Alphabetti Spaghetti Job Titles

I remember when I started out in my career that the whole existence of the "Chief-Something-Officer" just didn't really hit the radar. Everything was about "Directors", with the epitome of one's career being the "Managing Director". How times change, heavily influenced (yet again) from our illustrious friends from across the pond. From the Chief Executive Officer stable came Financial and Marketing variants, closely followed by Information and Knowledge. Then banks came out with a Risk variant, post-911.

Now, hot on the heels of the sub-prime credit crunch comes the Chief Reputation Officer at Merrill Lynch. Fabulous. How do you write a job description for that one ?

What is most important to understand is what the very existence of such a role says about the company employing such a nebulous executive. Is it effectively saying that everyone else doesn't need to worry about reputation because Johnny PR has it all covered ? I firmly believe that, in today's online world, it is everyone's responsibility to defend a company's reputation, not just the senior management or, in this case, the CRO. But in a world where CSR is becoming such a hot topic, why shouldn't there be an equivalent and equally important initiative around Corporate Reputation ? Surely it's in everyone's interests to elevate and maintain a respectable and moral reputation for today's corporations. And it is the acts of the masses that can make a difference, not poor old Mr CRO at Merrill Lynch.