James Rubin and Barie Carmichael remind us of a timeless truth that could not be more timely. Reset: Business and Society in the New Social Landscape shows through cogent analysis and compelling examples how corporate character is destiny. This is now essential for business success—even survival—in a new world of radical transparency, empowered constituencies, and global society undergoing profound change.

- Jon Iwata, senior vice president and chief brand officer, IBM

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Reset deftly draws a road map that corporate leaders can use to navigate the new landscape of risk and responsibility. Particularly powerful is Rubin and Carmichael's wise recommendation to make 'corporate character' - the essence of why an organization exists and whether it lives its values - a strategic governance priority for executive management and boards of directors. Hear, hear!

- Gary Sheffer, retired chief communications officer, GE

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Global transparency is on the verge of a new inflection point. Rubin and Carmichael offer up a new corporate playbook to engage, manage and influence the outcomes of a radically transformed marketplace of ideas, competitors, and stakeholders. Visionary, prescient, and a bit radical, Reset isn’t just good. It’ll transform the way you think about corporate communication.

- James S. O'Rourke, IV, University of Notre Dame

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Reset captures concisely and comprehensively the new parameters of the business and society relationship and the challenges posed for business in the profoundly unpredictable world in we which we live. Rubin and Carmichael give particular attention to ‘web-enabled stakeholder vigilance,’ a force that can be marshaled against business but also a potential source of needed societal change. Illustrated with telling examples, they show how the business and society relationship has been reset—and offer keen insights on how and why business needs to respond.

- N. Craig Smith, INSEAD, France

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Reset is a must read for corporate management as well as consumers and the public seeking to affect corporate change. There are hundreds of books on business and society. None demonstrates the power of social media to influence corporate actions—except this new book. Rubin and Carmichael provide important and innovative insight on how millions of readers/viewers on social media have “reset” the landscape of business-society relationships, prodding companies to perform responsibly and profitably.

- Patricia Werhane, professor emerita, DePaul University and University of Virginia

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This is a timely book. Today, a web-enabled public is perpetually auditing the stakeholder footprint of business strategies, radically shifting how a corporation communicates and engages. Every executive needs to understand how this "reset" affects their company.

- R. Edward Freeman, author of Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach

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In the new social landscape’s ecosystem, an inherent respect for stakeholders is the bedrock for a sustainable reputation. I was fortunate to work for a company that did well by doing good, a foundation that has consistently ranked UPS among the world’s most admired companies. James Rubin and Barie Carmichael have done a fantastic job of mapping the challenges for corporations to get it right in today’s reset relationship with stakeholders.

- Ken Sternad, retired vice president, UPS Global Public Relations, president of the UPS Foundation

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Rubin and Carmichael hit the reset button for managers trying to make sense of digital transformation and its effect on trust in business. Coming from experienced and accomplished authors, Reset is a great book for managers at all levels trying to figure out how to meet the increasingly high expectations for business before it’s too late.

- Paul Argenti, Dartmouth University

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Reset hits the nail on the head with the increasingly self-evident idea that corporations must embrace the inherent risks in their business model when it is out of sync with prevailing public sentiment voiced by key stakeholders. The prescription is for corporate communication practitioners to close the gap, that is, to thoroughly know and clearly tell the story of what it does.

- Tim P. McMahon, Creighton University Heider College of Business