Every company knows why reputation is important, particularly in an economy where most of the market value of any business comes from intangible assets such as brand equity, goodwill and workforce expertise.

But most companies are quite ordinary when it comes to handling reputation. The tend to be more focused on handling threats to their reputation, or they swing into action guns blazing when things go of the rails. That's crisis management, not reputation risk management.

What's needed is a forensic guide on identifying, quantifying and managing the risks to a company's reputation long before the unspeakable substance hits the fan. The latest Harvard Business Review seeks to do that in the piece Reputation and Its Risks.

It looks at such issues as working with stakeholders across multiple categories (investors, customers, suppliers, employees, regulators, politicians, environmental organisations, communities) and address gaps between expectations and reality. It also looks at how to keep track of changing beliefs and expectations.

Another important issue is one of putting a senior executive below the CEO in charge of reputation management. And this is the surprising part. The obvious candidates, it says, are the chief operating officer, the chief financial officer and the heads of risk management, strategic planning and internal audit. But it warns NOT to choose people like the heads of marketing and corporate communication, or general counsel for the role as their jobs pose potential conflicts.

Most companies would ignore that advice.

You can read the entire HBR piece here.