NBA Reinforces Rule: Stand for the Anthem

The NBA is speaking out about the controversy over whether players can "take a knee"-or kneel-during the national anthem, which NFL players have been criticized for doing. In a memo from deputy commissioner Mark Tatum, the message is loud and clear-but hidden towards the end:

"...players, coaches and trainers stand respectfully for the anthem. The league office will determine how to deal with any possible instance in which a player, coach or trainer does not stand for the anthem. (Teams do not have the discretion to waive this rule)."

Most of the memo avoids the issue entirely and instead encourages players to continue to be active within the community.

TO: NBA BOARD OF GOVERNORS, TEAM PRESIDENTS,GENERAL MANAGERS
FROM: MARK TATUM, DEPUTY COMMISSIONER &CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER
CC: LEAGUE OFFICE
DATE: SEPTEMBER 29, 2017
RE: NEXT STEPS: BUILDING STRONGER, SAFER COMMUNITIES

As a follow-up to our discussions at this week's Board of Governors meetings, this document outlines suggested steps each team could take as we prepare for the start of the season and continue to develop impactful community programs.

I. ENGAGING PLAYERS AND SENIOR LEADERSHIP

If you have not done so already, we suggest organizing discussions between players, coaches, general managers and ownership to hear the players' perspectives.

One approach would be for team leadership to review existing team and league initiatives and encourage players to share their thoughts and ideas about them. Following those conversations, teams could develop plans prior to the start of the regular season for initiatives that players and senior leadership could participate in, such as:

- Hosting Community Conversations with youth, parents, community leaders and law enforcement about the challenges we face and our shared responsibility to create positive change.

- Creating "Building Bridges Through Basketball" programs that use the game of basketball to bring people together and deepen important bonds of trust and respect between young people, mentors, community leaders, law enforcement and other first responders.

- Highlighting the importance of mentoring with the goal of adding 50,000 new mentors to support young people through our PSA campaign.

- Engaging thought leaders and partners. A variety of experts, speakers and partner organizations are available to players and teams as you continue these conversations and develop programming.

- Establishing new and/or enhancing ongoing team initiatives and partnerships in the areas of criminal justice reform, economic empowerment and civic engagement.

II. OPENING WEEK

As we approach opening week, each team could explore ways to use their first home game as an opportunity to demonstrate your commitment to the NBA's core values of equality, diversity, inclusion and serve as a unifying force in the community, including:

- A joint address to fans featuring a player or coach prior to the National Anthem. This could include a message of unity and how the team is committed to bringing the community together this season.

- A video tribute or PSA featuring players, community leaders, faith leaders and team leadership speaking about the issues they care about and photos from past community events.

III. KEY MESSAGES

- These are difficult and nuanced issues.

- We support and encourage players to express their views on matters that are important to them.

- The NBA has a rule that players, coaches and trainers stand respectfully for the anthem. The league office will determine how to deal with any possible instance in which a player, coach or trainer does not stand for the anthem. (Teams do not have the discretion to waive this rule).

- Our team's focus remains on unity and collective action that leads to meaningful change in society. The players have embraced their roles in those efforts and we are proud of the work they do in our communities.

- We believe sports are a unifier and this is an opportunity for the NBA to once again lead by its core values of equality, inclusion and unity and to bridge divides and bring people together.

In a video statement, NBA commissioner Adam Silver echoed Tatum's memo. Silver said he expected players to follow the league's rules of standing for the anthem. Although he encouraged freedom of expression, he also said, "It's my hope that our players will continue to use that as a moment of unity."

A writer for Yahoo sports argues that players should be able to take a knee. Part of his argument follows:

Let's be clear: Athletes are not possibly putting their careers at risk, opening themselves up to jeering fans in arenas and on social media, because they are anti-national anthem, anti-flag, anti-America, anti-military or any other "anti" that has been used to diffuse any honest discourse. That those arguments have distracted from the true purpose of this activism only goes to show why it is necessary. Change won't come if no one listens. It certainly won't come if a league that presents itself as progressive and forward-thinking discourages civil methods used to bring about awareness.

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Discussion:

• Analyze the NBA memo against principles of business writing. Who are the primary and secondary audiences? What are Tatum's objectives? How does he organize the memo?
• How well does the memo capture the league's perspective? How do you think players might have reacted? 
• Analyze Michael Lee's argument in the Yahoo article. What are his strongest and weakest arguments?

