Keizai Koho Center held a seminar on how global companies should communicate in an increasingly complex international environment. The discussion was deepened in the form of a dialogue in which Mr. Alexander Geiser, Chief Executive Officer of FGS Global, who has extensive knowledge and experience in the field of strategic communications, answered questions from Mr. Reed Stevenson, Senior Editor of Bloomberg. Around 65 executives and staff members from the public relations department of Keizai Koho Center member companies took part in the event.

Mr. Geiser explained that the public relations department should work closely with the company executives to filter out information and disseminate it effectively in uncertain international situations. As companies face increasingly complex issues, they should communicate effectively with stakeholders. It is not uncommon to see stakeholders come into conflict and shareholder activists making tough demands on companies and their executives from various aspects.

Mr. Geiser noted that in these circumstances, a company’s public relations department should work closely with the company’s executives to eliminate “noise,” or information that is unpersuasive and meaningless, and instead become a sender of “signals,” or information that is accurate and effective. In order for the management team to confidently address stakeholders, he added, it is critical to obtain intelligence and information from both internal and external sources in order to comprehend the true situation rather than only following precedent.

Additionally, he clarified that activist attacks are not necessarily negative and can sometimes suggest an approach to improve management. For this reason, he said, companies should view this as an opportunity to innovate and tackle issues more ambitiously. They may also utilize it to reform their businesses and achieve new growth.

In terms of crisis management, Mr. Geiser emphasized the importance of the role of external experts and the media. In the event of a corporate crisis, companies can act quickly and effectively by having countermeasures ready beforehand. Therefore, it is crucial to seek appropriate advice from external experts and provide valuable suggestions to company executives.

He also mentioned that one way to properly manage a company’s reputational risk is to have the media report the facts objectively. He concluded that rather than avoiding the media, it is more meaningful to communicate with reporters in a sincere and positive way, and to convey correct information with passion.