Comparing Company Statements About Kanye West

Since his anti-semitic posts and after pressure from consumers and industry leaders, companies are dropping ties with Kanye West. Here are several statements for students to compare. These messages could be considered positive or bad news, but they are all persuasive. Which demonstrate more courage and compassion?

MRC Entertainment: Company leaders wrote a personal note about their decision to stop distribution of a Kanye West documentary. They explain his flawed logic about Jewish people and call out others for being silent.

Balenciaga: The fashion company gave only a short statement to WWD: “Balenciaga has no longer any relationship nor any plans for future projects related to this artist.”

CAA: Similarly, CAA Talent Agency reportedly dropped West as a client but gave no statement.

United: This talent agency’s CEO, Jeremy Zimmer, was more vocal. In an email, he encouraged staff to boycott Kanye West.

Adidas: After much pressure, including a dropping share price and a tweet and petition from the Anti-Defamation League, Adidas finally announced an end to their partnership. The Adidas statement identified what Kanye (“Ye”) did: “[H]is recent comments and actions have been unacceptable, hateful and dangerous, and they violate the company’s values of diversity and inclusion, mutual respect and fairness.” But the rest of the statement focuses on the financial impact. Fun fact: Adi Dassler, the founder of Adidas, was a member of the Nazi party.

Gap: In as short statement, Gap announced the end of its Yeezy partnership. Posted the same day as Adidas’s announcement, the message doesn’t mention that West ended the relationship in September for breach of contract. The current decision is to stop selling products that were in the pipeline.

Comparing Donation Webpages

How do nonprofit organizations structure webpages to solicit Hurricane Ian donations? A Google search for “how to donate for hurricane ian” showed these top three ads:

Red Cross: The boldest of the three, this page shows users how to donate but provides no “why.” The cover image, palm trees blowing in the wind, could be more original.

Salvation Army: Although the Red Cross palm tree image lacks originality, the Salvation Army’s images are generic, showing volunteers with a truck and loading boxes. The call is for other recent hurricanes—not just Ian. Users can find information, including how their donation will be used, in the “Questions” box.

American Humane: Dedicated to rescuing pets, this smaller organization explains its work. Several photos show cute cats and dogs, and text explains the urgency and how quickly volunteers are responding.

Students will find more differences among these three organizations and their favorite nonprofit. An interesting activity could be guessing the organization name, given their webpage without identifying information.

AT&T Missing "You"

AT&T customer communication about Hurricane Ian is missing the customer—particularly “you.” Students could rewrite these bad-news (and persuasive) messages to address customers directly. The “you attitude,” or focus on the audience, would convey more empathy, give residents more confidence in the company, and make reading easier.

AT&T’s Hurricane Ian webpage is odd. The beginning doesn’t have a defined audience, so it’s likely written for anyone who might be interested in the company’s work to restore power. Most sentences start with “we,” “our,” or “FirstNet.” Company leaders also seem proud of their vehicles: four photos in the middle of the page include a link to “download” each.

The next section, with black text on a blue background, is titled, “Supporting Our Customers.” Updates include fees waived and other customer benefits. But students can easily revise paragraphs like this one to make them more audience-focused:

As Hurricane Ian moves through additional states, we are assisting our wireless customers who may be impacted by the storm. To do this, we’re waiving talk, text and data overage charges for AT&T Postpaid & PREPAID customers with billing addresses in zip codes* across areas in Georgia and South Carolina from September 29, 2022 through October 8, 2022.

Patagonia Letter with Indirect Structure

Using an indirect structure, Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard wrote an open letter to explain his decision to transfer company ownership to two trusts. One trust is controlled by the family and another, which will have 98% of the stock, is controlled by Holdfast Collective, an organization dedicated to the environment. With these entities, Yvon Chouinard maintains control of the company but donates all profits not reinvested in the company.

Chouinard’s letter illustrates a positive message and demonstrates character, particularly compassion, humility, and integrity. Although the move could be viewed as a marketing ploy, Patagonia’s leadership has a history of taking ethical stances despite the impact on profits; for example, the company has donated 1% of all sales and 100% of sales on Black Friday.

