Rothstein Associates Inc.

WALTZING WITH THE RAPTORS:
A PRACTICAL ROADMAP TO PROTECTING YOUR COMPANY'S REPUTATION
by Glen Peters

"A good reputation in today's fast-paced world of financial and business
communications
is an essential asset for any company and its leaders. Glen Peters offers a sensible,
disciplined guide to earning the respect of even your harshest critics." -Dana Mead, CEO,
Tenneco

"I have long believed that companies can only hope to operate successfully if they
have
an invisible 'License to Operate' from their employees, customers, partners, and
shareholders, together with society as a whole. This excellent book points out that these
relationships are under increasing threat from predators and require cohesive, coherent, and
well thought out management if companies are to succeed. The company's reputation is no
longer in the category of 'nice to have', it is now absolutely crucial for continued survival." - Sir
John Harvey-Jones, former Chairman, ICI (U.K.)

""Glen Peters's fine book focuses on the importance of the employees and the
environment to a company's bottom line, in addition to stockholders. His recommendations
fit
with findings that large companies that pay attention to these factors historically outperform
those that don't." - Jeff Seglin, Visiting Fellow, Center for the Study of Values in Public Life,
Harvard University

""Waltzing with the Raptors cogently and engagingly shows how managers who
actively
listen and are responsive to their company's stakeholders, who monitor, verify and report on
performance, can transform powerful and feisty critics into partners, thereby protecting and
enhancing their company's reputation." -Alice Tepper Martin, President, Council on
Economic Priorities


"The Velociraptor was among creation's most ferocious predators, and its killer
instinct
lives on in the form of well intentioned but deadly activist groups ready to shred and devour
your company's reputation.

"Waltzing with the Raptors presents the cutting edge concept of Reputation
Assurance,
an indispensable system for measuring a company's reputation and social accountability.
Adhering to the belief that business has the power to build prosperous global communities,
Glen Peters identifies the practical steps that any company can take to achieve, monitor, and
maintain a solid reputation. Based on a global study of multinationals in North America,
Europe, and Asia, Reputation Assurance is used by PricewaterhouseCoopers, the global
thought leaders.

"The first step in learning how to waltz is listening to the music, or rather, listening
to the
wishes of the wide constituency of institutions and people who inhabit the world market. As
recently as the last decade, products were still being launched based almost entirely on the
opinion of the R&D department. Today, a product launch without detailed market research
would be considered reckless if not suicidal. Likewise, it is no longer safe for senior
executives to take management actions and make decisions in the belief that they can
interpret the wishes of their shareholders, employees, customers, and the society in which
they operate. When Shell went ahead with plans to sink a defunct North Sea oil platform, it
sought the approval of the U.K. government, but failed to acknowledge Greenpeace and the
millions of Shell customers who forced a company U-turn. Civil rights groups, religious
organizations, single-issue parties, and many others make up the stirring medley of people
companies have to listen to, to keep waltzing.

"Reputation Assurance applies a framework of principles for business excellence
across
the company. The new paradigm ensures fair and competitive returns for shareholders,
understands and meets customer expectations and guarantees, offers employees fair
compensation, honesty, and openness in communication, and takes suggestions and
complaints seriously. Finally, the framework promotes corporate accountability to society as
a whole by contributing to the economic power of its citizens, promoting human rights,
disclosing relevant information, and respecting at all times local culture and laws. Waltzing,
after all, isn't just fancy footwork but an art. Once companies learn and practice the steps,
they will find their reputations admired by all."

CONTENTS
Introduction
PART I THE NEW SETTING
1 What's Changed
PART II HANDLING ACTIVE STAKEHOLDERS
2 Employees-Working Smarter
3 Society-All Is Not What It Seems
4 Valuing the Customer
5 Partners in Success
6 Shareholders-Looking after Number One
PART III APPLYING REPUTATION ASSURANCE TO YOUR OWN FIRM
7 The Reputation Assurance Framework
8 The Reputation Route Map
9 That Couldn't Happen Here
10 Questions and Answers
APPENDIXES
A Retail International Reputation Report 1998
B Nongovernmental Organization (NGO) Mission Statements
C The Reputation Assurance Framework
The Framework
Principles Matrix
Effectiveness Indicators
Bibliography
Index


ABOUT THE AUTHOR
"GLEN PETERS is a Partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers and has written two
previous
books, Beyond the Next Wave and Benchmarking Customer Service. He lectures and
consults in the United States and lives in London."

1999, 285 pages. Order #DR435, $28.50.

4 Arapaho Rd.

Brookfield, CT 06804-3104

1-888-ROTHSTEin

Telephone: 203.740.7444; 888.768.4783

Fax: 203.740.7401

All bookstore enquiries should be sent to Rothstein Associates at the above address.

Looking for Practical Knowledge?