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ISSUE 33 HILARY TERM 2022 OXFORD UNIVERSITY CENTRE FOR CORPORATE REPUTATION Business and net zero From carbon capture to boardroom activism and regulation of capital markets, how the corporate world needs to change to tackle the climate emergency BlackRock and stakeholder capitalism Do recent pro-environmental proclamations from the world’s largest asset manager make sense? Playing for the planet A new research project to investigate whether a video game can foster ‘green’ behaviour The big interview Ebs Burnough, filmmaker and adviser to the Obamas, on the power of narratives to counter stereotypes and effect change Case study – the story of the Oxford vaccine How a global communications strategy supported an unprecedented scientific challenge Reputational risks of AI The pitfalls of artificial intelligence, from misleading your customers to programming bias News and appointments
COMMENT: LARRY FINK, STAKEHOLDER
CAPITALISM AND CLIMATE ACTION
Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock, the As he puts it: “A company must create led?” But does BlackRock follow this
world’s largest asset manager, is taking value for and be valued by its full range advice? This is difficult to assess because
heat over his 2022 annual letter, entitled of stakeholders in order to deliver long- Fink does not disclose how and when
“The Power of Capitalism”, which talks term value for its shareholders.” Does BlackRock’s portfolio will achieve net-
about climate policy and stakeholder he mean that the stakeholder approach zero emissions. For liberals, Fink does not
capitalism. The conservatives think he is a mechanism to fulfill the goals of walk the talk. He wants firms to strive for
has gone “woke”, while the liberals find shareholder capitalism? So, why fuss net zero, but does not want BlackRock to
him insincere. He has been writing these about the stakeholder stuff? Fink’s divest from the fossil-fuel sector.
open letters to CEOs since 2012, on the argument is not clear. Is he saying that,
eve of the World Economic Forum Annual in the short term, stakeholders want Climate action is impeded by distributional
Meeting at Davos in January. They focus to protect the climate but shareholders conflicts: some communities bear
on the response of business to climate do not? What if some shareholders are disproportionate costs of climate
change, among other things. What is pension funds that are looking at long- protection, but the benefits accrue to all.
critical is that Fink is not interested in term returns? Moreover, many cost-bearing communities
saving the world; rather, he is interested are already in economic decline. To
in making money while pursuing Fink’s letter does not paint a realistic secure support from these communities,
climate goals. picture of stakeholder harmony. What if divestment from the fossil-fuel sector
stakeholders want different things? For must co-occur with new investments.
Fink wants to change how stock example, many blue-collar unions may We have termed this “embedded
markets assess business performance. environmentalism”. Fink could champion
Specifically, the ESG (environmental,
social, and governance) metric should be
‘Is Fink saying that, embedded environmentalism. He
could, for example, announce the
the new measure of success because in the short term, launch of a new Just Transition Index
it will motivate corporate climate action.
Why? Because ESG rewards firms
stakeholders want to Fund to support companies that are
investing in revitalisation of fossil-fuel
that pay attention to the interest of all protect the climate but communities. BlackRock is establishing a
stakeholders, not just shareholders. shareholders do not?’ Center for Stakeholder Capitalism; why not
Fink notes: “Stakeholder capitalism… is also set up a Just Transition Center?
not a social or ideological agenda. It is not have preferences different from urban
‘woke’. It is capitalism, driven by mutually and college-educated stakeholders. The backlash to Fink’s letter carries two
beneficial relationships between you and The former might be worried that important messages. First, conservative
the employees, customers, suppliers decarbonisation will impoverish their rural scorn may not purchase liberal love.
and communities your company relies on communities, a concern not shared by Second, climate action must take into
to prosper.” the latter. Moreover, Fink’s advocacy of account distributional conflicts, through
stakeholder capitalism is ironic because policies to help those who bear the costs.
How do ESG and stakeholder capitalism his leverage rests in the fact that Hopefully, his 2023 letter will take a more
relate to climate change? Why doesn’t BlackRock is a major shareholder in many nuanced political view.
shareholder capitalism work? The reason firms. Indeed, BlackRock has deployed its
is that firms focusing on shareholder shareholding muscle to change corporate Adapted from a Forbes article (tinyurl.
value chase short-term profits. Fink boards: it helped a maverick fund, com/2wta9wvd) by Nives Dolsak, Stan
thinks that this short-termism impedes Engine No 1, to secure seats on Exxon’s and Alta Barer Professor in Sustainability
corporate climate action. Following board to ensure that the company Science, and Aseem Prakash, Walker
this logic, when companies serve the makes sufficient progress on climate Family Professor for the College of
interests of multiple stakeholders, they issues. Fink notes, “Every company and Arts and Sciences, at the University
begin to embrace a longer-term vision, every industry will be transformed by of Washington, Seattle. Aseem is also
and hence are motivated to invest in the transition to a net-zero world. The an International Research Fellow with
climate protection. question is, will you lead, or will you be our centre.
Reputation is a termly magazine published by the Oxford University Centre for Corporate Reputation, Saïd Business School,
Oxford OX1 1HP. Tel: + 44 (0)1865 288900. Enquiries to: reputation@sbs.ox.ac.uk. Website: www.sbs.oxford.edu/reputation.
©2022 Saïd Business School. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the prior permission
of the publisher. Cover image: Adapted from photo by wlad074 / adobe.stock.com
2 OXFORD UNIVERSITY CENTRE FOR CORPORATE REPUTATION
Stefania Innocenti and Ximeng Fang introduce a groundbreaking project with Sony to
explore whether a video game can encourage sustainable personal choices.
