An Assessment of Corporate Reputation Management in a Digital Era: A Study of the Banking Industry in Ghana.

Abstract

Against the backdrop of the banking sector clean up that engulfed the country four years ago, there have been some estimations by scholars with regards to how this has affected the reputation of banks in general. More importantly, the role of social media in the escalation of the scandal informed the curiosity of the researcher to conduct an enquiry into the various ways in which banks in Ghana manage their corporate reputation in an increasingly digital era. The study was guided by three objectives which sought to understand the effect of advancement in digital technologies on the corporate reputation management of the banks, understand the effectiveness of the strategies employed in the management of the corporate reputation in a digital era and assess the challenges that confronts the banks in that regard. Using semi-structured interviews which involved the participation of four representatives from four banks in Ghana, the findings show that advancements in digital technologies have provided a tool for the management of the reputation of banks. The banks used innovative and creative digital solutions to offset and assuage the ability of digital media to impinge on their reputation. However, the various strategies employed by the banks were affected by challenges which were discovered through research, which was a central pillar in their corporate reputation management efforts. The researcher recommends that future studies should focus on a customer perception study to quantify the performance of these banks in the wake of digital technologies.