Wells Fargo on the Hot Seat Again

Again, Wells Fargo executives faced angry lawmakers, and again, Senator Elizabeth Warren encouraged the CEO to leave. This time, she told CEO Timothy Sloan, "You should be fired." Last year, around this time, she told former CEO John Stump, "You should resign." She also referred to Stumpf's actions as "gutless leadership."

Senator John Neely Kennedy had tough words for the CEO too:

What in God's name were you thinking? I am not against big, but with all due respect, I am against dumb. I am against a business practice that has puts Wells Fargo first and customers second.

Sloan defended the board and his leadership by saying that a "throughout, independent investigation" has been made public. He said that he's "been making change at this company for 30 years," his actions have resulted in "fundamental change at the company," and that he has "the support of 270,000 people."

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Discussion:

• How convincing do you find Sloan's testimony? Should he continue at Wells Fargo or leave the company?
• Analyze Elizabeth Warren's arguments. Do you find her criticism too harsh, on point, or something else?
• From this longer video segment, do you believe Sloan is holding himself accountable? What tells you he takes responsibility, or what else would he need to do to convince you?

Updates About the Florida Nursing Home

New information has surfaced about patient deaths at the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills. The toll is up to 11 residents, who died from heat exhaustion, heart failure, and other issues related to extreme heat at the facility.

Now we have new questions about accountability. Administrators at the facility made several calls to Florida Power and Light (FPL) requesting they restore power. Some parts of the facility had lost power, including a transformer needed to run the air conditioning. Although they were told that help was on the way, FPL didn't arrive for days.

Another turn in the story is about Governor Rick Scott's responsibility. Before the storm, he gave his cell number to nursing homes and encouraged them to call with emergencies.Because they didn't get a response from FPL, rehab center administrators left a message on Scott's cell phone. The call was returned, and administrators were told to call 911, which they did. When they still didn't get assistance, they called Scott's cell two more times. The governor's office released a statement:

"Every call made to the Governor from facility management was referred to the Agency for Health Care Administration and the Florida Department of Health and quickly returned."

FPL also released a statement about the case:

"The tragic and senseless loss at Hollywood Hills Rehabilitation Center is the subject of a criminal homicide investigation by law enforcement," the DOH [Department of Health] noted. "Let's be clear – this facility is located across the street from one of Florida's largest hospitals, which never lost power and had fully operating facilities. It is 100 percent the responsibility of healthcare professionals to preserve life by acting in the best interest of the health and well-being of their patients."

FPL spokesperson Peter Robbins also said, "What we know now is that a portion of the facility did, in fact, have power, that there was a hospital with power across the parking lot from this facility, and that the nursing home was required to have a permanently installed, operational generator."

The nursing home is under criminal investigation and has lost its license to operate and its ability to accept Medicare funding.

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Discussion:

• How is this story an issue of accountability, integrity, and compassion? What failures contributed to the deaths?
• How well did the FPL and governor respond to criticism? How convincing do you find their statements?
• Critics say the rehab center staff should have moved residents, for example, to the hospital across the street. What's your view of their responsibility?

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 Deaths at Florida Nursing Home

Eight people died in a nursing home from heat after Hurricane Irma. Local police, the medical director of a nearby hospital, and the city mayor held a news conference to describe the situation. Although the video references six people, two additional have died for a total of eight at Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills. No one was present from the facility.

Florida Governor Rick Scott called the situation "unfathomable" and "inexcusable." The facility didn't lose power, but the air conditioning wasn't working. It's not clear why people weren't transferred to another facility, for example, the hospital across the street. Patients died of heart attacks, dehydration, and other issues related to the extreme heat.

Critics say that some business in Florida, such as gas stations, are required to have backup generators, but this is not the case for nursing homes. A criminal investigation has begun. The owner of the facility has a criminal past involving kickbacks; the case was settled for $15.4 million

At this point, the facility has been evacuated, and people are being accommodated at other locations.

