More evidence that the Era of Transparency is upon us: Reputation risk management is on the rise, according to the Conference Board.

The organization has just published a new report in the topic.

Why is it on the rise? There are several reasons, including the development of methodologies that quantify the value of reputation and the growing impact of social media (and the continued failure of most companies to address this impact).

“Although consumers and investors are increasingly gathering information from blogs, online forums, and social networking sites, only 34 percent of the survey respondents said they extensively monitor such sites, and only 10 percent actively participated in them,” the report’s authors assert.

How can companies strengthen their reputation risk management capabilities?

In several ways, according to the report; here are five high-level, semi-useful recommendations:

• Actively involve boards of directors in reputation risk management;

• Demonstrate to leaders and management teams in business units the impact of their actions on reputation;

• Integrate reputation risk management with ERM or other risk management programs;

• Quantify the value of reputation; and

• Use and nurture employees as corporate ambassadors. ###