RESEARCH FOCUS: VIRTUAL REALITY
AND PRO-ENVIRONMENTAL BEHAVIOUR
Integrating the analysis of natural and variation in the effectiveness across with the virtual environment in which
social systems to achieve sustainability different studies. One important they immerse themselves, with
has long been an international scientific determinant could be the medium and their inputs and choices resulting in
priority. Human activities and actions are the manner through which an intervention rewards, punishments and other directly
one of the main driving forces of global is delivered to consumers. experienced consequences. Although
environmental change, giving rise to these consequences may only unfold in
long-lasting consequences. Ensuring a The goal of our research programme a virtual world, they are the direct cause
liveable planet and well-being for future is to expand the toolkit of researchers of individuals’ actions, which facilitates
generations will require changes in and policymakers by exploring and experimentation and reinforces learning.
governance, technology, and – not least pioneering a new form of interventions Whether behavioural patterns that have
– individual human behaviour. How can through video games and virtual reality. been learned and internalized in a virtual
we encourage pro-environmental actions Within this research programme, an world can also spill over to the real world
and reconfigure norms and routines of interdisciplinary team of or researchers is a fascinating question that we will
behaviour so that they are compatible with from the Centre for Corporate Reputation address in this project.
a commitment to a sustainable future? and the Smith School for Enterprise and
the Environment will work with Sony Finally, video games often inherently
The public policy discourse often revolves Interactive Entertainment (SIE) to evaluate encourage social comparison with other
around material and financial incentives to the potential of combining educational players. It is particularly in multiplayer
steer individuals’ consumption decisions. messages with entertainment elements contexts that the perceived acceptability
However, getting the financial incentives (edutainment) for altering people’s or desirability of behaviours within
right is only one step, as the “homo perceptions about climate change and for the virtual world are governed by the
economicus” perspective on human motivating more environmentally friendly same social mechanisms as in the real
behaviour is overly simplistic – for two consumer behaviour. world: social norms, peer interactions,
reasons. First, our actions and choices reputational dynamics, etc. We plan to
are driven by more than just monetary Could video games and virtual reality integrate such social and reputational
considerations: for example, we strive have an edge over conventional media? motives explicitly into a version of the
to live up to our own moral values and There are three elements that come video game, with the aim of investigating
aspirations, and perhaps even more more naturally to a virtual gamified whether such norms and interactions can
to the norms and expectations of our environment than perhaps any other facilitate a critical mass for environmental
peers and our society. Second, decades medium: immersion, interaction, and action, and how these experiences
of behavioural research have shown social comparison. It is these elements shape people’s views and actions in the
that, even given the right incentives, we that make video games entertaining, and outside world.
regularly fail to act in a way that is aligned we believe that they might be useful to
with our intentions and best interests: deliver more effective informational and We plan to run our research programme
we procrastinate, we forget, we are educational interventions to foster pro- for three years. The aim is to provide a
slow to change old habits, and we are environmental behaviour. platform to explore the conditions for
often painfully unaware about which a creative and adaptable behavioural
paths of action truly make a difference. Personal experiences and visceral change that can be used by the gaming
Thus, shaping future pathways towards reactions to vivid, emotional situations are industry to foster “green activation” in
sustainability requires a deeper and richer a powerful teacher, far more convincing games, and by policymakers to exploit
perspective on human behaviour. than abstract warnings or pallid statistics. scalable edutainment tools that ignite
The immersive experience of moving long-lasting behavioural change towards a
A growing number of studies taps into through a virtual world riddled by the more sustainable future.
insights from behavioural research to consequences of global warming may
design information campaigns and leave a powerful visual and emotional
psychological strategies to change impression on individuals and thus be a
individual attitudes and consumption persuasive educational tool. We will study Stefania Innocenti is Departmental
choices. However, while such behavioural how people’s reactions differ depending Research Lecturer in Environmental
interventions have been shown to induce on the type of medium and the specific and Resource Management at the
positive effects on pro-environmental features of an information intervention. Smith School of Enterprise and the
attitudes and actions in a variety of Environment, Oxford University. Ximeng
contexts, their overall potential remains Another essential element of video Fang has recently joined our centre as a
ambiguous, as there is often considerable games is that players can interact Postdoctoral Research Fellow (see p12).
How can business meet its environmental obligations? Our director Rupert Younger
chaired a panel including an eminent climate scientist, a leading director of sustainable
investment, and the CEOs of Unilever and the London Stock Exchange, to identify the
tools, behaviours and narratives that might make a ‘green’ transition feasible.
PANEL DISCUSSION:
THE PATH TO NET ZERO
Speakers: Myles Allen, Professor fossil carbon that we burn will have to be system is not only there to provide the
of Geosystem Science in the School balanced by geological disposal of carbon capital to industry and business whilst
of Geography and the Environment dioxide. That’s the long-term challenge paying attention to natural capital, it is
and Department of Physics, Oxford we face. Any net zero strategy worth its also going to serve a social purpose,
University; Anne Simpson, Global Head salt has to acknowledge that by 2050, because it’s paying people’s retirement.
of Sustainability, Franklin Templeton; every tonne of carbon dioxide that’s In some markets like the United States,
Alan Jope, CEO of Unilever; and generated by use of fossil fuels will be it’s going to pay for their healthcare or
Julia Hoggett, CEO of the London compensated for by a tonne of carbon their education. These are social goods.
Stock Exchange. dioxide permanently disposed of either So understanding the purpose of finance
underground or turned back into rock. and who are the people providing
M.A: Only 15 years ago, the idea of this money into the system is a very
stopping global warming was to bring Unfortunately, this is one of the things important framing for any discussion
emissions into balance with natural they didn’t acknowledge at COP 26. we’re going to have about the transition.
sinks of carbon dioxide. The focus was We tried pretty hard to persuade people
entirely on this model of contraction to say that and nobody in the climate The other thing to take on board is that
and convergence, whereby per capita establishment is prepared to come out the world economy is about 80 per cent
emissions in rich countries would and acknowledge this really simple and dependent on fossil fuels for energy.
come down to a level where per capita obvious fact. The problem is it has some And I know students have been at the
emissions from developing countries uncomfortable implications for net zero forefront of calling for divestment, but
could come up and meet them. The strategies today, not all of which look [also] 80 per cent of the emissions that
only problem was that it didn’t square come from our use of fossil fuels actually
with the science. We couldn’t count on
Mother Nature mopping up any of our
‘Any remaining fossil are generated by other companies using
that energy: utilities, transportation.