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Discussion:

• Who should be held accountable in this situation?
• Assess the three statements in the news conference. How appropriate was each to the person's role?
• We're obviously missing someone from the rehabilitation facility. Would representation help or hurt their case?
• For the questions we hear in English, how well does the police chief respond? What strategies does he use to deflect questions he can't or won't answer?

SoFi CEO's Resignation Letter

SoFi CEO Michael Cagney has stepped down after sexual harassment charges. This is a blow to tech start-ups, like Uber, that have been criticized for a "frat" culture. SoFi is short for Social Finance, Inc., and is the largest online lending company.

The evidence against Cagney is strong, including text messages and people who have seen Cagney flirting and holding hands with another employee. (Cagney is married with two children.) Employees also complain about Cagney bragging about his sexual prowess and about seeing supervisors and employees having sex in the office and in the parking lot. As a settlement, one employee was paid about $75,000 to leave SoFi.

Other lawsuits against the company include unfair labor practices (e.g., pay and breaks) and financial reporting issues. The company denies these claims.

In a message to employees, Cagney explained his reasons for leaving.

All,

It is with a heavy heart that I am announcing that I will step down as CEO of SoFi by the end of
this year.

SoFi has been an amazing journey. From the early days with five of us in a one-room office in 2011, to 1,200 employees spread across the country today, few firms have matched our success. We have had massive impact on our members lives, lending over $20 billion to our over 350,000 members, saving them over $1.8 billion in student loan interest and $500 million in credit-card interest, and helping them advance their careers and relationships.

That impact keeps growing. In the second quarter alone, we funded over $3.1 billion in loans, producing $134 million in revenue and $61.6 million in adjusted EBITDA. I could not be prouder of the company's we've built together.

Recently, though, the focus has shifted more toward litigation and me personally. The combination of HR-related litigation and negative press have become a distraction from the company's core mission.

I want SoFi to focus on helping members, hiring the best people, and growing our company in a way consistent with our values. That can't happen as well as it should if people are focused on me, which isn't fair to our members, investors, or you.

I will be fully dedicated to the business through year-end, and will work closely with the Board to find the best candidate to lead us forward.

SoFi has built an incredible team. While we've come a long way, we're still in the early innings of what we can and will accomplish. I'm grateful to have had the opportunity to help get us to where we are today – and I look forward to seeing where all of you take SoFi in the coming years.

Thanks,

Mike

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Discussion:

• Who is responsible for organizational culture and for maintaining a workplace free of harassment?
• Assess Cagney's resignation letter. To what extent does he demonstrate humility and accountability? Where does the letter fall short?
• Also assess the writing style, tone, audience focus, and organization. What works well, and what could be improved?

Talking About Climate Change: Too Soon?

EPA chief Scott Priutt says it's "insensitive" to talk about climate change as people are wrestling with hurricanes. The response follows a request from Miami Mayor Tomás Regalado the Friday before Hurricane Irma hit Florida:

"This is the time to talk about climate change. This is the time that the president and the EPA and whoever makes decisions needs to talk about climate change," said Regalado, who flew back to Miami from Argentina Friday morning to be in the city during the storm. "If this isn't climate change, I don't know what is. This is a truly, truly poster child for what is to come."

Pruitt said,

"To have any kind of focus on the cause and effect of the storm versus helping people, or actually facing the effect of the storm, is misplaced," and "To use time and effort to address it at this point is very, very insensitive to this people in Florida."

Pruitt has also said that he doesn't believe that carbon dioxide emissions is a major contributor to climate change. Scientists report changing "climate change" in their documentation to other words.

In a Los Angeles Times opinion article, "Harvey and Irma say this is the right time to discuss global warming," the reporter calls Pruitt's response "patently absurd." He compares the hurricanes to shootings, when it is the right time to talk about gun control.