The letter does not follow typical business communication principles, particularly, putting main points up front. Chouinard starts with his personal view, explains options he considered, and then describes the new ownership arrangement. Business communication students can analyze whether this structure works, given the purpose and audience. My view is that it generally works. The letter is short and emphasizes emotional appeal rather than logical argument. If this were written to employees, they might read the beginning and worry about their future. But the audience is the public, who probably already heard the news, so the letter serves more as an explanation than an announcement.

The King's Speech

Although not a business presentation, King Charles III’s first address after Queen Elizabeth’s passing teaches communication lessons. His objectives are to pay deep respects to his mother, while reassuring the British citizens (and the world) by establishing his leadership.

Although, news reports show people “shocked” by the Queen’s death, this time was inevitable, and The King had plenty of time to prepare. He tackles difficult subjects, for example, the family split, in expected fashion—by alluding to them without addressing them directly. Another example is the extraordinary inflation that Britain has suffered. He mentioned “charities and issues for which I care so deeply” that will now be taken up by the new Prince of Wales.

The Guardian identifies a few examples of “expressions of open emotion.” One was “I want also to express my love for Harry and Meghan as they continue to build their lives overseas.” The couple’s leaving royal life after experiencing racist comments from the family has been painful and a public scandal. Other examples follow, as The Guardian reports:

“I count on the loving help of my darling wife, Camilla” and finished with an emotional sign off to his “darling Mama” when he wished: “May ‘flights of angels sing thee to thy rest’,” a quote from the ending of Shakespeare’s Hamlet.

From an American perspective—and other cultures—the speech may be considered flat. He is sitting and reading from a script, and his pace is slow and deliberate. But the speech is certainly appropriate for the difficult situation that the King faces, just one day after a new Prime Minister shook hands with the beloved Queen.

Bed Bath & Beyond Statement About CFO Suicide

A leader’s death by suicide is particularly difficult to communicate. Bed Bath & Beyond, with an interim CEO and already suffering from declining sales, profits, and stock price (despite a temporary run-up by Reddit), faced news of the CFO’s dramatic death. Sadly, Gustavo Arnal jumped from his apartment building in Manhattan two days after an investor presentation about the company’s strategy to further cut jobs and close stores. Hired two years ago, Arnal was recently accused, with another executive, of artificially inflating the stock price before selling about $1.4 million worth of shares, which was pre-planned.

What is appropriate to say in such a situation? News articles took one sentence from the company’s statement: “The entire Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. organization is profoundly saddened by this shocking loss.” The entire statement is below and does what it needs to do: express condolences and respect to his family and recognize his career and his value to the company.

As a bad-news message, the main point is right up front. Appropriately, the writers demonstrate compassion and integrity: the statement does not mention the cause of death or the pending litigation.

UPDATE: A Wall Street Journal article describes the incredible stress that Arnal was under, working 18-hour days. Before the long weekend, he had requested a break, which was in discussion.

Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. Mourns the Loss of Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Gustavo Arnal

UNION, N.J., Sept. 4, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBY) today announced that Gustavo Arnal, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of the Company, passed away on September 2, 2022. The entire Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. organization is profoundly saddened by this shocking loss.

"I wish to extend our sincerest condolences to Gustavo's family. Gustavo will be remembered by all he worked with for his leadership, talent and stewardship of our Company. I am proud to have been his colleague, and he will be truly missed by all of us at Bed Bath & Beyond and everyone who had the pleasure of knowing him," said Harriet Edelman, Independent Chair of the Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. Board of Directors. "Our focus is on supporting his family and his team and our thoughts are with them during this sad and difficult time. Please join us in respecting the family's privacy."

Mr. Arnal joined Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. in May 2020 following a distinguished global career in finance at Avon, Walgreens Boots Alliance, and Procter & Gamble. At Bed Bath & Beyond Inc., Mr. Arnal was instrumental in guiding the organization throughout the coronavirus pandemic, transforming the Company's financial foundation and building a strong and talented team. He was also an esteemed colleague in the financial community.

Image source.

U.S. DOT Airline Dashboard

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) created what it calls a “dashboard” for passengers to know what to expect when their flight is delayed or cancelled. This work results from ongoing debate about airlines’ responsibility, particularly given the many issues travelers have experienced since the pandemic. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has pushed the airlines to offer at least free meals for 3-hour or longer delays and free hotel stays when passengers need to wait at an airport.

Although some airlines say they already offered these accommodations, DOT Deputy Secretary Polly Trottenberg said this is about enforcement: “Now that it’s in the customer service plans, it’s not something in discretion. It’s something we can enforce. And I think this dashboard is really going to kind of raise the state-of-the-art for consumers.”