carbon dioxide emissions. If we wanted carbon that we burn will
to stop the world from warming further,
we would have to actively take carbon
have to be balanced by There’s three things for the financial
markets to do. One is to allocate capital
dioxide back out of the atmosphere and geological disposal of into innovation and solutions. Number two,
dispose of it ourselves. This was a huge carbon dioxide’ why isn’t that happening? One reason is
shift in climate policy. because markets don’t have the data, the
like they’re on track to this fully durable, standards against which big deployment
Within six years of [such research] being balanced net zero that we need to be of capital can take place; we don’t have
published, 190 countries signed up to the aiming for by 2050. Above all, we are not the alignment of interests. We don’t have
Paris Agreement, which committed to remotely close to investing in our ability carbon pricing [or] incentives and rewards
achieving net zero in the second half of to dispose of carbon dioxide permanently internally lined up towards net zero.
this century. Going further, the pledges that we need to be if we’re actually going Thirdly, all the money in the world at the
to net zero in the Glasgow Climate Pact to make that goal. end of the day owns or finances part of
[COP 26], are just about enough to give the problem. The initiative Climate Action
us 50/50 odds of limiting warming to two 100+ has a $65 trillion fan club supporting
degrees. The crucial point is we can’t rely the work. Just to give you a sense of
on the biosphere to mop up fossil carbon A.S.: [In] planning for the transition to hope, Bloomberg New Energy Finance
emissions. net zero, we’ve got to put people at calculated that the net zero commitments
the centre. Back in 2015, the way that we’ve got from the companies we’re
To achieve a durable net zero, we have finance was being considered was, “All engaging so far adds up to about 25 per
to balance carbon fluxes between the we need is huge sums of money to be cent of global emissions. So the force of
geosphere, rocks and stuff underground deployed and we can solve this problem” ownership, the force of capital allocation,
like hydrocarbons, the biosphere, trees – this idea that physics and finance in but also the role of policymakers and
near coastal oceans –mangrove swamps combination can actually get us where regulators will be essential.
and so on – and the atmosphere. We we need to be. But putting people at
can’t afford a net zero which involves a the centre is essential, not just for our
steady flux of carbon from the geosphere common humanity, but also because the
to the biosphere, even if the atmosphere people provide the money that’s in the A.J.: [Unilever is] not an NGO. We are
is already stabilised, because that’s not a financial system. The global economy strongly driven by a profit motive. But
stable situation. In the end, any remaining is resting on the idea that the financial we believe that it’s wrong to have a
4 OXFORD UNIVERSITY CENTRE FOR CORPORATE REPUTATION
Changing the model: (l to r)
Rupert Younger, Professor
Myles Allen, Anne Simpson,
Alan Jope, Julia Hoggett
business strategy and a sustainability We have to fundamentally change some for, then to calculate and to be able to
strategy that are separate. We believe in of our business models. One of our put a number against – and possibly to
a multi-stakeholder model where, when divisions, home care, is basically bottles argue about – the net present value of
we take care of our team members, they of petrochemical-based chemistry, and future cash flows. Arguably, we need
take better care of our consumers and we’ve made the commitment that by a financial ecosystem that serves our
customers by doing the right thing for 2030, 100 per cent of the chemistry will natural ecosystem, being able to discount
our business partners, for society and come from green sources of carbon. It is for the future value of those cash flows
the planet, then our shareholders will be filling our R&D scientists with a blend of considered against the cost and the
preferentially rewarded. There is no trade- excitement and dread. impact on the planet. Now more of that
off between sustainable business choices has been done than people realise –
and better financial outcomes. There are some tailwinds. The consumer partly because it’s acronym soup and it
is in our favour. Investors are increasingly is intensely boring to people who want
Our vision is to be the global leader in to think about climate change as polar
sustainable business and in doing so
drive superior financial performance.
‘I believe in making sure bears, rather than international accounting
standards. But that is actually the pipes
Now, there are a number of strands. the transition takes place and plumbing that is already been created
First of all, our brands that offer solutions
to consumers that make a positive impact
in public, rather than in large measure. Not totally.
for society or the planet are growing three being allowed to hide I have stolen a comment from
times faster than the rest of our portfolio. in the shadows‘ Gil Scott-Heron to say that I think that
Secondly, the myth that sustainability the transition must be televised. I
costs more is nonsense. We believe in our favour Regulation is coming in the believe strongly [in] making sure that
we’ve saved about a billion euros over direction that we like. There are some the transition is taking place out loud
the last eight years through sustainable high-certainty scenarios: a carbon tax is in public with exactly the discipline
sourcing. Thirdly, we know that it reduces coming one way or another. Final point, that’s happening from investors, rather
risk. A planet that’s underwater or on our carbon plan went through in our than being allowed to hide away in
fire is not a great planet to be running a AGM last year with 99.6% shareholder the shadows where it will still find the
consumer goods business in. Last but not support. That’s given us a mandate. We financing, but won’t have the discipline
least, it’s a magnet for talent. think there are three huge challenges in attached to it. In the London Stock
the world right now: the degradation of Exchange we have one of the oldest
We’ve got all kinds of commitments nature, rampant inequality, and climate sustainable bond markets. We have a
out there. Three in particular keep me change. It’s going to require cooperation green economy market that we direct
awake at night. We’ve got some hugely across academia, government, business, capital to. Our fund market provides more
stretching plastics-reduction goals, civil society to tackle these big problems. financing into new technologies in green
which are due for delivery by 2025. than any other part of our market at the
We’ve said that everyone in our value moment, and we are building a voluntary
chain, not just our employees but our carbon market. But when I arrived, I said
suppliers and employees, will make at J.H.: I have a very simple logic for what to all the teams, “You’ve done a superb
least a fair living wage by 2030. We’ve I think stock exchanges are for: they are job in building this. We now need to
already sorted it in our own operations. to connect those who have capital with deconstruct it,” because if you look at
And the third commitment is that we’ll those who need capital in service of an how financing is currently directed into
be a net zero company by 2039. There’s objective. And there is no higher objective the green economy, it’s in very bifurcated
some easy wins: 100 per cent of the than getting to net zero. The classical parts of the economy. So you have a
electricity that we use is powered by capital markets ecosystem exists to
renewable electricity. But it’s not enough. figure out, to disclose and to account continued overleaf ➔
WWW.SBS.OXFORD.EDU/REPUTATION 5
Whether as a political adviser burnishing the image of former First Lady Michelle Obama,
or as a filmmaker salvaging the reputation of the writer Truman Capote, Ebs Burnough
has made it his mission to do battle with lazy stereotypes and to tell authentic stories.