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Discussion:

• What's your view? Should we discuss climate change as the hurricanes are happening? What are the arguments on both sides?
• How, if at all, might your opinion change if you or your family were victims of the hurricane?
• For leadership character, this could be an issue of accountability and compassion. How do you see these dimensions playing a role in the debate?

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?

Equifax Statement About Security Breaches

A cyberattack on credit reporter Equifax revealed personal information about 143 million people. What makes this breach worrying is the type of information that was stolen: Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses and, driver's license numbers.

On the home page of its website, Equifax has a red post directing readers to a statement for more information. They are also offering identity protection for people affected.

But the company isn't making it easy. When I entered my information, I saw a message that I may be affected, and then I saw the message at right, saying, in order to enroll, I would need to revisit in 4 days for some reason.

The company fixed another criticism: if you signed up for their protection, there was some question about whether you were waiving rights to sue. The company clarified: "In response to consumer inquiries, we have made it clear that the arbitration clause and class action waiver included in the Equifax and TrustedID Premier terms of use does not apply to this cybersecurity incident."

Overall, the company is accepting responsibility. The Chairman and CEO Rick Smith explained the situation on a video.

Discussion:

• Assess Equifax's statement. What principles of bad news are followed, and how could it be improved.
• Now assess Rick Smith's video statement. Consider the question above as well as delivery skills.

Comms About Hurricane Harvey

As Texas prepares for Hurricane Harvey, government officials and news organizations are preparing communications to help:

• President Trump issued a statement about monitoring the storm and encouraging people to evacuate if they are in the Hurricane's path. The president is also tweeting about the storm.
• His statement points to Ready.gov, a website rich with resources for preparing families in case of flooding, hurricanes, or extreme heat.
• CNN's website shows live updates of the storm's path.
• The National Hurricane Center is posting coastal warnings and a visual of the cone.
• Texas Governor Greg Abbott was interviewed by BBC and is hosting a meeting to plan emergency operations. (His website includes a tweet but nothing else yet about the storm.)

And, of course, the media is covering the storm with bold headlines:

• "Major disaster" (BBC)
• "Monster storm" (Washington Post)
• "Could be much worse than Sandy" (NY Post)

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Discussion:

• Explore Ready.gov. What do you notice about the key messages, organization, and use of visuals? How easy is it to find information?
• Ready.gov, as of now, doesn't feature Hurricane Harvey; it's generic. Should the site be updated to feature the storm? Why or why not?
• Also explore Governor Abbott's website. Does this site feature the hurricane yet? How do you think the hurricane should be positioned here?

Irvine Finds Room for Admitted Students

University of California, Irvine, is trying to do right by 800 students who accepted the college's admissions offer above the expected number. When making admissions decisions, colleges always consider their "yield," or the percentage of students who will enroll. Admissions officers admit more students than they have space for, assuming some won't come because of financial reasons or school preference.

Initially, Irvine rescinded offers from about 500 students, but it was too late for them to enroll in other schools by that time. They informed students during the summer about transcript and other issues, which happens in a few cases each year, but this is an extraordinary number.

Then university administrators began softening. They admitted that they used standards that were too strict in order to lower their enrollment numbers. The vice chancellor wrote a message to students, including this excerpt:

We heard from some students that this year's process was too stringent and our customer-service approach needs improvement. I acknowledge that we took a harder line on the terms and conditions this year and we could have managed that process with greater care, sensitivity, and clarity about available options. Also contributing to the angst many of you have experienced is our traditional communication and outdated telephone systems that did not serve us well in this circumstance. For those who felt ignored or mistreated, I sincerely apologize.

We are making every effort to do better, immediately. I have directed the admissions team to step up the personal outreach to notified students. We're bringing in more people to review appeals and answer phones. We are committed to correcting any errors swiftly and providing the help you need in an empathetic and understanding way.

A few days later, Irvine's chancellor also apologized, and the university found a way to accommodate 290 more students. His message included this excerpt:

The stories of our students whose college dreams were crushed by our decision to withdraw admissions to hundreds of students are heartbreaking. And unacceptable.