As a visual, the dashboard works well. Looking across the rows, we see clearly what to expect from each of the airlines. Categorizing the actions by cancellations (shown here) and delays makes sense from the passenger’s perspective. However, the graphic is skewed right on the page because of the left-side column.

In addition, when I hear “dashboard,” I think of a more complex, interactive spreadsheet. The only functionality seems kind-of silly. The dropdown menu at top doesn’t add value because we can just as easily scan across to see what any airline provides. Also, I’m not sure why anyone would want the ability to “keep only” or “exclude” specific items—or to see repetitive text when they mouseover the markings. Finally, I chose “view data” and got the following in a pop-up window, which communicates nothing relevant.

I would call the visual a table, matrix, or grid. But I don’t want to disregard the good news: airlines are communicating what customers can expect, can be held accountable and, in some cases, are providing better service.

Arguments About Student Loan Forgiveness

Students might be interested to analyze persuasive messages about the new U.S. student loan forgiveness program. Political pundits, economists, journalists, my sister—everyone has an opinion on the plan, which the government frames as “The Biden-Harris Administration's Student Debt Relief Plan.”

Today’s Wall Street Journal editorial board op-ed argues that the plan will benefit universities, giving them permission to raise tuition further.

In a New York Times op-ed, Paul Krugman takes a broader view and considers the impact on the economy.

Students can find additional arguments—and will have their own ideas. As for all arguments, identifying logical arguments, emotional appeals, and credibility illustrates an author’s persuasive communication strategy. Students also will identify rhetorical devices, organizational approaches, and logical fallacies. For example, the WSJ article refers to “Ivory Tower progressives,” and Krugman uses questions throughout his article.

Nuclear Preparedness Video Fail

A New York City video about what to do during a nuclear disaster is criticized as unhelpful and lacking context. Mayor Eric Adams approved the PSA, part of a series about how to handle emergencies, such as extreme heat and flooding. Those videos received a few hundred views, while this one garnered more than 800,000, so officials consider it a success, but the reaction is mocking.

The video narrative says, “So there’s been a nuclear attack. Don’t ask me how or why; just know that the big one has hit.” Critics say that these types of service commercials typically start with some public announcement telling us what has or could happen. Mayor Adams said that the video was planned ”after the attacks in the Ukraine, and O.E.M. took a very proactive step to say, let’s be prepared,” and he “thought it was a great idea.” But we have no introduction. We’re left to worry: is the Ukraine facility an imminent danger?

Video presentation and quality count. Oddly, the YouTube post starts with an ad for a survival food kit. Then, the 1.5-minute video offers simplistic suggestions: get inside, stay inside, and stay tuned. Experts also question the advice. As one says, “get inside” isn’t practical when your house is gone, which will be the more likely case.

This situation may be the result, as the New York Times article suggests, of using a small, inexperienced production company. I wonder whether more context and more research, including focus groups, would have helped. Regardless, this is a communication failure.

Google Employee Petition

Google employees are petitioning for the company to stop collecting abortion-related data. The concern comes after Roe v. Wade was overturned, which could put women who search for abortion services in jeopardy.

Launched in January 2021, Alphabet Workers' Union is driving the petition, now signed by more than 650 employees. The group is asking Google to refrain from turning data about searches and illegal abortions over to authorities, as Facebook did; to omit “misleading ‘pregnancy crisis centers’” in search results, including maps, which often lead to anti-abortion centers; to stop donations and lobbying entirely; and more.

As tech employee activism becomes more prevalent, employees feel more empowered to demonstrate courage. I don’t see the entire petition, but I wonder whether employees are asking for too much, particularly an end to all lobbying and political donations. A more focused, realistic request of actions that show the company’s leadership among tech companies could be more effective.

Although the petition was sent to CEO Sundar Pichai and other executives on Monday, the group hadn’t received a response by Thursday. Company leaders are called on to demonstrate integrity—transparency in communication and consistency with company principles. This is also an opportunity to lead with humility and to show a willingness to be vulnerable because this is a highly sensitive issue with no clear answers. Although a difficult situation to address, leaders must respond, particularly before the story becomes about the lack of response.