THE BIG INTERVIEW: EBS BURNOUGH
Ebs Burnough paints a glamorous But it is his belief in the importance of abusive to her mother, certainly verbally
figure: slight, urbane, and super- context that truly defines him. “I think abusive. She grew up in a household
connected. He is many things: filmmaker, everyone is misunderstood,” he says. where her friends never came over…
writer, producer, and marketing and “My great-grandmother used to tell where you learn to keep secrets. That’s
communications executive. He came me that we are the sum of our life’s the key to her.”
to prominence as one of the team who experiences. When I first started to work
built the wealth of reputation capital that with President Obama, people used to He worked very closely with Michelle
powered Barack Obama’s first term in say to me, ‘Why can’t he be friendly as Obama. “Michelle is an interesting
office. Appointed as White House Deputy Bill Clinton?’ The reality is that Bill Clinton person because she is very analytical,
Social Secretary and political adviser to grew up in the shadow of an alcoholic as you would expect from a Princeton-
Michelle Obama, he eschewed the easy and abusive stepfather. All he wanted educated lawyer,” he says. “But she is
wins that come with over-simplification, was to be loved. Barack Obama was a also not dissimilar to Bill Clinton – she
delivering a broad and full picture of the black child raised by white grandparents can be at ease with 10 or 10,000 people,
President and First Lady during their in the very uniquely ‘other’ Hawaii. All and that is a product of her family
first term. he wants you to know is that he is the background, growing up in a working-
smartest person in the room.” As for class family in the South Side of Chicago.
Attention to detail defines Burnough. The key to that was to be the ultimate
We meet in his achingly cool sitting ‘I think everyone is chameleon. She was taught at a young
room studded with striking modern age to be able to be just as at ease with
art overlooking the west London misunderstood. My great- her cousins on the South Side as eating
skyline. When he speaks, he pauses grandmother used to tell lunch with the wealthy Pritzker family in
often to consider what he is going to
articulate next. It is an effective tactic, me, we are the sum of our their downtown mansion.”
giving his words dramatic effect. life’s experiences’ Burnough has most recently received
One would expect nothing less from a critical acclaim for writing and directing
communications and theatre major from Hillary Clinton, “You could make a strong The Capote Tapes, a documentary that
Northwestern University. case that her father was, if not physically seeks to dispel the “lazy stereotypes”
➔ continued from previous page the transition of those companies. We already have done, and we’ve
Our donation is to enable them to worked very closely with the UN
green bond, which is a very small part change that to 10,000 companies, and sustainable stock exchange initiative,
of the overall bond markets. My vision is [to] make that information public and because there should be nowhere
that by 2025, we will be able to look at available to everybody for free. that capital can hide.
the entirety of everything that’s traded
on our market and understand its impact We have a massive role to play in One final point, which is why I’m here:
on the environment. So I’ve said to the driving standards of disclosure. I used a lot of what we’re doing now, we’ll
team, “I now need to build a pathway for to be the director of market oversight find out in five years’ time wasn’t quite
the next four years to deconstruct the for the Financial Conduct Authority, in right. We are going to have to live with
very thing that you have built.” We have charge of securities market regulation complexity and change and evolution
to drive dialogue about the shape of in the UK. I was one of the people and embrace it, and we’re going to
capital markets. I describe it as, “Have in the room advocating for the UK need an entire generation of people
megaphone will use it.” to make TCFD (the Taskforce on who can talk physics and finance,
Climate-Related Financial Disclosures) and that’s why we need to transform
We’re also putting our money where mandatory in the UK, and the UK the way we think about academia
our mouth is. We’ve invested in the is the first country that has done and curricula.
Grantham Institute at the London that, which also means the London
School of Economics with the transition Stock Exchange has to be the first To watch “The path to net zero: why
pathway initiative (TPI). They currently stock exchange in the world to make and how for business and financial
cover 400 companies for free in sure we’ve produced guidance to markets”, go to: www.youtube.com/
using their methodology to assess companies on how to actually apply. watch?v=f7FyaiT2Pjc.
6 OXFORD UNIVERSITY CENTRE FOR CORPORATE REPUTATION
around the somewhat controversial
reputation of one of America’s most
iconic writers, Truman Capote. It is
the fulfilment of a long preoccupation.
He became a fan of Capote as a child
growing up in Tallahassee, Florida. “In
the American South [Capote] was part
of the canon,” he says. His motivation
for making the film was dissatisfaction
with the image that most people have
of the man, largely defined by the two during his time working with the Obamas. “He would have been amazing,”
biopic films – Infamous and Capote, for “When I took up the role of political Burnough agrees. “The brilliance of social
which Philip Seymour Hoffman won an adviser to Michelle, she was someone media, and the people who do it really
Oscar. Both focused on Capote’s writing who was being defined by outside forces well, is the ability to share everything.
of the notorious true crime/murder trial – whether it was political opponents in Capote would be on David Geffen’s
novel In Cold Blood and pandered to the GOP, or the press,” he says. “For boat snapping photos, he would be
example, when she appeared on the front in Paris, in Gstaad. He would be the
‘Michelle Obama was cover of the New Yorker magazine as the ultimate influencer.”
angry black woman fist-bumping Barack
being defined by outside with an afro and a gun over her shoulder. His latest project focuses on the fashion
forces – whether political That was kind of an Angela Davis, Black industry and, in particular, on the
opponents in the GOP Power look, and that is not who she is or
who she was.”
supermodels of the 1990s (the likes
of Claudia Schiffer, Cindy Crawford,
or the press’ Naomi Campbell and Kate Moss).