This process is not working. We are a university recognized for advancing the American Dream, not impeding it. This situation is rocking us to our core because it is fundamentally misaligned with our values.

The apology is notable because we see so few of them from university presidents. Writers for The New York Times and Insider Higher Ed commented on the rarity of apologies, partly because of the complexity of academic institutions.

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Discussion:

• Analyze the chancellor's and vice chancellor's messages. What communication principles do they use? How do the messages compare in content, tone, word choice, and organization?
• What should Irvine have done differently in this situation? What are all of the touch points with students that could have been improved?

Communication Gaps Found Between Doctors and Home Health Care Nurses

The findings aren't surprising for anyone who has cared for an elderly parent (as I have). Researchers at University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus identified major communication gaps when a patient is released from the hospital. 

According to the study, published in Journal of General Internal Medicine, discrepancies in medication lists and a lack of accountability are key problems that cause issues for patients. Home health care agency workers also report difficulty in contacting physicians. Study authors identify the following solutions:

• Hospitals and primary care physicians could provide HHC agencies direct access to Electronic Medical Records and direct phone lines to doctors.
• Enact laws allowing nurse practitioners and physician's assistants to write HHC orders. A bill was under consideration to do this but was not acted upon by Congress.
• Clearly establishing accountability for hospital clinicians to manage HHC orders until a primary care physician can see a patient and help HHC nurses with questions.
• Create better communication methods with PCPs to ensure safer transitions

A page on the Family Caregiver Alliance website offers advice for patients when preparing for a medical appointment, meeting with a doctor, spending time in emergency rooms, and, as this study focuses on, "Transitions to Home or Facility: Communications at Discharge Time." The site offers good advice, such as keeping a medical notebook and contacting advocacy groups.

An article in the Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research recommends ways for doctors to improve their communication. The advice will sound very basic to students of business communication, for example, "patient listening, empathy, and paying attention."

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Discussion:

• What are your positive and negative experiences when communicating with medical professionals? What improvements would you recommend?
• Communication gaps during transitions are common. What other examples can you identify (for example, transitioning from high school to college)?

Walmart Apologizes for Racist Description

Walmart blamed a seller for a racist description of a hair weaving net. The blurb included the "N-word" as an adjective with "brown" for the product color.

Walmart removed the description and issued an apology, shown here.

The seller, Jagazi in the United Kingdom, said someone was using its name to sell products on Walmart's website. Jagazi wrote a statement denying connection with the product but didn't mention the racial slur.

We woke up this morning to the news that someone has used our name, Jagazi, to list an item. Please beware that we are reporting this to as many people as we can and trying to get all the listings pulled down. The real Jagazi is a 100% black company for black people. People have often used our brand name to try and sell their products. Please be aware. Very sorry for all the distress this has caused. We are feeling the pain here as well. Most shocking!
 

An AOL article author criticizes Jagazi for "indicating some offense to the racial slur and much offense to someone selling fake Jagazi on Walmart's website." Do you agree or disagree?

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Discussion:

• How does a mistake like this happen?
• How well did Walmart handle the apology? Should the company take more responsibility? Why or why not?
• Assess Jagazi's response. What, if anything, should Jagazi have done differently?
• The AOL article has a punctuation error. Can you find it?

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?

Hyundai's Whistleblower

Kim Gwang-ho took a big risk revealing safety issues at Hyundai, his employer for the past 26 years. The engineer reported failures in proper engine checks that could prevent accidents. Whistleblowing is extremely rare, as Kim describes, "I will be the first and last whistleblower in South Korea's auto industry. There are just too many things to lose." He also said, "I had a normal life and was better off, but now I'm fighting against a big conglomerate."

Hyundai denied allegations in a statement, as reported by Reuters: "The company promotes openness and transparency in all safety-related operations, and its decisions on recalls comply with both global regulators and stringent internal processes."