CEOs’ Direct Talk

A Wall Street Journal article this week, “CEOs Ditch the Warm Talk as Economy Shows Signs That ‘Winter’s Coming,’” provides several examples of leaders’ direct communication. When we analyze bad-news messages in business communication, we consider the organizational strategy and, more important. tone and content choices. The current wave is for CEOs to warn employees about layoffs and prepare them for tough times ahead.

Some CEOs use this direct strategy to manipulate employees to return to offices, but others are demonstrating integrity. A CEO who asks employees to “do more with less” is being transparent. Employees may be motivated by this type of talk—either to work harder and cut costs or to leave the company. If employees leave, the CEO might be OK with that, hoping to reduce headcount or hire new workers who are more productive and have different skills.

Although the article title refers to declining “warm talk,” I would argue that the talk is compassionate—honestly preparing employees so they can make decisions about how and whether they want to continue working for the company.

Images source.

Robinhood Layoff Message

Robinhood attracted retail investors during the pandemic but is facing losses as users leave the platform. In Business Communication and Character, I criticized Robinhood’s aggressive marketing tactics to lure inexperienced investors. Now, the company is doing its second round of layoffs: 9% of staff in April and another 23% in August. Lucky for us, the message to staff is posted on the Robinhood blog—a smart move because notes like are typically leaked, anyway.

Overall, CEO Vlad Tenev’s message meets criteria for bad-news communications. The main point is upfront, as I suggest for layoff messages because employees should know the news already. According to this message, they do: Tenev refers to All-Hands meetings before and after the written message. We get the sense that internal communication has been ongoing and that decisions have been transparent.

The message tells employees what’s next and that they will hear the news quickly: “Everyone will receive an email and a Slack message with your status—with resources and support if you are leaving. We’re sending everyone a message immediately after this meeting so you don’t have to wait for clarity.” The better approach would be individual, in-person (or Zoom) meetings, but this isn’t always practical.

Tenev described part of the reasons for the reductions but omitted a recent $30 million fine and increased regulatory pressure. Yet he demonstrated accountability and humility by admitting bad decisions. He wrote, “As CEO, I approved and took responsibility for our ambitious staffing trajectory—this is on me.” In addition, on a press call, Tenev admitted, “The reality is that we over-hired, in particular in some of our support functions.”

Tenev also demonstrated compassion. He sounds human, saying goodbye to people who will leave and encouraging people who will stay, without being too positive, which could be off-putting.

In sum, this isn’t the best layoff message example we have, but it’s certainly not the worst. I would share this with students as a positive example.

Using Alt Text for Its Intended Purpose

An alternative-text feature allows blind readers and those with low vision to hear descriptions of what they can’t see online. The point is to improve digital accessibility. NASA uses the feature with an “ALT” link that opens an “Image Description.”

This Harvard Digital Accessibility guide provides tips for writing good alt text:

• Add alt text all non-decorative images.

• Keep it short and descriptive, like a tweet.

• Don’t include “image of” or “photo of.”

• Leave alt text blank if the image is purely decorative

• It's not necessary to add text in the Title field.

I would amend this list by suggesting that writers limit the number of “purely decorative” images in favor of meaningful ones.

Twitter users and others are frustrated by alt text that doesn’t meet these criteria and, worse, is used for purposes other than increasing accessibility. Unfortunately, people are using this feature for source information, additional captions, or jokes. Of course, this does nothing to help users who need assistance navigating web content—the intended purpose of alt text.

Starbucks Message About Store Safety

Responding to employee concerns about crime, drug use, and other challenging incidents in several stores, Starbucks announced 16 store closings. The company promised to redeploy partners in those locations and reassured all workers that safety is a priority.

As usual, Starbucks posted a message on its public blog. The title, “Message to Starbucks partners: Safety in our stores,” starts with empathy, acknowledging that employees’ concerns have been heard. Two senior VPs of operations wrote, “We read every incident report you file—it’s a lot.”

The message provides eight ways the company will ramp up safety protections for store employees. Training, policies, alarm systems, counselors, health benefits, etc. demonstrate accountability and compassion.

Of course, this communication comes on the heels of increased union activity in Starbucks stores. Still, the company does seem to be "doing the right thing” for its employees, and the message is clear, well organized, and audience focused. One example of audience focus is mentioning the possibility of closing stores but not announcing the specific closures, which affect some employees but not all, as this message is intended.