He seems to have a passion for giving “What fascinates me is that in the
what Burnough calls “the Capote lens” voice to those who have the courage 1980s, you rarely knew a model’s name.
of the writer’s own making. “I had always to stand up for what they believe in, You knew the fashion designers,” says
thought, that there seemed to be so often against the prevailing mood. His Burnough. “Come the 1990s, you knew
much more to this person,” he says. LinkedIn page cites civil rights and social the names of the fashion models and they
action among the causes he is interested eclipsed the fashion designers. Then, in
Those lazy stereotypes, such as his in. As a gay man himself, Burnough is the 2000s the actors eclipsed the fashion
reputation as a bitchy gossip, were ones particularly inspired by Capote’s very models, partly because, all of a sudden,
that Capote himself perpetuated through public – and at that time very risky – editors realised that you could put a
his relentless and successful pursuit of openness about his sexuality. “We never beautiful actor on the cover of Vogue and
celebrity – appearances on The Tonight hold Truman up as a successful gay sell more copies than the model. Not only
Show with Johnny Carson, profiles in icon. Here was an openly gay man at that – it was cheaper because they would
glossy magazines and the rest. The more a time when it was against the law… do it for free.” And now? “Nowadays, the
famous he became, the less he wrote who went on to The David Frost Show influencer has eclipsed the actor.”
and the less his peers thought of his unafraid to talk about his relationships.
work. “But the more I looked into it, Here is a person who wanted a child so Burnough is also producing a new
the more I felt that the real story of this much that he was prepared to adopt his Broadway show – a musical of The Devil
man had not been told,” says Burnough. lover’s daughter. Because of his wide Wears Prada, which will premiere in
“There was none of who he was in friendship group, he was making it far New York in 2023, with music by Elton
person, outside of what we saw on the more generally acceptable to be who John and Shaina Taub. In 2021 he was
chat shows. His writing – which really you really were.” made Chair of the Board of Trustees of
was extraordinarily great – came last in the Sundance Film Festival. In the press
the litany of things said about him.” Despite his admiration for Capote, he release announcing his appointment, he
doesn’t think they would have been is quoted as saying, “I pledge to continue
Burnough did not set out to rehabilitate friends. “He was too venal,” says to serve the Institute’s mission, as well
Capote. Instead, he wanted to tell a more Burnough, “someone who would never as advocate for conversations and actions
complete, more nuanced, contextualised respect confidences.” Which would have across Sundance and the storytelling
and complex story. This is a consistent made him a natural star of social media community at large to ensure all voices
thread in what Burnough does, including had he been alive today, I suggest? are heard.” Quite.
WWW.SBS.OXFORD.EDU/REPUTATION 7The challenge of producing a COVID-19 vaccine at unprecedented speed pushed Oxford
University’s scientists to their limit. Building trust and credibility around the vaccine for
a global audience was also a colossal task. James Colman, the University’s Director
of Public Affairs and Communications, explains the engagement strategy.
CASE STUDY: TELLING THE STORY
OF THE OXFORD VACCINE
The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine was trust in the vaccine; and promoting governments to the World Health
groundbreaking for the University in the wider public-health aspects of all Organisation, regulators and scientific
many different ways. To pick three: COVID-19 vaccinations. influencers, the global public, and our
it was an unprecedented scientific own staff and students.
challenge; it involved a brand new However, we knew the science by itself
partnership forged at breakneck speed would not be enough. Oxford researchers We quickly had to prioritise how best
between a public and a private sector were attempting something never done to reach those audiences, and by which
organisation; and – my particular area before. To build trust in the vaccine, we networks, relationships and type of
of expertise – it was an extraordinary knew the people behind it would be of media. The significant upside of the
communications challenge. From the equal importance. Despite not knowing global attention was that we were able
expectations around development of whether the vaccine would work (and the to choose who to work with, and doors
the vaccine and the safety of the trials vast majority don’t), we invited the world which may have been traditionally shut
to the credibility of the end product, in to have a ringside seat for the process of to a university swung open. The power
the face of extraordinary geopolitical and developing, trialling and getting approval of those networks and relationships
competitive “noise”, the contribution of for the vaccine. was probably the single most important
the University’s communications team underpinning aspect of our work, and
was an important one. In January 2020, we were treating we invested heavily in working with
the vaccine story as one among many them. We benefited hugely from existing
The success of the vaccine is unarguable: Oxford research news stories. That soon relationships with the scientific and
2.5 billion-and-counting doses to over changed as the enormity of the situation health community, and funders like
180 countries – more than any other became clear, and we reconfigured by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
COVID-19 vaccine – and the only one “at developing a dedicated communications However, these networks had to quickly
cost”. Communications is an enabling strategy and supporting plans integrated expand – either to encompass new
function, and it is never a good idea to supporters or increase the depth of
claim a direct cause and effect, despite
the best efforts of various evaluation
‘The power of networks existing relationships.
tools to do so. However, when Professor and relationships was Our tactical plans had to be highly
Sir Andrew Pollard, Director of the Oxford probably the most adaptable and fluid to match key vaccine
milestones and world events. The range,
Vaccine Group, says, “Communications
has been a core part of the team that important underpinning volume, intensity and scrutiny involved
made the Oxford Vaccine. Our comms aspect of our work’ was exceptional. News management
team have literally been in the thick of it was at times all-consuming. The first
with us and saved countless lives,” it is and spread across all the disciplines, 18 months featured over 50 proactive
worth reflecting on what we were able from internal communications, content stories on the vaccine, and we had our
to contribute and the lessons learnt in creation, event management, crisis scientists participate in over 40 global
“navigating the intensity and complexity communication, campaign planning, press conferences. The vast majority of
of a global media onslaught”, in Sir government relations and news our press conferences were conducted
Andrew’s words. management. We quickly learnt that with the fantastic support of the Science
small is beautiful but also brutal: having Media Centre, whose independent and
In setting out to present the as-yet a tight-knit and highly disciplined balanced involvement added to our
unproven vaccine concept in early 2020, core communications team that was commitment to transparency. We also
having the right, durable messaging and completely trusted by the scientists was dealt with over 60 breaking reactive
narratives from the start was crucial, certainly a plus, but it was extremely stories, for example managing the rare
and these had to be co-created with the demanding. We had to be agile, with blood clot side effect, and negative and
research team behind the vaccine. Our decisions made and approved at times damaging claims about the vaccine –
mission was to promote and defend within minutes rather than hours or days. whether from President Macron or from
Oxford’s vaccine as a “safe, effective, hostile German and US media. We took
easily distributed, and not-for-profit Adhering to the basic communications an early decision that we would never
vaccine for the world”. To support that principle of “knowing your audience” back away from the negative, but engage,
mission, we developed a narrative that becomes a somewhat daunting task explain and reassure.
