No "Email" for Chinese Media

The Story

According to a BBC report, China has banned the use of English words in media, such as newspapers, books, and websites. Included in the ban are foreign abbreviations (for example, NBA), English words (for example,  email), and "Chinglish," which mixes Chinese and English.  Chinglish (for example, "3q," meaning "thank you") has become more commonly used, while the Chinese government prefers to keep the language pure.  Grammatical errors in translation are also becoming more common.  Read more here.

 
NY Times "Chinglish" Slideshow

Discussion Starters

• What are the potential consequences of China's ban?  How do you think newspapers and website owners will react?
• What examples of combined-language words have you heard or used yourself?  What, if any, words does your family use that don't represent traditional English?  Which of these words would you consider inappropriate for a business situation?

Assignment Ideas

• Take a position on the ban.  Write a letter to the Chinese government (which you do not need to send!) either supporting the ban or encouraging the government to remove the ban.  Be sure to support your perspective with examples from the media.
• Debate the ban in class.  Have one side of the room take the position of the Chinese government, while the other side opposes the ban.  First, research your side of the issue before class.  Individually, find at least three objective sources to support your position.  Share your sources with your teammates via email,  Google Docs, or a wiki.  Then, identify one team member to synthesize all of your research and compile a list of arguments.  In class, before the debate starts, meet with your team for about 10 minutes to finalize your plan and decide who will state which argument and in what order.  Finally, when you begin the debate in class, have one person present one of your arguments.  Alternate sides (and people on the team) until you can come to an agreement -- or when you have nothing left to say.  Which side made the strongest argument?

1700 Holiday Layoffs, via Conference Call

The Story

Companies make many difficult decisions, but they don't always communicate them well.  To share the "news quickly and consistently," Sanofi-Aventis pharmaceutical company announced 1700 employee layoffs via two conference calls: one for those staying and one for those leaving.  The company's holiday season timing didn't win them any new friends.

 

Discussion Starters

• Conference calls may not have been the best choice, but was the company's unethical?  Where do you see the lines in this situation between unprofessional, insensitive, and unethical?
• Jack Cox, senior director of media relations, explained the decision to The Huffington Post: " 'Rather than cascade these announcements and stretch the notifications over the course of days, we decided to address these colleagues at one time, to explain the rationale for the reductions and express appreciation for the contributions they've made to the organization,' he said. 'We acknowledged in the call that delivering this news on a teleconference wasn't ideal, but given the scope and scale of the reductions, there was no other way to share this news quickly and consistently.' "  

Although the medium caused Sanofi-Aventis bad publicity, can you see Cox's point?  What might be a good compromise solution?  You might want to revisit Communication Media Choices from Chapter 1.

Assignment Ideas

• If an employee who reports to you complained about the conference call, what would you say?  How would you balance explaining the decision and empathizing with the employee about the bad news?  Role play with a partner in class.
• Write an apology email to employees.  Be honest and empathetic, and be careful about getting yourself in legal trouble.

New UBS Dress Code: No Earrings for Men

The Story

In a pilot for five UBS locations, the company created a 43-page dress code.  No black nail polish  or too-short skirts if UBS employees want to get ahead.  The code advises employees how to "enhance your personality" and "increase your popularity" by wearing "discreet lipstick" and getting a "stylish haircut."  The new code may be part of UBS's attempts to rebuild their image, like the commercial, "We Will Not Rest."

Discussion Starters

• What was the dress code for previous places where you have worked?  Did you think the attire was appropriate, too formal, or too informal for the business, considering the industry and company culture?
• Could such a dress code, which promotes conservative banking attire rebuild USB's image?  Does USB's recent commercial, "We Will Not Rest."

Assignment Ideas

• Working in small groups, draft a list of instructions that you believe should be included in a company's dress code.  Of course, every company is different, so choose a company that all of you know.  After you have drafted a list, work on an organizational structure: how can you group topics clearly and logically?
• Write an email to employees to introduce your new dress code.  What will be important for employees to know about the code (which you can attach)?  How can you present the code in the best possible light, so that employees understand the rationale and buy into the change.

The List Is in: Best Companies to Work For

The Story

A newly published list of Best Companies to Work For includes a newcomer that now holds the number 1 spot: Facebook.  This report is published the same week that Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook's founder and CEO, is named Time Magazine's Person of the Year.  Other winners on the best company list include Southwest, Bain & Company, General Mills, Edelman, Boston Consulting Group, and SAS.  The list is generated by Glassdoor.com's Employees' Choice Awards.  Did your favorite company make the list?

