Well, according to The Conference Board Reputation Risk Research Working Group and a survey of 148 risk management executives of major corporations, only 49% said that the management of reputation risk was highly integrated with their enterprise risk management (ERM) function.

Maybe the lack of concern is because the role of “reputation risk management” isn’t really something you want your typical risk management guy worrying about–let him worry about the liability insurance and employee identity-cards.

Instead, let the chief PR guy or head of marketing take responsibility for managing and monitoring the company’s reputation management because right now, only 34% of risk managers give a hoot about monitoring social media and a mere 10% actively participate. Can you imagine if your VP of communications informed you that he wasn’t too worried about social media?

The report isn’t all bad news. While risk managers may not quite “get it” they are at least making an effort to better understand reputation management with 81% saying they’ve increased their focus on reputation management over the past 3 years.

Which leads me to a question. Who do you think should be responsible for a company’s reputation management? A risk manager, marketing, PR, or all of the above?

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And that kind of explains everything. Like…

Why do financial bubbles happen? Why does sex sell? Why do men, especially men in power, seem to make bone-headed sex decisions? Why do some men walk into a strip club with rent money and walk outside without? Why do attractive young saleswomen seem to be preferred by pharmaceutical companies? Why is Vegas so successful? Why will Internet users risk viruses and phishing scams to see (yet another) titillating image via questionable links?

Testosterone, it turns out, makes you a bit of a doofus sometimes. It’s all just part of being a chimp*.

In a Stanford study, men exposed to an erotic image were more likely afterward to take a big gamble. When given $10 and the choice to bet a dollar or a dime, men made the larger gamble more often when exposed to eroticism than when exposed to snakes, spiders, or various office supplies.

Meanwhile, across the Pond at Cambridge, researchers found that higher levels of testosterone among day traders were linked to bigger financial gambles on the trading floor. Even more telling, the act of winning after a gamble increases testosterone, which makes men more likely to continue gambling at higher and higher stakes. This is called "the winner effect."

Thus, bubbles get bigger and bigger until they bust. Thus, every crazy risk you’ve ever seen a man take (Spitzer, anyone?) may be due to that dastardly, daring hormone.

^{_{*Whether or not you ascribe to the DNA scientists’ assertion that humans are 98% chimpanzee is up to you. But it does help me to explain LOTS of things about human behavior, and in this case, the role of testosterone in putting on grand displays to impress the ladies. Just watch any teenage boy around a gaggle of girls and try not to think of a male ape beating his chest.}}