focused on the science, emphasising when the world is banging on your
safety and efficacy; the scientific door. Our audiences and stakeholders When dealing with the breaking news
endeavour; building (and then rebuilding) were diverse and global, ranging from stories, we couldn’t always fall back on
8 OXFORD UNIVERSITY CENTRE FOR CORPORATE REPUTATIONIn the spotlight: (l to r) the Duke of Cambridge
and Professor Sir Andrew Pollard visiting the
Oxford Vaccine Group
media evaluation data or insights to guide
us: we had to rely on news judgement
and instinct and taking our bearings from
the core mission to make our decisions.
We learned to build resilience for the long
haul by rotating the “breaking story” lead
within the team, building a bank of pre-
cleared statements and Q&As for rapid
rebuttals, and by keeping perspective and
context, rather than just reacting. These
high-pressure moments also needed
close collaboration and alignment with
our AstraZeneca colleagues, and with
governments and scientific partners
around the world. The global always-on
nature of our news management work
was no doubt the most challenging and
exhausting part of the campaign, with
little let-up for around six months.
We also undertook significant media
training and preparation and brought
in a dedicated media trainer for the
scientists early on – one with deep Q&A series, using insights and questions BBC news report was being circulated
political expertise. I knew that if the from our audiences. All have been viewed that one of the first people on the trial
vaccine worked, this would rapidly move millions of times. Social media storytelling had died suddenly. We worked with
away from being a purely scientific story around key moments – preparation, Fergus Walsh, the BBC’s medical editor,
to a geopolitical one, and I wanted our signposting and ready content – was to quickly conduct a “proof of life”
scientists to be prepared. I also wanted crucial, as well as intense social media interview – which Walsh then tweeted –
to ensure that this training didn’t seek to engagement/community management and with the social media companies to
alter how they presented themselves. around key vaccine milestones when remove the fake.
Credibility and trust is born from public interest was high. On the day of
authenticity, and we never tried to make our interim results announcement, we This marked the start of a number of
them into something they were not. were getting over 50,000 messages misinformation, fake news and anti-
The training focused on messaging and an hour. vaxxer attacks on the vaccine and the
adapting to lines of questioning with calm scientists. Probably the most-high profile
reassurance and clarity, rather than about
posture and what not to wear.
‘I knew that if the vaccine was an alleged Russian disinformation
campaign, which featured as a front
worked, this would page story in the Times newspaper. We
We also knew that to build trust, the
vaccine story needed much more time
rapidly move from being worked closely with the paper for three
weeks ahead of that story. We were very
and space than the news cycle could a scientific story to a aware of the impact that these attacks,
offer, and we needed to reach different geopolitical one’ including death threats, were having on
audiences in different ways to support the scientists. Significant credit needs to
that effort. Our scientists participated Throughout, our relationship and go to the support that colleagues within
in extended media presentations of all alignment with government on multiple specialist government units (including the
kinds, online, print and broadcast. levels was very close and constant National Cyber Security Centre) gave us
(sometimes hourly). It was built on trust, in combating them.
The range of activity was huge: from and a shared vision and belief in the
newspaper features to embedding vaccine and the team. Sitting behind The scope and scale of the vaccine
TV documentary crews at an early Sir Andrew Pollard’s press conference campaign has been unlike anything in
stage – BBC and Netflix – and personal from 10 Downing Street, and the Zoom the University’s near 900-year history,
profile-interviews of key scientists on call when Oxford and AstraZeneca and success depended on many moving
programmes such as BBC Radio 4’s The informed the Prime Minister that parts, chief among them: concentrating
Life Scientific. There was also bespoke the vaccine was safe and effective, our energies on high impact areas;
content for children’s, religious and even was months of formal and informal trusting judgment and instinct rather
comedy programmes. engagement (at all hours) with ministers, than relying purely on evaluation tools;
officials and, in particular, the special depending on a small agile team
Compelling digital content was a advisors (SpAds). trusted by the scientists; and, above
priority. We created a vaccine hub all, coherence around an authentic core
website covering all our news stories, We also had to develop a new capability narrative that helped foster the vital
but also information on the vaccine’s to manage fake news. The first overt mechanisms of trust.
development, profiling the Oxford team, incident was two days after the first
engaging infographics and “explainer” trial volunteers had had their injections. James Colman is a Professorial Fellow at
videos and even a curated live lecture/ Late on the Saturday evening, a fake Mansfield College, Oxford.
WWW.SBS.OXFORD.EDU/REPUTATION 9From complex issues of consent to programming bias and the possible discrimination
that results, artificial intelligence (AI) carries a host of risks along with its undoubted
benefits. We examine the causes of some notable failures in this area, and how
understanding the dynamics of stakeholder perceptions can help mitigate the fallout.
