At Goldman Sachs right now, introspection is apparently in vogue. The company, having put the SEC's CDO charges behind it (CDO news), is looking forward to rebuilding its tattered image. Breakingviews calls the firm the "public whipping boy for all who detest Wall Street, and blame the industry for sinking America into an economic crisis."

Apparently there's talk internally of a "spiritual, introspective exercise taking place under the aegis of the Business Standards Committee established in May."

Spiritual? Maybe that "God's work" quip wasn't a joke after all. We'll have to see if any monumental decisions flow from this exercise.

The company has huge operational issues on its hand, notably how to grapple with the Volcker Rule, but image ought to rank near the top. One issue is whether current management will be held accountable for the PR malaise. And the long-term fate of CEO Lloyd Blankfein and President Gary Cohn remains unclear.

There are no doubt many who think some sort of transition will occur. Breakingviews offers an interesting solution: Jump into more retail businesses. The idea is that interaction with the public cannot hurt--unless that interaction happens to be a tricky loan modification or short sale. In the past, we've suggested the bank do more to finance small businesses, which would bring some PR advantages.   

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