Rubber brands

Everybody makes mistakes. And businesses are no different. The first few months of 2010 have given us plenty of case studies to consider: BP, Goldman Sachs, Nestlé, Toyota, Eurostar (I know, it was December, but it's close enough!). But when that happens - when a business makes a mistake - are they strong enough to bounce back? Have they got a rubber brand?

When you look at those examples, I think you can put them into two categories:
1/ A fault in the companies product
(Toyota and Eurostar)
2/ A fault in the companies culture
(BP, Goldman Sachs and Nestlé)

My feeling is that it's easier to recover from a failure in your product, than it is from a failure in your culture.

If your product doesn't work, you fix it. It might be expensive - look at Toyota - but you can fix it. It's a physical problem, so when it's fixed, you can prove it. You can show everyone that the fault has been rectified. You might still have a lot of apologising to do, but you've got evidence to prove that you have addressed the problem.

If there's a failure in your culture that's much harder. Let's take a look at BP. There's been a lot of media coverage of the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. The spotlight has been turned on BP and their safety record and questions are being asked about the culture of an organisation that allows so many mistakes to happen, at the cost of their employees lives (11 men died in the Deepwater Horizon disaster). The culture of an organisation (and the values that shape it) start at the top (and hopefully filter all the way down). So if there's a failure at the top of an organisation, how do you fix that?

The other thing with culture is that it's intangible. A product either works or it doesn't. It's black or white. With culture it's harder to see the change - it takes time. And that's something that customers aren't always willing to give to a company that makes mistakes.

So what does it take to be a rubber brand? Is it a culture of honesty and transparency, a willingness to admit your faults and put them right? Or is it tenacity and beligerence, ploughing ahead, regardless?

Let me know what you think.