Kellogg Announces New CEO

After seven years at the helm, John Bryant will retire as CEO of Kellogg, and Steven Cahillane will replace him. Cahillane was most recently at The Nature's Bounty, a health and wellness company.

The company's press release includes a quotation from Bryant, which is typical when a leader retires, unless the retirement is forced because of impropriety:

"It has been my pleasure to serve as the CEO of Kellogg Company over the past seven years. I am even more confident in the future of our company today than at any other time in my 20 years with Kellogg. I've decided that the time is right to hand over the reins to a new leader who can continue the transformation of this great company."

Bryant goes on to compliment Cahillane's background, and the board chair adds more about his experience.

Also, as expected, the release includes a quotation from incoming CEO Cahillane:

"Kellogg is an incredible company with a rich legacy and iconic brands that are beloved around the world. It will be my privilege and honor to work with such a talented group of employees as we pursue the tremendous growth opportunities before us."

As a cereal company, Kellogg struggles with increasing focus on healthy eating and consumers' desires to avoid processed foods. As a result, the company's revenue and share price have been declining.

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Discussion:

• Information about Bryant is shorter than what I typically see in news releases announcing CEO changes. Any theories about this?
• Compare this press release to that of Chevron. What differences do you notice?
• Overall, how well does the press release meet its objective: to inspire confidence in the brand?

Chevron Announces New CEO

Just as Kellogg announced a new CEO, so did Chevron. John Watson is retiring from the oil company after 37 years, and he's replaced by an insider, Michael Wirth. Wirth also has a long history with Chevron: he started in 1982 and worked his way up through the executive ranks.

In the press release, Chevron compliments Watson's contributions to the company, providing a quotation from the lead of the board of directors and this statement from incoming CEO Wirth:

"Under John's leadership, we've developed legacy assets in Kazakhstan, Australia and the Permian Basin that will underpin our portfolio for decades to come. John will also be remembered for his plain-spoken and principled views on company business and energy policy matters."

Wirth's experience in refining now matches that of leaders of Chevron's competitors, Total and Royal Dutch Shell. Company shares rose slightly on the news. 

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Discussion:

• Compare Chevron's announcement with Kellogg's. What differences do you notice, and what could account for those differences?
• How well does the Chevron press release acknowledge Watson's history?

New Facebook Policies for Targeted Ads

Facebook is taking responsibility for ads that target audiences based on self-reported information. In their profiles, users wrote descriptions about their hatred of certain groups, and ads displayed for them based on that quality.

Identifying hate groups wasn't the original intent of targeted ads, which Facebook describes as a way to "Connect with the people who will love your business." Yet an article in Verge says the "problems were baked in from the start." The design did allow people to choose a way to identify, and the descriptors weren't monitored.

COO Sheryl Sandberg expressed her disappointment:

"Seeing those words made me disgusted and disappointed – disgusted by these sentiments and disappointed that our systems allowed this," Sandberg said in a Facebook post. "Hate has no place on Facebook – and as a Jew, as a mother, and as a human being, I know the damage that can come from hate. The fact that hateful terms were even offered as options was totally inappropriate and a fail on our part."

"We removed them and when that was not totally effective, we disabled that targeting section in our ad systems."

She also talked about how Facebook's internal systems failed:

"Such targeting has always been in violation of our policies and we are taking more steps to enforce that now," Sandberg said. "We never intended or anticipated this functionality being used this way – and that is on us. And we did not find it ourselves – and that is also on us."

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Discussion:

• What responsibility does Facebook have in this situation? Should the company have been monitoring people's descriptors and how ads targeted specific groups?
• What else, if anything, should the company do now?

News Conference About Hurricane Maria

Ricardo Rossello the governor of Puerto Rico, gave a news conference to encourage people to move to shelters before Hurricane Maria hit. He warns people that the storm will be "catastrophic" and unlike what residents have experienced in the past.

The video caption reads, "Governor URGES Puerto Rico residents to shelter as Hurricane Maria arrives," but he could sound more urgent.

Sadly, the governor was right in his predictions. Hurricane Maria left the entire island without power and destroyed many properties.

That's a lot of people supporting him behind the podium. We don't know whether they each spoke or were there for some other reason.

Discussion:

• Who are the governor's primary and secondary audiences for the news conference?
• What are his communication objectives for each audience?
• How well does he achieve his objectives?
• How urgent does he sound to you? What could he do to sound more urgent?

