According to Reputation Matters, ethics and reputation are inextricably linked. Organisations have experienced how a lack of integrity resulted in a ruined reputation with a disastrous impact on its bottom line. Businesses, government leaders and communication professionals should understand this link.

The APRA will be hosting the 32nd annual APRA Conference in Dar es Salam, Tanzania from Monday, 11 May to Friday, 15 May. The focus of the conference will be on Africa's march to economic integration and the role that public relations plays in helping to create trust and ultimately to build the narrative for 'One Africa.' 

For the third consecutive year, APRA is conducting research among business leaders and communication experts across the continent to find out what they think of ethics and reputation management in Africa.

"Annually, this study delivers fascinating insights into the state of the public relations and communication industry, as well as providing a view on ethical business as a whole," says Yomi Badejo-Okusanya, president of APRA.

The research investigates how ethics and reputation are managed across three levels:
  • individual,
  • organisational, and
  • national across the African continent.
"On an individual level, the 2019 research found that ethics is the driving force behind people's decision-making," says Badejo-Okusanya. "When it comes to the business world though, there appears to be a disconnect between how the different levels within an organisation perceive ethics and reputation management — with CEOs and other top-level management scoring their organisations' ethical practices 12% higher than junior and middle management do."

"From questions around national government, it is apparent that there is a major opportunity for African leaders to incorporate ethics into all decision making," adds Badejo-Okusanya. 

"Botswana was perceived to be the most ethical country in Africa in the 2018 and 2019 studies," says Chanell Kemp, reputation specialist at Reputation Matters. "This year, we would love to garner even greater response rates from a larger number of African countries."

"To that end, we are introducing a Portuguese survey in addition to the English and French online questionnaires. We invite everyone to participate in the survey and we look forward to seeing the results. Ultimately, our aim is to build greater awareness of the importance of ethics and reputation management on the African continent," adds Kemp.

Individuals can select one of the following links according to their respective language preferences. The survey is completely anonymous unless one chooses to provide information. The survey will be open until Monday, 23 March at 17:00.
For more information, visit www.afpra.org or www.reputationmatters.co.za. You can also contact info@afpra.org or research@reputationmatters.co.za.