As the Montenegro contract and claims of bribery blow their wind on all the local headlines, everybody’s response was that of disgust. Politicians and influencers rush to speak of another hit to our reputation and warn of dire consequences for our economy. Yet, after four years of news on Panama, Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder, the three ‘Kinks’ and possible bribery in the PN, do we still believe we have a reputation to save?
Reputation is generally held as people’s beliefs and opinions on who we are and what we do. Reputation shapes people’s decisions on whether businesses invest in Malta. In turn, this affects our jobs, the money we make and the lifestyle we live. If we are to somehow save our reputation, we really need to understand how it works.
Imagine you hear of an amazing restaurant. You go, enjoy it, go again and start recommending it.
Then after three years the quality of the food drops. At first you forgive them but if it happens again you might never go back. And when you see adverts of that restaurant, not only will you not go but all you will feel is betrayal.
Can we recover our reputation? In 2016, Volkswagen were accused of intentionally placing software in its cars to manipulate emissions results during testing.
The result of this exposure cost the company tens of billions of dollars in lawsuits and a tarnished reputation.
As the company adjusted its ways the carmaker became the highest producing vehicle maker by 2018, overtaking Toyota.
Volkswagen recovered its reputation because its consistent quality outweighed its mistake. It was its consistent focus on quality that allowed it to bounce back so quickly.
If Malta is to recover its reputation, we need to stop looking at the opinions of others and look at the quality of our nation. We need to ask, “What reputation do we want Malta to have?” Based on the answer we then need to consistently live up to that reputation.
As a management student I was taught that when there is a consistent problem, the solution doesn’t lie in what is apparent.
Like an iceberg, the things we see happening around us are only its tip. Unless we explore what is beneath the iceberg, we cannot fully solve our reputation problem.
To continue with the iceberg analogy, we are taught that what lies under the water are the attitudes, beliefs and values of our culture.
On March 31 and September 21, we celebrate two feasts, Freedom and Independence Day. My question is: are we truly free and independent or do we secretly relish the times we spent in servitude of foreign regimes?
If we are serious about our reputation, we need to come together and formulate a long-term plan for our economy- Adrian Xuereb Archer
Could it be that we enjoyed being pirates (under the Knights) and stealing (from our British oppressors) so much that we can’t help but steal from our own country? The Knights and British have left but our culture stayed. Today this manifests itself in the way people brag that they are evading tax, not claiming VAT and stealing from their employer.
If you analyse our current white and grey economies you will see they are based mostly on construction, money laundering, tourism, gaming and food. These economic pillars make their money selling short-term products and can only survive if they sell large numbers regularly.
Such an economic model rewards people whose skills and attitudes support the fast selling of products.
When an economy is geared to incentivise short-term wins, it will attract those who are lured by the idea of getting rich fast.
Together with no apparent enforcement, people may turn to unethical behaviour to reach their goals. What is happening to our country reflects 60 years of allowing an unhealthy attitude to cripple our economy. Like an untreated virus, it has festered into a major disease.
If we are serious about our reputation, we need to come together and formulate a long-term plan for our economy.
We will need to think of how our laws, education and infrastructure will incentivise people who are creative, skilled and entrepreneurial to create employment that is not based on short-term profiteering.
This will balance and reward the many small and large service-based enterprises that have built their own livelihood and prosperity through their passion, dedication and perseverance.
We will not solve the reputation issue by putting some thugs behind bars. Although it may look easier to keep up appearances, it will only do us harm in the long term. It seems to me that this small rotten part of our culture has overcome its beauty, leaving a stench that cannot be contained.
Rather than minimising the stench, why not start appreciating and nourishing the beauty of this country and the potential of each person?
It is then that we will start moving towards the Malta we would like people to talk of. Then, we won’t need to manage our reputation, it will speak volumes of the beauty of who we are.
Adrian Xuereb Archer is a management consultant.