Bank of America and Other Companies Step Up

Bank of America and other companies are lending support following Hurricane Harvey. In addition, Houston-area companies have been generous in giving employees time off and resources to get their houses and lives back in order, as much as possible. A Wall Street Journal article questions how long this generosity will last, but for now, employees have some much needed help.

Airlines in Florida have capped or reduced fares for people needing to evacuate, which of course, is the right thing to do. We saw businesses practice price gouging during Harvey, and the publicity wasn't good. 

During Hurricane Irma, JetBlue, for example, dropped fares to $99 or $159, and American Airlines and Delta promised to keep lower fares through September 15. This will be helpful to people returning to the area and to others traveling to help.

Delta corrected at least one issue and blamed Expedia for listing a high price. A customer tweeted, "Shame on you @delta. Jacking from $547 to over $3200 for people trying to evacute (sic) responsibly?" Delta corrected the problem for this traveler and a spokesperson told BuzzFeed, "When they reached out directly to Delta, she was given a much lower fare. We're looking into why Expedia listed that price, but it was not the correct fare. We have not increased any fares in response to the hurricane. In fact, as the storm approach we reduced the price level of our highest fare."

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Discussion:

• What other positive examples have you seen from businesses?
• What do you see as the role of business during a natural disaster? What are the advantages and downsides of businesses getting involved and offering help?

Uber's New CEO Is the Kalanick Opposite

Dara Khosrowshahi, Uber's new CEO, talks about his emotions, and he's getting big points in the media. An Inc. article applauds his vulnerability in saying to Expedia colleagues, "I have to tell you I am scared." His final email to staff continues:

I've been here at Expedia for so long that I've forgotten what life is like outside this place. But the times of greatest learning for me have been when I've been through big changes, or taken on new roles--you have to move out of your comfort zone and develop muscles that you didn't know you had.

Uber has been promoting Khosrowshahi's human side, a smart strategy to humanize the company after months of scandals under founder Travis Kalanick. In the board's email to employees, they started with the story of Khosrowshahi's immigration:

Team,

We are delighted to announce that Uber's Board has voted unanimously to appoint Dara Khosrowshahi to be our new CEO.

Dara came to America at nine years old when his family escaped Iran on the eve of the Iranian Revolution. He grew up in Tarrytown, N.Y., trained as an engineer at Brown, and spent many years at IAC serving as Chief Financial Officer and in various operational and strategic roles.

In 2005, he became CEO of Expedia, which he built into one of the world's leading travel and technology companies, now operating in more than 60 countries. He has four children and not surprisingly loves to travel, one of his favorite trips being to the Angkor Wat temples in Cambodia where his wife Sydney said yes to marrying him.

We're really fortunate to gain a leader with Dara's experience, talent and vision. The Board and the Executive Leadership Team are confident that Dara is the best person to lead Uber into the future building world-class products, transforming cities, and adding value to the lives of drivers and riders around the world while continuously improving our culture and making Uber the best place to work.

Dara will be joining us tomorrow, August 30, for an All Hands. Add your questions for Dara here, and stay tuned for a calendar invite with more details. He'll also be meeting with employees around the world in smaller groups over the next few weeks, and spending time with drivers.

Please join us in welcoming Dara on what promises to be an exciting ride!

-Yasir, Garrett, Matt, Ryan, Arianna, Travis, Wan Ling & David

For his part, Khosrowshahi introduced himself to staff as a fighter and a "no-B.S." leader:

"First, I am going to be totally transparent with you. I am not going to B.S. you. The thing that I've found in life and in management is that the higher up you get in an organization, the less you really know about what's going on. Because people start holding back, and they are afraid to tell you what's going on. The only way that I've seen to combat that is to be absolutely honest with you and to be completely straight and authentic with you. Hopefully that will allow me to deserve the same right back from you. I'm not going to B.S. you and I will ask you not to B.S. me.

Second, I'm a fighter. I'll fight with you. I don't like war metaphors, it's kind of a male metaphor, but we're in a battle here and I think everybody knows it. Just know that I'm here, I made the decision, I am all in and I'm going to fight for you with everything in my body. I hope you'll join me in that battle.

