Current models of substantive reputation repair primarily focus on isolated reputation-damaging events (RDEs) and corresponding responses by firms within short time frames. Nevertheless, evidence suggests that firms encounter numerous RDEs over extended periods while only sporadically and intermittently engaging in top-down substantive repair. To investigate this event-response asynchrony, we adopt an event system theory (EST) approach and conduct a qualitative study of a multinational firm. Over a 10-year period, we analyzed 47 RDEs that eventually prompted top management to initiate substantive repair. Our findings reveal that top managers perceive reputation management as a complex system comprising self-correcting subsystems that follow recurring adaptive event cycles. These cycles consist of iterations, transitioning from routine business-as-usual activities managing most RDEs (foreloops) to nonlinear, transformative responses to certain events (backloops). As long as these cycles are deemed effective, top managers refrain from substantive repair, intervening only when they identify a subsystem breakdown. Consequently, our event-system model of substantive reputation repair elucidates event-response asynchrony in two phases: (1) top managers’ confidence in the hierarchy of adaptive event cycles leads them to purposefully avoid most RDEs, and (2) the convergent intersection of three specific event chain patterns gradually establishes a shared narrative among top managers, triggering top-down substantive repair. By employing EST, we not only provide novel insights into how firms manage reputations but also enhance the explanatory power of EST by illuminating event cycle dynamics.

中文翻译：

---

长期声誉损害事件：实质性声誉修复的事件系统模型

当前的实质性声誉修复模型主要关注孤立的声誉损害事件（RDE）以及企业在短时间内做出的相应反应。然而，有证据表明，企业在很长一段时间内会遇到大量的 RDE，而只是零星地、间歇性地进行自上而下的实质性修复。为了研究这种事件响应异步性，我们采用事件系统理论（EST）方法并对一家跨国公司进行定性研究。在 10 年的时间里，我们分析了 47 个 RDE，最终促使高层管理人员启动实质性修复。我们的研究结果表明，高层管理人员将声誉管理视为一个复杂的系统，其中包含遵循重复出现的自适应事件周期的自我纠正子系统。这些周期由迭代组成，从管理大多数 RDE（前循环）的常规业务活动过渡到对某些事件（后循环）的非线性、变革性响应。只要这些周期被认为是有效的，高层管理人员就不会进行实质性修复，只有在发现子系统故障时才进行干预。因此，我们的实质性声誉修复的事件系统模型分两个阶段阐明了事件响应异步性：（1）高层管理人员对自适应事件周期层次结构的信心导致他们有目的地避免大多数 RDE，以及（2）三种特定的事件链模式逐渐在高层管理者之间建立了共享的叙事，引发自上而下的实质性修复。通过采用 EST，我们不仅为企业如何管理声誉提供了新颖的见解，而且还通过阐明事件周期动态来增强 EST 的解释力。