The company also defended its practices, arguing that they were investigating issues before Kim raised them: "Hyundai has taken appropriate steps to ensure safety, quality and compliance with applicable regulations in our markets, including all recalls Hyundai has conducted to date."

Meanwhile, investigators raided Kim's house and confiscated some documents. Kim said, "At first my wife asked me not to do it. She was worried about living costs if I'm fired. But I'm stubborn, and persuaded her that the problems will be buried forever without my confession."

But the company eventually rehired him and reimbursed him for lost work time.

Kim's complaints did inspire the South Korean government to mandate a recall-the first in the country's history. In addition to the 1.5 million cars voluntarily recalled by the Hyundai and Kia, the government requirement adds another 240,000 to the list. 

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Discussion:

• Analyze how Hyundai is handling this situation and the statements made so far. What could be improved?
• How believable do you find Hyundai's responses? Based on what language or other criteria are you forming your opinion?

Spirit Cancels Flights and Passengers Get Angry

Spirit cancelled flights, and their customers went a bit wild in the Fort Lauderdale airport. One woman says Spirit cancelled three flights in four days, and she's having trouble getting home. Customers were fighting, and some were arrested.

Spirit blames pilots, who won't take certain assignments. They have sued the Airline Pilots Association for what they're calling a work slowdown, which has caused 300 flight cancellations and affected about 20,000 customers.

In a statement, Spirit spokesperson said the company was "shocked and saddened" to see the airport chaos and said, "These pilots have put their quest for a new contract ahead of getting customers to their destinations and the safety of their fellow Spirit Team Members."

Pilots say they are working without a contract and are seeking pay increases. They deny causing a slowdown and said, "Rather, ALPA and the Spirit pilots are continuing to do everything possible to help restore the company's operations, which have experienced significant problems over the past several days."

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Discussion:

• Analyze responsibilities in this situation: airline management, the pilots, the pilot union, and customers. How could this situation have been prevented?
• How's your view of the airline's communications so far? How can they 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?

United Announces New Policies

United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz has found some strength and a way out of the situation that angered so many around the world. The company admits that dragging a man off of a flight two weeks ago wasn't the best way to make room for four United employees.

The company has published "Changes We're Making" in an email to loyalty members, in videos, on its website, in a report, and in an interview with NBC News. The website statement begins as follows:

We are making changes to ensure that we always put customers first

By United Airlines

April 27, 2017

Earlier this month, we disappointed our customers and ourselves when a passenger was forcibly removed from one of our planes. We can never say we are sorry enough for what occurred, but we also know meaningful actions will speak louder than words.

We committed to take action as a result of this incident, and today marks the first step in changing how we fly, serve and respect our customers.

 In the email with the subject line, "Actions Speak Louder than Words," United summarized its most significant policy changes:

We will increase incentives for voluntary rebooking up to $10,000 and will be eliminating the red tape on permanently lost bags with a new "no-questions-asked" $1,500 reimbursement policy. We will also be rolling out a new app for our employees that will enable them to provide on-the-spot goodwill gestures in the form of miles, travel credit and other amenities when your experience with us misses the mark. 

The $10,000 offer for re-booking is particularly clever: it's a generous amount, and it's unlikely the airline will have to pay that much.

Meanwhile, the airline settled with Dr. Dao for an undisclosed amount. Good idea to end the nightmare. The last thing United needs is more publicity about the case.

Discussion:

• How are they doing? Analyze the audience, communication objectives, content, and writing and presentation styles. Also consider the timing and policy changes.
• Read the full report. Which principles of report writing are allowed, and what could be improved?
• To what extent will these communications and policy changes affect United's image?

Heated Wells Fargo Shareholders Meeting

The annual Wells Fargo shareholders meeting was disrupted by angry shareholders wanting to understand how 2 million accounts were created without customers' knowledge and without the knowledge of senior leaders of the organization. One attendee shouted, "You did it that way and you allowed it to continue for years." Another yelled, "We elected you guys to protect us, to be our watchdogs, and you were not." Security removed three protestors.