Discussion Starters

• What is your favorite company to work for?  What criteria are you using to determine this?
• To what extent are you influenced by lists of top employers?  Why or why not?  Does this list, generated by employee feedback, have more credibility, in your opinion?

Assignment Ideas

• Choose one of the companies on the list and write an introductory paragraph for a cover letter.  How will you reference the company's spot on the best company list in a sincere way?  
• Explore comments about your favorite company on Glassdoor.com.  Summarize what you have learned in a memo to your instructor.  Try to balance positive and negative information about the company, knowing that the feedback is all from employees and may not represent an objective view.  Which comments do you find most believable and why?  Which are least believable and why?

Gap in Ethics? Made in U.S.A. = Made in China

The Story

Gap, consistently rated one of Ethisphere's Most Ethical Companies, is under fire.  The company's "Feed USA" campaign promised to donate $5 to school lunches for each bag sold.   Although the poster advertising the campaign is stamped "Made in the U.S.A.," the bags themselves have a label that reads "Made in China."

Discussion Starters

• What do you think of this situation?  Looking at the images posted, do you think the campaign is misleading, or is this no big deal?
• How do you think this bodes for the Gap's rating as one of the most ethical companies? Would you withdraw this distinction, or keep it for other reasons?

Assignment Ideas

• A representative for the Gap responded to the story: "'We regret any misunderstanding,' a rep for The Gap tells Consumerist, adding that the Feed USA Canvas Tote bag and the Bandana Bag are actually both made here in the good old U S of A. 'However, the FEED USA Denim Bucket bags are made in China, and should not have been connected to the made in the USA signs.... We apologize for any inaccurate messaging.'"  However, the signage doesn't indicate that some of the bags were made in China, and bags made in China still have the "Feed USA" logo.  Try another approach for Gap.  What could you say instead, which might be better received, considering the situation? 
• Write an email to Gap explaining your position on the topic.  You choose: either urge the company to change the campaign or show your support for their efforts.

Wayne State Drops Diversity Award

The Story

Wayne State University decided to drop The Helen Thomas Spirit of Diversity Award, named for the 90-year-old alumnus of the school.  The University referred to Thomas' remarks in a recent speech as "anti-Semitic."  Similar comments about Jews several months ago caused Thomas to resign from her long-standing position as a White House Correspondent. 

Discussion Starters

• Did the university make the right decision?  Why or why not?
• Thomas responded to the university's move: "...the leaders of Wayne State University have made a mockery of the First Amendment and disgraced their understanding of its inherent freedom of speech and the press."  What do you think of her response?

 Assignment Ideas

• Write an email to Thomas on behalf of Wayne State leaders, explaining the decision to drop the award.
• Write an email to previous award recipients.  How can you explain the decision without diminishing the honor for those who received an award in the past?

WikiLeaks: Is Big Business Next?

The Story

After over 250,000 U.S. State Department documents became public by WikiLeaks, the organization's founder warns that big business may be next in line for a security breach.  Companies have reason to worry.  The WikiLeaks documents revealed embarrassing information, such as references to the prime minister of Italy as "feckless and vain" and to North Korea's leader as a "flabby old chap."  If documents and internal communications of "a major American bank" are revealed, as Julian Assange promises, a company may suffer deep embarrassment.

 Discussion Starters

• What are the ethical considerations of making companies' documents and internal communications public?  What is the value to society?  What are the potential risks?
• Does the possibility of your email or other documents becoming public concern you?  Does this encourage you to rethink how you write messages?  How?
• How can individual managers working for a company protect themselves from these attacks?

Assignment Ideas

• Look at emails you have sent over the past six months.  Which would cause you embarrassment if they were published in the Wall Street Journal?
• Write an email to Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks.  Take a position: either convince Assange to continue his pursuit of business OR convince him to stop his pursuit.  Be sure to explain and support your position.

TSA Video Responds to "Pat Down" Criticism

The Story

Travelers who decline a full-body scan at the airport will be subjected to a "pat-down."  Facing customers' concerns and confrontations at the airport, Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Administrator John S. Pistole issued a video, "Helpful Hints for Holiday Travelers."

 

 Discussion Starters

• What are your impressions of Pistole's video?  At what point are you most convinced and reassured?  least?  Download the script.
• Before the new procedure was in the news, on October 28, 2010, the TSA had issued this statement: "TSA is in the process of implementing new pat-down procedures at checkpoints nationwide as one of our many layers of security to keep the traveling public safe. Pat-downs are one important tool to help TSA detect hidden and dangerous items such as explosives. Passengers should continue to expect an unpredictable mix of security layers that include explosives trace detection, advanced imaging technology, canine teams, among others."  Is this enough for people to understand?  What communication strategy would you have suggested for the TSA?