RESEARCH FOCUS:
THE REPUTATIONAL RISKS OF AI
Artificial intelligence (AI) is fast Understanding the nature of failure race, gender, sexual orientation, age,
developing into a ubiquitous technology, or socio-economic background. For
with applications across all aspects of AI systems are applied across a wide example, the Apple Credit Card launched
business and society. Yet as AI becomes range of contexts and, as a result, can in 2019 was providing larger credit lines
more prevalent, the number of cases go wrong in many different ways. The to men than women, with – in one
where its application violates social first step of our analysis identified three reported case – a male tech entrepreneur
norms and values rises. A prominent types of failure from our case studies. being given a credit limit 20 times that
example is the 2018 Cambridge Analytica The most common reputational impact of his wife despite her having the higher
scandal that plunged Facebook into from AI failure derives from privacy credit score.
crisis. Behind the Facebook scandal is intrusion of privacy, which accounts for
half of our cases. Privacy has recently The third reputational impact of AI failure
an increasingly prominent phenomenon:
become a much higher preoccupation for arises from the problem of explainability.
as more companies adopt AI to increase
stakeholders. Regulatory interventions These account for 14 per cent of our
the efficiency and effectiveness of their
such as the EU’s General Data Protection cases. Here AI is often described as
products and services, they expose
Regulation and the California Consumer a “black box” from which people are
themselves to new and potentially
Privacy Act have made consumers more not able to explain the decision that the
damaging controversy associated with aware of their rights when it comes to AI algorithm has reached. The criticism
its use. When AI systems violate social safeguarding privacy. There are two – or concerns – stem from the fact that
norms and values, organisations are at related, yet distinct, failures embedded people are usually only informed of the
great risk, and single events have the here: consent to use the data, and final decisions made by AI, whether that
potential to cause lasting damage to consent to use the data for the intended be loan grants, university admission or
their reputation. insurance prices, but have no idea how
AI can fail in many ways. We focus on
‘Organisations face or why the decisions are made. This
problem has become of increasing public
AI ethical failures in which AI technology significant temptations to concern, as AI systems are making
has been deployed and caused public
controversy by violating social norms
use all the data they have decisions that are directly affecting
individual well-being. Key examples
and values. For example, Amazon’s access to irrespective of include embedding AI in in medical
Rekognition face search and identification users’ consent’ image analysis, and using AI to guide
technology has been accused of serious autonomous vehicles.
gender bias, while Google faced an purpose. A good example of using data
internal backlash for helping the US without consent is the case of the retailer Looking across all 106 cases of AI failure,
government analyse drone footage using Target, which actively mined consumer the most frequent problems are privacy
AI. Despite the growing reputational risk data without consent in order to deliver and bias. Together they account for more
caused by AI failure, most companies new revenue opportunities. Yet privacy than four out of five failure cases. The
are strategically unprepared to respond violation can also occur when using data common theme that runs across these
that has been obtained with consent, failures is the integrity of the data used
effectively to the public controversies
but used for a purpose not consented by the AI system. AI systems work best
that accompany AI-related criticisms. We
for. For example, DeepMind accessed when they have access to lots of data.
thus put forward a framework enabling
data from 1.6 million patients in a London Organisations face significant temptations
organisations to diagnose the reputational
hospital trust to develop its healthcare to acquire and use all the data they have
risk of AI failures and to develop their
app streams. Neither the hospital nor access to irrespective of users’ consent
response strategies more systematically. DeepMind explicitly told patients that (“data creep”) or neglect the fact that
their information would be used to customers have not given their explicit
In our research, we analysed 106 cases develop the app. consent for this data to be used (“scope
involving AI controversy, identifying the
creep”). In both cases, the firm violates
root causes of stakeholder concerns and The second most common reputational the privacy rights of the customer by
reputational issues that arose. We then impact of AI failure is algorithmic bias, using data it had not been given consent
reviewed the organisational response which accounts for 30 per cent of our to use in the first place, or to use for the
strategies, setting out three steps for cases. It refers to reaching a prediction purpose at hand.
how organisations should respond that systematically disadvantages (or
to an AI failure in order to safeguard even excludes) one group – for example The bias problem is often referred to
their reputation. based on personal identifiers such as as “algorithmic bias”, yet algorithms
10 OXFORD UNIVERSITY CENTRE FOR CORPORATE REPUTATIONare value-free and inherently agnostic.
Grasping the contextual nature of
protected variables, such as age, race,
gender and sexual orientation, requires
a cognitive understanding that is beyond
their reach. The root cause for algorithmic
bias rests firmly with the veracity of
the data used. Bias can emerge when
customer preferences shift and machine
learning models are not retrained. As
they work with increasingly outdated
data (which they were trained on), their
Adapted from photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash
predictions become biased (“model
creep”). But even with up-to-date
data, AI models can “learn” from the
inherent bias in the real-world data,
so that their prediction can reinforce
or replicate the existing bias. In short,
lack of data integrity underpins the vast
majority of AI failures. Having that clear
sense of what lies at the heart of AI
failure is vital to understand how a given
failure is perceived by stakeholders,
and how these failings translate into
reputational harm.
quality of the training data, they tend to For example, Facebook has been
Understanding the nature of judge the capability of the organisation criticised for sending micro-targeted
the criticism based on whether the AI system works advertisements to users based on
Organisational reputations are the or not – that is, how accurate, reliable and information harvested from their profiles,
result of dyadic interactions between robust the AI system is. In this sense, which helps Facebook predict purchasing
stakeholder perceptions of the an organisation can suffer reputation behaviour. While such actions do not
organisation’s actions and information loss if it is unable to deliver promised or cross legal limits on data use, stakeholder
signals sent by that organisation. expected performance. An example here responses to this activity indicate that
Organisations have choices about the they dislike the way in which Facebook
is IBM, which had promised to create
different actions and messaging they seeks to try to “weaponise” our own data
an “AI doctor” that offered speedy and
against us for their own profit.
adopt with different stakeholders. Hence, accurate diagnosis and prescription for
the key to addressing reputational risks patients. However, as the company rolled
We coded all cases according to how
arising from AI failures is to analyse the
stakeholder sentiment was reflected
different perceptions behind the criticism,
as different perceptions demand different
‘Stakeholders’ concerns through an analysis of national, regional
signalling strategies. are often focused on what and trade media commentary. A pattern
AI strategies reveal about that yields further insights emerges:
privacy AI failures are most commonly
We posit that stakeholders’ perceptions
of AI failures can be grouped into two the values and priorities attributed to perceived bad character
independent yet equally important of the organisation’ (accounting for 43 per cent of all
cases), while bias AI failures are more
dimensions: perceptions of capability, and
commonly attributed to shortfalls in
perceptions of character. Stakeholders out the product and it consistently failed the organisation’s perceived capability
make two primary types of reputational to deliver on its core promise, it lost the (accounting for 24 per cent of all cases).
