The power of ideas — Reputation management and successful change

Historical and political transformation research shows that societal upheavals — such as the development of nation states at the beginning of the Enlightenment or the transformation of the political, economic and societal systems in Eastern Europe after the Cold War — were given decisive momentum by the respectively dominant idea systems, e.g. the nation state, democracy and human rights. The inspiration for these mega-transformations, which caused profound changes in all areas of life for millions of people, came from a surprisingly small number of people who moulded and asserted the idea systems of their times by dint of their position in society and in opinion-forming environments. This contribution examines what conclusions can be drawn from this observation for corporate change processes and what role can be played in this context by active reputation management. A concrete example from the financial sector will be given to show how the observance of the laws of modern reputation management can become the key to successful change management.