How much does a government sanction hurt a company’s reputation and business? PricewaterhouseCoopers is about to find out. The auditing and consulting firm is barred for 24 months from doing any work that requires a sign-off from the New York Department of Financial Services, and it is paying a $25 million fine. The government unit […]
Posted on August 19th, 2014 by admin
Filed under: Uncategorized | 180 Comments »
Some businesses are harmed by publicity rather than helped. Here is one of them that is apparently legal yet works best by staying in shadows. Ever wonder how lawyers got those names for mass-tort lawsuits? Personal injury lawyers and their ilk are an unfortunate necessity. Few like them but there is at times no […]
Posted on December 16th, 2013 by admin
Filed under: Uncategorized | 177 Comments »
There are usually economic reasons for business and government to get along, but not in this instance. Tech companies are worried that government spying on customers will send them fleeing to other services. It is a legitimate concern. Who wants to know that someone could be looking into everything one does or writes online? It […]
Posted on December 9th, 2013 by admin
Filed under: Uncategorized | 203 Comments »
The disabled Carnival Cruise Lines ship is back in port. The CEO is making personal apologies. The company is offering refunds to passengers and inducements to return for another cruise some time in the future. For some passengers, that is not enough. The idea of going on another vacation with any line is out of […]
Posted on February 15th, 2013 by admin
Filed under: Uncategorized | 193 Comments »
This is an interesting case for good grammar in business writing. It is a pity that professionals often ignore its arguments, particularly when writing e-mail. This summer I am teaching managers getting MBAs at New York University. The course is business communications. One student, a bright fellow, argued with me over the need to worry […]
Posted on August 2nd, 2012 by admin
Filed under: Uncategorized | 188 Comments »
This essay raises the question of business and society and points out that business does not have a direct responsibility for the welfare of a society in which it works. A business is beholden to customers and stakeholders. If society’s needs happen to intersect with a business’ purpose, all the better. If it doesn’t, companies […]
Posted on July 20th, 2012 by admin
Filed under: Uncategorized | 190 Comments »
Here is one way to tick off customers, create bad PR and kill your budding business — offer a news service with fake bylines. A Chicago start-up, called Journatic, supplies newspapers with hyperlocal reporting but to disguise how it does it, the service created mythical names as authors of its stories. Newspapers are not happy. Journatic lost customers, […]
Posted on July 6th, 2012 by admin
Filed under: Uncategorized | 182 Comments »
The New York Times published an article yesterday on Apple’s payment of taxes — non-payment, that is. It is summarized here. From a business perspective, what Apple is doing is smart. No business should pay one dollar more of taxes than it must. Its fiduciary duty to shareholders is to earn income, not pay […]
Posted on April 30th, 2012 by admin
Filed under: Uncategorized | 196 Comments »
Here is a perfect example of how smart PR can lead directly to increased business. IBM’s Watson Computer is going to Wall Street after its successful run on Jeopardy! last year. Admittedly, appearing on a quiz show was a stunt but it was a brilliant way to show off the capabilities of the machine and […]
Posted on March 7th, 2012 by admin
Filed under: Uncategorized | 200 Comments »
There are times when a corporation can’t win. This is one. Boeing in response to pending cutbacks in military budgets has elected to close its 80-year-old plant in Wichita, KS. Everyone is crying foul. Kansas politicians had gone to bat for the company in its long and much-disputed win of an Air Force aerial tanker […]
Posted on January 6th, 2012 by admin
Filed under: Uncategorized | 188 Comments »