Companies Navigate Comms After Roe v. Wade

After the U.S. Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, women’s constitutional right to have an abortion, companies are faced with thorny decisions about whether and how to communicate. Leaders have become more vocal on social issues, for example, gay marriage and Black Lives Matter, but this situation may be more complicated.

Several companies have expanded their health care coverage to include travel for medical procedures, but they avoid the word “abortion.” For example, Disney sent an email to staff:

“We have processes in place so that an employee who may be unable to access care in one location has affordable coverage for receiving similar levels of care in another location,” including, “family planning (including pregnancy-related decisions).”

Other companies were more direct. Back in April, after the Texas ruling that limited abortions, Yelp’s chief diversity officer said, “We want to be able to recruit and retain employees wherever they might be living,” She raised the issue of equity—access for employees who may not have the funds to travel. She also said, “The ability to control your reproductive health, and whether or when you want to extend your family, is absolutely fundamental to being able to be successful in the workplace,”

Starbucks, facing unionization efforts and staffing issues, sent three letters to partners during the past few months and posted them publicly. Each uses the word “abortion” and acknowledges different views on the subject and that some may feel “disheartened or in shock.”

How companies approach these communications reflects their business, employee base, location, and culture. We might expect Starbucks, whose founder and current interim CEO Howard Schultz has consistently been vocal on controversial issues. Starbucks leaders demonstrated courage, vulnerability, compassion, and integrity—standing up for what they believe is right, despite strong feelings on the other side.

Musk's Meeting with Twitter Employees

A summary of Elon Musk’s meeting with Twitter staff gives us a window into a typical “all-hands meeting.” Employees who ask questions demonstrate courage—and humility.

Of course, in this case, employees are most concerned about their jobs if/when Musk’s acquisition of the company is final. A Wall Street Journal article describes his stance:

Regarding layoffs, Mr. Musk said anyone who is a significant contributor shouldn’t have anything to worry about, according to people who viewed the meeting. “Right now, costs exceed revenue,” he said, according to the people. “That’s not a great situation.”

Likewise, this isn’t a great response for worried staff. How do they know whether they are “a significant contributor”? Doesn’t everyone believe that they are? As one person tweeted, “still not sure if I need to start packing my bags.” The company might lose good people in the meantime—people who don’t want to stick around to see what happens.

As expected, Musk was asked how he views freedom of speech. Musk distinguished between freedom of speech and “freedom of reach,” giving the example of “walk[ing] into the middle of Times Square and deny[ing] the Holocaust" but not allowing that to be promoted. "So I think people should be allowed to say pretty outrageous things that are within the bounds of the law, but then that doesn’t get amplified. It doesn’t get, you know, a ton of reach."

A lot of uncertainty remains for Twitter employees. It’s difficult to know how sincere the meeting was. As this employee cartoon suggests, employees expected that the meeting, although billed as confidential, would be leaked. Still, the format was probably useful for employees to hear directly from Musk, which is the point of these meetings, whether in person or virtual.

"Rainbow Washing" and Burger King Ad

Almost every company seems to have some recognition of Pride Month, a celebration of the LGBTQ+ community during the anniversary of the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in Manhattan. But skeptics complain that June has become a time for “rainbow washing,” which Urban Dictionary defines as “The act of using or adding rainbow colors and/or imagery to advertising, apparel, accessories, landmarks, et cetera, in order to indicate progressive support for LGBTQ equality (and earn consumer credibility)—but with a minimum of effort or pragmatic result. (Akin to ‘green-washing’ with environmental issues and ‘pink-washing’ with breast cancer.)”

Burger King has done worse. To promote a Whopper in Austria, the company’s ad agency suggested selling "two equal buns"—either two tops or two bottoms. Some found the sexual reference funny, but others were offended, particularly because Burger King used the joke only for financial gain. Unlike other brands, the company didn’t include, for example, a donation to an LGBTQ+ organization.

The agency sent an apology to AdAge: “We at Jung von Matt Donau are proud of our queer community within our agency. Unfortunately, we still messed up and didn’t check well enough with community members on different interpretations of the ‘Pride Whopper.’ That’s on us.” The group also said, “we’ve learned our lessons and will include experts on communicating with the LGBTQ community for future work as promoting equal love and equal rights will still be a priority for us.”