And last, I will know that I've succeeded here if everybody in this room and who is watching all over the world knows they can contribute to the success of Uber in their own way. Everyone's different, everyone has their own skillsets-if you're numerative or have a higher EQ, if you're here in the US or in a global office, if you're a dev, if you're in marketing, if you're in PR, or ops or regardless of your gender or your beliefs-everyone is going to participate and contribute in their own way. And if everyone feels like they can and they can be themselves but they can also be Uber, then I know I've succeeded. That's my goal."

The line about "B.S." makes me wonder: what's the alternative? I have a similar reaction when people say, "I'll be honest with you." Why would I assume anything else?

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Discussion:

• How well do you think Khosrowshahi and how he's positioned will humanize the Uber brand? What else, if anything, can the company do at this point?
• To what extent do you agree with my skepticism about his promise for no "B.S."?
• To what extent do you agree with the Inc. writer's conclusion about Khosrowshahi's vulnerability?
• Khosrowshahi's last point in his talk with employees is about authenticity, being yourself at work. How do you think employees would react to his statement?

Airbnb Steps Up During Hurricane Harvey

Airbnb is offering free rooms for people who had to leave their homes because of Hurricane Harvey. Evacuees won't have to pay fees to hosts through September 25. Originally, the offer was through September 1, but the company extended it after seeing the storm's devastation. Free listings appear for homes in Houston, Dallas, Austin, and San Antonio.

Conditions are explained on Airbnb's Disaster Response site. Currently, the site lists programs for Hurricane Harvey and for the Mumbai floods.

Other sharing companies have stepped up following the hurricane. Uber, Lyft, and WeWork are offering free services and other promotions. 

Discussion:

• What examples of generosity have you seen during Hurricane Harvey?
• How should a small business owner decide what to offer? What are the advantages and disadvantages of, for example, a restaurant offering free food?

Uber Announces New CEO

Uber hired Expedia Chief Executive Dara Khosrowshahi to replace founder Travis Kalanick. Khosrowshahi is seen as a stable force, which is needed at Uber after many months of controversy. In addition to his role at Expedia, Khosrowshahi is on The New York Times board of directors.

The news was announced today in major newspapers, but as of 4:30 pm, the company hadn't posted a statement on its news site or on Twitter. A Bloomberg interview says the news is "still under wraps," although it was all over Twitter and other social media sites.

Finally, the company posted a message sent to employees from the board of directors: 

Team,

We are delighted to announce that Uber's Board has voted unanimously to appoint Dara Khosrowshahi to be our new CEO.

Dara came to America at nine years old when his family escaped Iran on the eve of the Iranian Revolution. He grew up in Tarrytown, N.Y., trained as an engineer at Brown, and spent many years at IAC serving as Chief Financial Officer and in various operational and strategic roles.

In 2005, he became CEO of Expedia, which he built into one of the world's leading travel and technology companies, now operating in more than 60 countries. He has four children and not surprisingly loves to travel, one of his favorite trips being to the Angkor Wat temples in Cambodia where his wife Sydney said yes to marrying him.

We're really fortunate to gain a leader with Dara's experience, talent and vision. The Board and the Executive Leadership Team are confident that Dara is the best person to lead Uber into the future building world-class products, transforming cities, and adding value to the lives of drivers and riders around the world while continuously improving our culture and making Uber the best place to work.

Dara will be joining us tomorrow, August 30, for an All Hands. Add your questions for Dara here, and stay tuned for a calendar invite with more details. He'll also be meeting with employees around the world in smaller groups over the next few weeks, and spending time with drivers.

Please join us in welcoming Dara on what promises to be an exciting ride!

-Yasir, Garrett, Matt, Ryan, Arianna, Travis, Wan Ling & David

The message is unusually personal for a CEO introduction, drawing on Khosrowshahi's immigrant past and family life.

The website also now includes "Highlights from Today's Company Meeting," where Khosrowshahi was introduced and talked about himself, again, in a more personal way than we usually hear from a chief executive. He also says, several times, he's not about "B.S."

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Discussion:

• Why would the company take this personal approach in introducing its new leader?
• Khosrowshahi clearly is trying to come across as authentic. Is he succeeding?
• When people say, "I am not going to B.S. you," I think that they will. To me, it's like saying, "I'll be honest with you." Why would you be anything else? Do you share this view or not?

Brother's Response to My Complaint

On my Brother printer, the "Toner Low" light came on, and I shook the toner, which always gives me several more pages of good quality printing. But at some point, the printer wouldn't print anymore. To my eye, the pages still looked good. I was printing pages of my new book to proofread and didn't notice a difference for my purpose.