Assignment Ideas

• Write a script for your own video.  Or, rewrite a few lines from Pistole's video.
• Watch Matt Lauer's video interview of Pistole on the Today Show.  In small groups, discuss how well Pistole responded to the questions.  What strategies for handling questions did he use successfully?
• Rewrite the TSA's November 21 response to the controversy using business writing principles, particularly analyzing your audience and using simple, clear language.

Qantas Could Improve Communication After Emergency Landing

The Story

Fifteen minutes after taking off in London, a Qantas A380 flight made an emergency landing because of engine failure.  Fortunately, no one was hurt, but people on board were frightened, grounded passengers wanted more information, and Twitter was abuzz with misinformation.

Discussion Starters

• Who are Qantas' primary audiences for communication during this incident?
• What were Qantas' missed opportunities in communicating about the plane damage and emergency landing?
• What communication media are available to Qantas, and which should take priority for their messages during this time?
• Read the grounded passenger's perspective about communication from Qantas.  What could airline personnel have done differently for the Los Angeles passengers?

Assignment Ideas

• Create a communication plan for potential future airline crises.  Identify all internal and external audiences, objectives for communicating with each audience, preferred media for each group, and sequence of messages.
• Read the article about Qantas' lackluster Twitter response.  Write a few Tweets on behalf of the company to address these concerns.

Executive's Memo Filled with "Buzzy Techno Jargon"

The Story

A memo intended to explain future plans left people confused.  Employees at publication company Condé Nast criticized the memo: "We all read it and have no idea what he was talking about. It's the kind of communication where there are no verbs and every other word is some kind of buzzy techno jargon." 

Conde Nast CEO

Discussion Starters

• What's the irony of a magazine executive's writing a memo like this? How would you expect employees to react?
• What do you think the memo means?  What are the key points?

Assignment Ideas

• Townsend's memo includes "three clear priorities": "a consumer-centric business model, a holistic brand management approach and the establishment of a multi-platform, integrated sales and marketing organization."  Judge for yourself: are these clear?  Read the entire memo and rewrite these priorities in clear, simple language. 
• Identify the number of jargon and buzz words.  Then, compare your assessment to that of the Jargon Grader.  
• Submit one of your own memos or emails to the Jargon Grader.  How did you do? 

Bob Dudley, New BP CEO: Good Speech or "Worst Person"?

The Story

Bob Dudley, British Petroleum's new CEO (the company's first American CEO), addressed business leaders in London in an attempt to rebuild his company's image.  This was Dudley's first public speech since taking the role following the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
 

Discussion Starters

• What persuasion strategies does Bob Dudley use in his speech?
• What do you think are the most successful parts of this speech? Which are the most convincing?  Which are the least convincing? 

Assignment Ideas

• Identify examples of logos, pathos, and ethos in Bob Dudley's speech.  Which strategy does he use most?
• Bob Dudley earned a spot on Keith Olbermann's "Worst Person in the World" list (fast forward to 1:30). On his political commentary program, Olbermann criticized Dudley particularly for the last paragraph in his speech, where he noted the intense "political and media attention" generated by the oil spill. Read the "Conclusion" of Dudley's speech, and draw your own conclusion. Is Olbermann's criticism justified?  Does Dudley have a point?  Imagine that BP has a blog for public comments.  Write your assessment of Dudley's comments.  Be sure to justify your perspective.

German Companies Block Social Networks

The Story

To reduce security threats and address concerns about productivity, several German companies are blocking employees' access to social networks.

 

Discussion Starters

• If you have worked in an office environment, how active were you on social networks like Facebook? Did this affect your productivity?
• Will this action stop employees from participating in social networks?  Why or why not?
• The move addresses concerns about viruses and employees revealing trade secrets online. How will blocking access to social networks address these concerns?  How will they fail to address these issues?
• What are the downsides of blocking employees' access?  What are the benefits to companies of having employees contribute information about their brand on social networks?

Assignment Ideas

• Employees can speak positively on behalf on their companies, which could promote a brand.  Contribute a positive comment about a company or brand on a social network. 
• Review a Facebook fan page for your favorite brand or product.  Analyze the comments: are most comments positive or negative?  What can you conclude about this?
• How does this policy of German companies compare with common policies of U.S. companies?  Review a few social media policies of U.S. companies and write a report to summarize your findings.

World Series Goes Social

The Story

Opening Day of the World Series brings new ways for fans to celebrate -- and commiserate -- with other fans.