assessments of an organisation. On the confidence of the public. Explainability failings are, likewise, mostly
one hand, they are concerned about
attributed to perceptions of bad capability
what the organisation is capable of doing, With reference to perceptions about (accounting for 11 per cent of all cases).
so that they judge it by its abilities and the organisational character in AI failure, This indicates that stakeholders do not
resources. On the other hand, people stakeholders decide whether they just attribute failure to explain how AI
pay attention to what the organisation
perceive the organisation’s decisions works to some desire to hide the truth
would likely do when faced with different
and responses to be appropriate. In (bad character), but rather to a lack of
circumstances, that is, whether its
this sense, they are assessing the technical competence (bad capability).
intentions and goals are benevolent
organisation’s approach to governance
or malevolent.
as well as perceptions of the moral and Extracted from “The reputational risks of
In the light of an AI failure, with reference ethical belief systems of its leaders. AI” (California Management Review –
to perceptions of capability, stakeholders Organisations often think of their AI https://cmr.berkeley.edu/2022/01/the-
will come to a judgement on whether solely in technological terms, focusing on reputational-risks-of-ai/) by Matthias
they perceive the organisation to be the desired positive capability impacts. Holweg, American Standard Companies
competent in developing and managing However, stakeholders’ AI concerns Professor of Operations Management,
its AI. Given that most stakeholders are often not primarily focused on and Director of the Oxford Artificial
have limited access to such information these technical aspects, but on what AI Intelligence Programme at Oxford Saïd,
as resources owned by an organisation, strategies reveal about the values and our Eni Research Fellow Yuni Wen and
appropriateness of the algorithms and priorities of the organisation itself. our centre director Rupert Younger.
WWW.SBS.OXFORD.EDU/REPUTATION 11NEWS AND EVENTS
“The reputational risks of AI”, a paper
co-authored by our Eni Research Fellow
Yuni Wen, with Professor Matthias
APPOINTMENTS
Holweg of Oxford Saïd and our director
We are delighted to announce the Dize Dinckol is working with Pinar
Rupert Younger, was published in
appointment of two new Postdoctoral Ozcan, Professor of Entrepreneurship
the California Management Review in
Research Fellows: and Innovation at Oxford Saïd and
January. See the extract on pp10-11.
Director of the Oxford Future
Ximeng Fang is working of Finance and Technology
In February, Rupert Younger chaired a
on a project that (Fintech) Initiative, on
panel entitled “The path to net zero –
evaluates the potential of strategising for trust in AI-
why and how for business and financial
edutainment and virtual based financial services. Her
markets”, as part of Oxford Saïd’s
reality for fostering pro- current research particularly
initiative, “Business – the next 25 years”.
environmental behaviour focuses on the drivers and
It featured the Oxford University
(see p3), with Stefania obstacles of trust in autonomous
geoscientist Professor Myles Harris,
Innocenti, Departmental B2C financial services and
sustainable investment director Anne
Research Lecturer at the how they impact business-
Simpson, Alan Jope, CEO of Unilever
Smith School of Enterprise model design and strategy
(both Visiting Fellows with our centre), and and the Environment, and in fintech firms. Dize’s
Julia Hoggett, CEO of the London Stock Alan Morrison, Professor broader research interests
Exchange. See our extract on pp4-6. of Law and Finance at sit at the intersection of
Oxford Saïd. entrepreneurship, strategy
Rupert Younger also took part in a and business models in the
podcast with Robin Nuttal of McKinsey Ximeng’s research interests context of artificial intelligence,
& Company management consultants lie in behavioural economics, fintech and regulated markets.
entitled,“The role of ESG in purpose”. environmental economics, and
To listen, go to: tinyurl.com/c8xuw8w2. applied microeconomics. His Dize completed her PhD in Business
methodological portfolio includes and Management at Warwick Business
Our DPhil student Tanja Ohlson has the design of randomised field School. Her dissertation focused on
been part of an interdisciplinary group experiments and the use of quasi- the UK banking industry following
of German scientists that presented experimental methods. He has Open Banking regulations (PSD2
an advisory report on climate change studied the role of non-monetary in the EU), with special attention
mitigation to the German government interventions in encouraging to entrepreneurial strategies and
in February. She provided expertise household energy and water business models of fintechs. She has
on leveraging sustainable finance. conservation, such as through smart a master’s degree in Political Economy
See the report here (in German): www. metering and digital technology. He of Emerging Markets from King’s
wissenschaftsplattform-klimaschutz.de/ holds a master’s degree in Economics College London, and a bachelor’s
de/wpks-jahresgutachten-2021.html. from the University of Bonn and an degree in Industrial Engineering from
undergraduate degree in Business Bilkent University. She received the
This term’s R:ETRO webinars Administration from the University of 2018 Strategic Management Society
– Reputation: Ethics, Trust, and Mannheim, and is completing his PhD Research in Organisations Award as
Relationships at Oxford – convened by in Economics at the Bonn Graduate part of her open banking research team
our Intesa Sanpaolo Research Fellow School of Economics (BGSE). at Warwick University.
Rita Mota, with Alan Morrison,
Professor of Law and Finance, were:
“Being relational: what identity-work business ethics”. For more information early September – will once again be
can and cannot do for us in diversity and links to the complete seminars, see in person. We will also be making two
and inclusion programmes”; “Why the our website (below) under Events. academic awards: for best dissertation
market failures approach (MFA) needs and best published paper, completed/
virtue”; “The utility of trust: interpersonal, SYMPOSIUM AND AWARDS published between 2019 and 2021. The
institutional, and technological”; and We are excited that this year our submission deadline is 31 May. More
“A structural injustice approach to Reputation Symposium – in late August/ information on our website (below).
CONTACT US
We welcome your feedback. Please send any comments to: reputation@sbs.ox.ac.uk. The Oxford University Centre
for Corporate Reputation is an independent research centre which aims to promote a better understanding of the
ways in which the reputations of corporations, institutions and individuals are created, sustained, enhanced, destroyed
and rehabilitated.
For details of our activities, previous issues of Reputation and free subscription, see: www.sbs.oxford.edu/reputation.
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