I emailed Brother to see if I could override the function and get more out of my cartridge. (Replacements cost about $50.) I saw several YouTube videos with instructions, so clearly I'm not the only one who has this idea. But I couldn't find my model. I asked Brother for help, and this is the response I received: download Brother printer response.

I appreciate that the purpose is up front in the email and that my question is answered. But the email is so long and not very well organized. Also, the writer spends a lot of time defending why the printers are set up to stop. Of course, quality is important, but shouldn't I get to decide what is "good enough" for my print jobs? My HP printers keep going until they're grey and streaked.

Discussion:

• What's your view of the function to stop printing? Am I just cheap, or should Brother avoid the shutoff?
• What are the communication objectives for Bother's response? What is important for a customer in this situation?
• How could the writer have organized the email differently?
• How clear are the instructions?
• What else would improve the message?

YouTube Continues to Fight Extremist Videos

Google announced new policies to fight offensive and inappropriate videos on YouTube and other sites. The company is responding most recently to videos promoting terrorism.

When videos violate community guidelines, they will be immediately removed. In addition, in a blog post, the company identified four new strategies:

• Increasing technology to find terrorism-related videos
• Expanding the network of people and organizations to flag videos
• Applying restrictions to "inflammatory religious or supremacist content"
• Expanding its "role in counter-radicalization efforts"

The third point is interesting. Judging a video for removal is difficult, so Google will diminish potentially damaging content by posting a warning and not allowing comments, endorsements, or monetization (they can't accept advertising). General Counsel Kent Walker writes, "That means these videos will have less engagement and be harder to find. We think this strikes the right balance between free expression and access to information without promoting extremely offensive viewpoints."

Discussion:

• Analyze Walker's blog post. Who is the audience, and what are his communication objectives? How would you describe the writing style? What organizational strategy does he use?
• How well do you think Google is balancing freedom of expression with damage and complaints from advertisers?
• What are the potential dangers of Google's new policy? What are the benefits?

Amazon Announces Whole Foods Purchase

A big move in the grocery market and a big threat to WalMart, Amazon will buy Whole Foods. The organic grocery has 460 locations, giving Amazon a strong launching pad to deepen its food delivery plans.

The company's press release states that John Mackey, co-founder and CEO, will continue in his role. A quote from Mackey emphasizes shareholder value and benefits to customers.

Other supermarket chains "put on a strong face," according to a NYT article. A spokesperson for Kroger sent an email: "As we've done in the past, we will evolve our business to deliver what our customers want and need today and into the future." But shares of Walmart, Target, Kroger and Costco all fell on the news.

Press Release

<< Back

Amazon to Acquire Whole Foods Market

Whole Foods Market ranked #28 and Amazon ranked #2 on Fortune's 2017 list of World's Most Admired Companies SEATTLE & AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun. 16, 2017-- Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Whole Foods Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:WFM) today announced that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement under which Amazon will acquire Whole Foods Market for $42 per share in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $13.7 billion, including Whole Foods Market's net debt. "Millions of people love Whole Foods Market because they offer the best natural and organic foods, and they make it fun to eat healthy," said Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder and CEO. "Whole Foods Market has been satisfying, delighting and nourishing customers for nearly four decades – they're doing an amazing job and we want that to continue." "This partnership presents an opportunity to maximize value for Whole Foods Market's shareholders, while at the same time extending our mission and bringing the highest quality, experience, convenience and innovation to our customers," said John Mackey, Whole Foods Market co-founder and CEO. Whole Foods Market will continue to operate stores under the Whole Foods Market brand and source from trusted vendors and partners around the world. John Mackey will remain as CEO of Whole Foods Market and Whole Foods Market's headquarters will stay in Austin, Texas. Completion of the transaction is subject to approval by Whole Foods Market's shareholders, regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. The parties expect to close the transaction during the second half of 2017.

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Discussion:

• Analyze the writing style, organization, and word choice in the press release. Who is the audience, and what are the objectives?
• It's short: should the companies say more?
• What's your view of Kroger's reaction? What else, if anything, should the company say in response to the news?

Uber CEO Tries to Change His Image

After many stories of Uber's questionable practices with reporters, employees, drivers, and technology, CEO Travis Kalanick is trying to change his image. A Recode author writes, "A more cuddly Uber CEO Travis Kalanick has returned to social media."