The company takes responsibility, but a good apology includes a bit more, for example, an understanding of the impact and reparations or compensation. AdAge didn’t publish the apology in full, but business communication students could rewrite the response to demonstrate more vulnerability, humility, and compassion. In addition, Burger King has remained quiet while the ad agency took all the blame.

A Different Approach to Customer Replies

Squarespace is trying to reduce the volume of customer requests to handle, and I like the approach. I received this email three days after I submitted a ticket on the website.

From: Squarespace Customer Care <customercare@squarespace.com>
Sent: Tuesday, June 7, 2022 9:06 AM
To: Amy Newman <amynewman@cornell.edu>
Subject: [Support] Re: Automatic weekly?

##- Please type your reply above this line -##

Hello, this is Squarespace Customer Support. We're writing to confirm that we received your email a few days ago and are still working to respond as soon as possible.

We're currently experiencing a high volume of requests, so it's taking us longer than usual to respond. We apologize for any inconvenience this causes.

If you've resolved your issue since contacting us, please reply with the word "solved" to let us know and we'll close the case on your behalf. You can reopen a closed case at any time by replying to the thread.

If you want to speak to someone directly about your issue, contact us via live chat. Live chat is available Monday - Friday from 4:00 AM to 8:00 PM ET. To start a chat, visit this link, choose a topic, then select Live Chat:

https://support.squarespace.com/hc/en-us/requests/new#choose-topic

I wonder what percentage of customers resolve their own issue before the company can respond. Either way, this message gives customers some control over their fate and may reduce frustration. It worked for me, partly because the declining customer experience is well known and not unique to Squarespace.

It might not work for customers with a serious issue, but they can follow options in the last paragraph. In this sense, the message is a bad-news reply and, like most, it’s also persuasive. Students can analyze how well the writing style and organization work for the audience and purpose.

Another Elon Musk Email: Layoffs

Elon Musk has a unique way of announcing bad news. In an email to employees, which he sent to the New York Times and other news organizations, Musk is brief and direct.

To: Everybody
Subject: Headcount Reduction
Date: Friday, June 3, 2022

Tesla will be reducing salaried headcount by 10% as we have become overstaffed in many areas. Note this does not apply to anyone actually building cars, battery packs or installing solar. Hourly headcount will increase.

Elon

Business communication students can compare this message to principles in Chapter 8 for delivering bad news, particularly about jobs. Musk’s email doesn’t quite measure up. A better example is from Brian Chesky, Airbnb. Chesky tailors the message to his audience, letting them know why the decision was made, how it affects them, and what they can expect. He demonstrates vulnerability and compassion to those leaving—and to those staying.

Elon Musk's Harsh Emails

Elon Musk wants employees to work in the office, and he doesn’t waste words in getting his message across. In two emails, below, to Tesla and SpaceX employees, Musk requires at least 40 hours of work in a company main office.

First email:

Subject: Remote work is no longer acceptble [sic]

Anyone who wishes to do remote work must be in the office for a minimum (and I mean *minimum*) of 40 hours per week or depart Tesla. This is less than we ask of factory workers.

If there are particularly exceptional contributors for whom this is impossible, I will review and approve those exceptions directly.

Moreover, the “office” must be a main Tesla office, not a remote branch office unrelated to the job duties, for example being responsible for Fremont factory human relations, but having your office be in another state.

Thanks,
Elon

Second email:

Subject: To be super clear

Everyone at Tesla is required to spend a minimum of 40 hours in the office per week. Moreover, the office must be where your actual colleagues are located, not some remote pseudo office. If you don’t show up, we will assume you have resigned.

The more senior you are, the more visible must be your presence. That is why I lived in the factory so much – so that those on the line could see me working alongside them. If I had not done that, Tesla would long ago have gone bankrupt.

There are of course companies that don’t require this, but when was the last time they shipped a great new product? It’s been a while.

Tesla has and will create and actually manufacture the most exciting and meaningful products of any company on Earth. This will not happen by phoning it in.

Thanks,
Elon///

In case it wasn’t clear, Musk tweeted consequences for employees who fail to follow his rules: “They should pretend to work somewhere else.” Musk is known for being demanding and direct. I refer to his emails as “harsh,” but not everyone will agree.

Musk has reasons for his decision, but he doesn’t include them. His strategy is coercion (implied, and then explicit in his tweet). He will get compliance, but I wonder how motivated and satisfied employees will be to work long hours in an office after having the flexibility to work from home.

Image source.