In these days of Twitter, Facebook and 24hour news, reputations can be blasted out of the water in a second. Sky TV presenters Andy Gray and Richard Keys’ sexist rant against female football officials and executives spread like wildfire across the web, the print and the broadcast media in a couple of hours. As myriad politicians, celebrities and businesses can attest, it only takes one little aside to ruin a career.
Likewise, there is no doubt that brand protection is a key driver for corporate social responsibility (CSR). Apple, BP and Hewlett Packard have all been caught up in scandals of quite different types in the last year, and the swiftest reparative action can never quite remove the whiff of wrongdoing. The key is preventative action – creating the culture and systems that prevent casual sexism, racism, supply chain worker  exploitation, pollution incident or habitat destruction raising their ugly heads. Because as Gray and Keys (and their employer) now know, it doesn’t matter how safe you think you are, chances are someone will find you out.