After a Twitter hiatus in 2016, Kalanick is back on, as Recode reports, "as the nicest CEO in the whole wide world." We see pictures of Kalanick with his mom on Mother's Day, with his parents at the Kentucky Derby wearing hats, and of his grinning face while he touches his heart.

Recode reminds us this isn't the first time Kalanick has taken to social media to try to change the company's and his own image:

After the media furor around whatever scandal of the moment died down, Kalanick tried to humanize himself - and, by virtue, the company - and often turned to puppies or children to do that.

After we saw a video of Kalanick arguing with an Uber driver over declining wages, he promised to improve. But the promise was about his leadership style. This seems like a PR fix. 

Discussion:

• Assess Kalanick's approach. Who is his audience, and what are his objectives?
• Am I justified in questioning Kalanick's sincerity or too harsh?
• What else could he do to improve the company's image and his own image?

Ford Announces New CEO

Ford has appointed a new CEO to replace Mark Fields, who had been with the company for 28 years. Jim Hackett joined Ford's board in 2013 from Steelcase, and he'll have three new leaders reporting to him. A New York Times article describes Fields' less-than-stellar performance as CEO:

During Mr. Fields's three-year tenure - a period when Ford's shares dropped 40 percent - he came under fire from investors and the company's board for failing to expand the company's core auto business and for lagging in developing the high-tech cars of the future. . . .

The board's decision to change management was made on Friday, eight days after Mr. Fields had been sharply criticized during the company's annual shareholders' meeting for Ford's deteriorating financial results.

Ford has faced safety recalls and has been struggling against GM and Google to develop a self-driving car. The board said Fields' retirement decision was mutual.

The company's news release included this quote from the chairman about Fields:

Mark Fields has been an outstanding leader and deserves a lot of credit for all he has accomplished in his many roles around the globe at Ford," Bill Ford said. "His strong leadership was critical to our North American restructuring, our turnaround at the end of the last decade, and our record profits in the past two years.

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Discussion:

• Read the full press release. Describe the audience, objectives, and structure. What's the purpose of the summary bullets at the top?
• Should the company's press release have said more or something different about Fields? Does the quotation seem to reflect reality?

DeVos Steps Up About Formatting Rules

Two weeks ago, Upward Bound applications to help kids get into college were rejected for formatting errors such as line spacing. To protest, 32 members of the House of Representatives signed a letter asking the Department of Education to reconsider the grants that affected approximately 2,700 students; an excerpt is below.

In response, Betsy DeVos, Secretary of Education, established a "new policy" that prevents program officers from using page limits and formatting as "mandatory requirements":

"Program offices may suggest page limits and formatting standards (such as font size, line spacing, and the like) but may not use ignoring these suggestions as a basis to reject grant applications."

In her letter, however, DeVos does not address the recently rejected applications.

Discussion:

• What do you think DeVos should do at this point? What should she consider in her decision?
• Assess the Representatives' letter. What principles of persuasion are used, and how could the letter be improved?

Facebook Staffs Up

Facebook is taking more action in response to criticism about fake news, offensive posts, and violent videos. The company will hire 3,000 more people to monitor videos, hoping to avoid another situation like the one when a man recorded himself murdering another man.

In a Facebook post, CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote, 

"Over the last few weeks, we've seen people hurting themselves and others on Facebook - either live or in video posted later. It's heartbreaking, and I've been reflecting on how we can do better for our community.

"If we're going to build a safe community, we need to respond quickly. We're working to make these videos easier to report so we can take the right action sooner - whether that's responding quickly when someone needs help or taking a post down.

"Over the next year, we'll be adding 3,000 people to our community operations team around the world -- on top of the 4,500 we have today -- to review the millions of reports we get every week, and improve the process for doing it quickly."

COO Sheryl Sandberg commented on the post: "Keeping people safe is our top priority. We won't stop until we get it right."

Some say the move reflects Facebook's disappointment in artificial intelligence (AI). The long-term goal is to develop the technology so it can adequately identify and remove inappropriate content. But that may be a way off.

Discussion:

• Assess Zuckerberg's post. Who is the audience, and what are his communication objectives? What works well, and what could be improved?
• What else, if anything, can Facebook do to address these serious issues?

NYSEG Email and Reality

NYSEG was preparing for the worst and trying to inspire customer confidence and stave off complaints. The NY gas and electric company sent email the day before the snow storm was expected to hit to tell us, "We're Prepared!"