 

 

 Discussion Starters

• How would you expect social media tools to affect MLB fans'  connection to the games and to each other?
• From the teams' owners' perspective, what are the challenges of managing social media?  What are the benefits to the teams?

Activity Ideas

• Compare Facebook fan pages of the San Francisco Giants and the Texas Rangers. Which is more effective for engaging fans and why?  Write an email to the creator of the weaker fan page with 3-4 suggestions for improvement.
• In small groups, search for news about the World Series on Twitter.  What keywords work best for your search?  What does your search reveal about how people are using Twitter?

News Analyst Fired Over Comments about Muslims

The Story

Juan Williams, longtime analyst for NPR News, was fired by the agency for remarks he made on Fox News' "The O'Reilly Factor."  Although Williams warned Bill O'Reilly, the program host, against blaming all Muslims for the actions of a few extremists on 9/11, he did admit to feeling "worried" and "nervous" when he sees people in "Muslim garb" on an airplane.  The context for this comment (below) was Bill O'Reilly's dispute on the TV program, "The View," where he said "Muslims killed us on 9/11."

Discussion Starters

• Williams' termination is highly controversial, with some Republican representatives calling for Congress to cut federal funding of NPR.  Why would someone take this position? Republican Rep. Peter King said, "This is political correctness carried to its extreme form." What does he mean by this?
• Williams denies that his comments are "bigoted" and disputes his termination.   Watch his response to the firing, below.  How would you describe Williams' point of view?

Assignment Ideas

• In small groups, discuss your own view.  Should Williams have been fired?  Why or why not?
• How does this story relate to the discussion of unbiased language in Chapter 2?  Discuss your perspective with a partner.

some Republican representatives calling for Congress to cut federal funding of NPR

Green = You Have a Job; Red = You're Fired?

The Story

The Daily Telegraph reported that employees at Everything Everywhere, a UK telecommunications company, communicated layoffs to employees publicly -- at a team meeting -- using a system of color coding.  The article describes the communication process: "Up to 1,200 middle managers and back office staff who could lose their jobs by the end of the Christmas holidays were shown a red light and told they were 'at risk.' Other staff saw the light go yellow, which meant they must re-apply for their existing job. Some 30 [percent] of these roles face the axe under current proposals. A blue light indicated their job had been 'mapped' into the new business plan and were being kept on. A green light showed the creation of a limited number of new roles."

An Everything Everywhere company representative called the report "sensationalist and insensitive" and describes a much more humane process.  According to the company, one color-coded slide was used as part of "a range of tools to ensure that our people know exactly what is proposed for their teams and others across the business."  The company also claims that affected employees "should have been seen on a one-on-one basis." 

Discussion Starters

• How could two versions of this story differ so much?  What do you believe is the truth?
• How does the process as reported by the Daily Telegraph match the principles for communicating bad news discussed in Chapter 8?  How does Everything Everywhere's version of the process match up?

Assignment Ideas

• Imagine that you're a consultant working with Everything Everywhere.  Write a report to the senior management team to explain an ideal process for communicating layoffs.  Draw on principles and examples discussed in Chapter 8 to identify steps a company should take to communicate this bad news.
• Write an email to employees about the Daily Telegraph article.  This is challenging!  You'll need to present the facts of the article and, of course, dispute them, while being sensitive to employees  who may believe the article was justified.  (Hint: You will probably want to provide an internal avenue for employees to provide feedback.  This is much better than finding comments on the Internet.)

Gates Foundation Offers Grants for Innovative Technology Tools

The Story

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced "Next Generation Learning Challenges," grants to improve postsecondary education through technology applications. Organizations can receive between $250,000 and $750,000 for their innovations. The Foundation's white paper describes how technology can achieve educational goals.

 
 
Discussion Starters

• Who is the audience for the Next Generation Learning Challenge? What do we know about them that might help the Gates Foundation communicate this initiative and encourage people to apply for a grant? 
• What communication media could the Foundation use to reach their audiences?
• How are the white paper and request for proposal (RFP) organized (download)? In what ways do these reports match the principles discussed in Chapter 10?

Assignment Ideas

• Write a short article (300-500 words) explaining the grant opportunity. You may use the Foundation's news release as a starting point.
• Write a letter tailored to one organization that might be interested in applying for a grant. The organization could be your college, a not-for-profit that focuses on education, or an entrpreneurial organization. Be sure to include why this organization was selected to receive a customized RFP.
• Write a proposal for a grant. Think of an innovative technology tool that would meet the Foundation's goals. Review the request for proposal (RFP) and address the questions as best you can.