By: Natasha Archary
Following reactions on social media after a woman found a rat baked into a loaf of bread she had purchased, Refilwe Moloto decided to gain more insight into why corporate companies find it difficult to apologize.
Tshepo Matseba, Managing Director of Reputation 1st joins Refilwe in discussion, taking a closer look at an increasing trend in the corporate landscape, where companies are reluctant to apologise for their mistakes.
Despite the growing trend of consumers demanding accountability and transparency, many corporations seem to be struggling with the simple act of saying “sorry.”
As was the case when Nombulelo Mkumla was left disgusted after she found a rat baked into a loaf of bread she had purchased from a store.
Sharing her story, Nombulelo said she purchased the loaf of Sasko whole wheat brown bread from a Spar in Durban on 27 August.
That day, Nombulelo made some toast after work, eating the bread. The following day she did the same thing.
On the morning of 31 August, Nombulelo took the bread out of the fridge ready to make some toast and noticed something disgusting and scary.
The irate Nombulelo said she did not hear back from Pioneer Foods until Friday afternoon, 06 September when a man from Sasko called her.
Matseba says organisations take their time to offer an apology and admit wrongdoing when they believe negative situations will affect their share price, company reputation and consumer trust.
“The reality is, the world over companies are finding themselves in murky situations where their products or brand is involved and their reputation is at a higher risk.
As an entity, you are not responsible for the entity alone. As an example, the management of Tiger Brands is not accountable for the entity alone, there are employees, there are different stakeholders and there are shareholders.
Where companies get it wrong is that they forget their very existence is about shared value, where society benefits, shareholders benefit and various other stakeholders benefit.”
Matseba says companies should take accountability for instances where there’s loss of life, instead of denying fault initially and going the legal route.
Listen to the conversation on Kaya Biz:
Also read: Australia to introduce minimum age limit for social media
