where everybody wins and, where possible,
achieves the benefits they expected. In other words,
it means integrating collective ambitions under the
umbrella of a common goal.
Developing a good balanced scorecard with internal
and external KPIs (Key Performance Indicators)
that allows one to extrapolate results into the future
depending on the changes of each attribute is also
extremely important. Van Riel’s research shows that
those companies that introduce a 20% increase of
bonus or variable remuneration of their managers
for successful alignment, achieve better strategy
alignment with the stakeholders.
Reputation as a cross-cutting function
Abril believes that Van Riel’s book shows that
reputation management may be successful only
if it is understood as a cross-cutting function in
organisations, where internal alignment is followed
by external alignment and linked to communication
management. This is because by managing the causes
and policies, one can influence the consequences
and perceptions.
That’s why the worst enemy of reputation
management is the inclination of every department
to pursue its own interests, to fight with other
departments and drive the organisation in opposite
directions – a tendency characteristic of many
companies and institutions that have a strong
divisional component. According to Van Riel’s
model, the reputation function should have a
long-term vision in order to anticipate risks and
opportunities, but at the same time avoid turning
into a kind of “Matrix”, alienated from the reality of
its stakeholders, their true problems and needs.
“Reputation management
may be successful only if
it is understood as a crosscutting function, where
internal-external alignment
as well as the alignment
of communication and
management are key”
The role of the CCO (Chief Communications
Officer) should be characterised by an integrated
vision, combining centripetal and centrifugal forces,
as well as uniting all departments (Marketing, HR,
Technology, Operations, with a special emphasis,
as suggested by Van Riel, on Finance). This is key
for effective management of intangible assets and
company success.
This success no longer depends solely on the capacity
to compete on the market or create best products.
Instead, an important factor now is establishment
of rational links and strong emotional connections
with the society in general and stakeholders in
particular who become increasingly savvy about
analysis and evaluation of behaviours and actions
of companies.
However, in order to build a good reputation (which
ultimately protects and grows value, increases
capital, draws clients and talent, helps to obtain
Books
3
The Alignment
Factor: How to Link
Up All Stakeholders
in Order to Achieve
Business Excellence
licenses, shields in the times of crisis and ensures
sustained and sustainable growth), it is necessary to
observe the following three prerequisites:
1. Have a clear idea of one’s mission and vision,
one’s goals and how they can be achieved.
2. Have a clear idea of one’s values, the form and
the style of doing things.
3. Have a clear idea of action principles, the limitations
and the red lines that cannot be crossed.
Conclusion: we are competing
for reputation; in order to
win one has to align
context, trust is a weapon in a competition for a
scarce good: reputation as a key value, as the most
important competitive advantage that is impossible
to imitate.
The key here is to ensure that the universe of
stakeholders, starting with internal stakeholders,
is aligned with the corporate strategy and shares
the goals, hopes and success of the company. In
order to demonstrate this, the book presents some
good practices successfully applied by Spanish and
international companies. The result is predictable:
greater alignment leads to greater satisfaction and
connection, and eventually brings about better
business results.
The Alignment Factor (“Alinear para ganar”) has
a highly practical focus for all those organisations
that have to face profound transformations due
to the processes caused by what we call the new
“reputation economy”. In this new cycle the key
is not only what one does, but also what others
think and how they evaluate these actions. In this
Books
4
Leading by
reputation
©2012 Corporate Excellence – Centre for Reputation Leadership
Business foundation created by large companies to professionalize the management of intangible assets and contribute to the development
of strong brands, with good reputation and able to compete in the global market. Its mission is to be the driver which leads and consolidates
the professional management of reputation as a strategic resource that guides and creates value for companies throughout the world.
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