Anticipating outages, NYSEG told us to contact "Outage Central" on its website. The main point of the email seems to be to tell customers how to report an outage-presumably to avoid a flood of phone calls that NYSEG can't handle.

Meanwhile, about 100,000 people are without power, and Twitter is abuzz with calls for NYSEG to do something other than "assess" the situation. Some are calling for an investigation into how NYSEG is handling outages.

@irenapapst tweeted, "... ithaca city schools were declared closed, and NYSEG sent out a pamphlet on storm preparedness. if other organizations were prepared ..."

Discussion:

• What's your view of NYSEG's pre-storm communications? Did this help or hurt the organization's reputation? What, if any, impact do you think the email and website had on  storm outages?
• People are harsh towards NYSEG on Twitter. From what you observe, is it deserved? Could the organization do something different?

Warren Buffett's Annual Letter

It's that time again, when Berkshire Hathaway shareholders and Warren Buffett devotees pore over his annual letter.

Forbes identifies as "The Seven Best Quotes" in the letter, summarized as follows:

• Stock Buybacks Aren't Always Bad
• Vanguard's John Bogle Is A Hero
• Don't Bet Against America
• Fake Profits!
• Fees... Cut It Out!
• Why Berkshire Loves Dividends
• Buy When Others Are Fearful

This year, as The Wall Street Journal reports, Buffett "declared victory in a decade-long, $1 million bet that low-cost index funds would earn more than expensive hedge funds." This conclusion is reflected in at least two of the quotes Forbes selected: the one about Vanguard and the one about fees.

Berkshire Hathaway's website lists Buffett's annual letter every year since 1977. The website design is so simple-some might say boring.

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Discussion:

• Analyze the letter using business writing principles. Who are the primary and secondary audiences? How it is organized? What are the main points? How would you describe the writing style?
• Check out the website. What's your impression? Why do you think it looks as it does?

Boeing Profits Up

After facing critical tweets from President Trump about its expensive military planes, Boeing reports quarterly profits better than expected. But the uptick is from commercial plans, a market Boeing is leading.

Boeing's fourth-quarter press release included a few cheery statements from Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Dennis Muilenburg:

"With solid fourth quarter operating performance and a sharp strategic focus, we extended our aerospace market leadership in our centennial year and positioned Boeing for continued growth and success in our second century."

"We led the industry in commercial airplane deliveries for the fifth consecutive year, achieved healthy sales in our defense, space and services segments, and produced record operating cash flow, which fueled investment in innovation and our people and generated significant returns to shareholders."

"Looking forward, our team is intent on accelerating productivity and program execution to deliver increasing cash and profitability from our large and diverse order backlog of nearly $500 billion, standing up our new integrated services business, and capturing an even greater share of the the growing global aerospace market to deliver superior value to our customers, shareholders and employees."

Bloomberg reports Boeing shares at record high and that the "787 Dreamliner emerged from a decade of losses." The article quotes an analyst: "We think this release is pretty boring -- and boring is good."

But Fortune warns, "Its overall outlook for 2017, however, is not likely to inspire confidence. Boeing is calling for adjusted earnings between $9.10 and $9.30 this year, which is below the $9.31 that Wall Street analysts were projecting. The company expects revenue will fall to somewhere between $90.5 billion and $92.5 billion, compared to $94.6 billion in 2016."

Image source.

Discussion:

• We see a lot of jargon in the press release. Is it appropriate or off-putting?
• What does the analyst mean by the "release is pretty boring." Should it be more exciting? It is, after all, good news.
• What are the dangers of the Boeing CEO quotations being overly optimistic, as the Fortune article warns. What's the best approach here?

Hyatt Regency Apologizes for Comments About a Name

When Karim Abouelnaga, CEO, Practice Makes Perfect, checked into a Hyatt Regency, the woman at the front desk laughed at his last name. He tweeted to the hotel about the situation and received a message in return, a call from the hotel manager, and an apology note with a few gifts, shown here. Abouelnaga's LinkedIn post received almost 66,000 likes as of today, and more may come.

The apology note is a good example of a handwritten note, discussed in the introduction of Chapter 6. They are so rare that one can differentiate you and your business from others, as this example shows.

Discussion:

• What do you think about the initial interaction with the front desk? Should the agent have known better? How can this be avoided in the future?
• How well did Hyatt Regency respond? Some might think they went over the top. What's your view?