Despite the protests, all 15 board members were re-elected, although some narrowly. The board's three newcomers, including the new CEO, Tim Sloan, won more support.

Sloan started the meeting with a promise to change:

"There is no doubt that the last seven months have been one of the most difficult periods in our company's 165-year history. I can assure you that we are facing these problems head-on and that Wells Fargo is emerging a much stronger company."

Board turnover will happen over time. Some directors are nearing the mandatory retirement age, and others may still be forced out. But for Brandon Rees, the deputy director of the A.F.L.-C.I.O.'s investment office, the change isn't coming quickly enough. The group holds 1.6 million shares of Wells Fargo, and Rees voted against all of the current board members:

"Fresh blood is needed to ensure that the board has sufficient independence. The narrow vote puts incredible pressure on some directors to reconsider their membership. I hope that by this time next year, we have a new slate."

In March, Gretchen Morgenson wrote a New York Times piece about the increasing number of online shareholders meetings. Partly for convenience, partly to skirt accountability and confrontations like this, more and more companies are holding web-based meetings. The director of an asset management group was quoted in her article:

"These are not management's meetings; they are the meetings of the owners of the company." Online-only events give company officials "tremendous power over controlling, censoring and really limiting the engagement of share owners with the board and management."

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Discussion:

• Are you surprised at the board vote? Why or why not?
• What's your view of the shareholders who spoke out? Were they inappropriately disruptive or just finding their voice?
• What do you think of online shareholder meetings. When might they be appropriate or not?

Altercation on American

Emotions are running high on airplanes. An altercation on an American flight-captured on video, of course-resulted in an employee's suspension.

Apparently, a flight attendant took a stroller forcefully from a woman, hitting her with it. The woman is seen crying, upset that the stroller also just missed her baby. The conflict arose because the woman wanted to keep the stroller with her in the back of the plane, and the attendant wouldn't allow it.

At some point, another passenger got involved and said to an attendant, "You do that to me and I'll knock you flat." An altercation ensues and the flight attendant can be heard saying back to the passenger, "Hit me! Come on, bring it on."

After the United incident when a man was dragged off the plane, American Airlines had to take decisive action. The airline suspended the employee, upgraded the woman and her family to first class on their next flight, and issued a statement:

"We are deeply sorry for the pain we have caused this passenger and her family and to any other customers affected by the incident."

The Association for Professional Flight Attendants (the union) spoke out against American Airlines for acting too quickly. Instead, the president blamed airline conditions, such as shrinking seats and overcrowding, for part of the issue. 

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Discussion:

• Have we all gone mad? Who are the actors in this play, and what responsibility does each hold? In other words, could this scene have been avoided?
• Assess the airline's response. To what extent do you think the United incident affected the response? Either way, did the company respond appropriately?

Fox News Forces Bill O'Reilly Out

After weeks of reports that Fox News settled sexual harassment claims with several women, Fox News anchor Bill O'Reilly is forced out of the company. After $13 million in payouts, additional women came forward, including two who hadn't received settlements and therefore could speak openly.

Pressure was on Fox News when more than 50 companies pulled advertising from the network. Parent company 21st Century Fox, owned by the Murdoch family, issued a brief statement:

"After a thorough and careful review of the allegations, the company and Bill O'Reilly have agreed that Bill O'Reilly will not be returning to the Fox News Channel."

In addition, James Murdoch answered questions a short response: "We did a thorough investigation, a thorough review, and we reached a conclusion. Everything that we said in our statement is all you need to know."

In his own statement, Bill O'Reilly defended himself and blamed his celebrity.  Image source.

Discussion:

• Analyze Fox News and 21st Century Fox's responses in this situation. What did they do well, and what could be improved? What's your view of the companies' actions? Were they too slow, did they cave to advertisers, or something else?
• Should Bill O'Reilly say anything different in his own response?