Authentic or Not?

Corporations as Persons: Steven Colbert explains this bad idea

January 22, 2010

Tweet [Jan 21: In light of yesterday’s Supreme Court Decision, I’m re-posting this serious & pop-culture critique of the anti-democratic argument that Corporations Are People. Scott Klinger writing over at Alternet, sets out what it would/should mean for corporations really to be treated as “persons” and thus have the same responsibilities as people too. Me, […]

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What’s going on at my favorite Starbucks?

January 13, 2010

Tweet There’s something going on at my favorite Starbucks. I’m not quite sure what it is. But there is new evidence today that this Starbucks is somehow special/better than the other 3 in my town. Before I tell you about that, I should probably explain that there are 4 Starbucks within a 2 mile radius […]

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Mockulation ®: Regulating Wall Street Using the Psychology of Public Mockery

December 31, 2009

Tweet What does it take to rein in the outrageous compensation of CEOs? The absurd bonuses of Investment Bankers? The “bail us out so we can award ourselves bonuses”-behavior characterizing Wall Street this year? Do we need more transparency? More shareholder oversight? More whistle-blowing? More government regulation? How about just a little bit more public […]

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When Brandividuals Violate Organizational Reputation: Ethics, NPR and Fox News

December 15, 2009

Tweet Media Watchdog Eric Boehlert blasts out of the gate this morning with an incisive critique of a longstanding, problematic relationship between NPR and Fox News. Please go to Eric’s post “According to its ethics code, NPR still has a problem” at MediaMattersForAmerica to read the entire story, which he has been covering for several […]

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Authentic Organizational Values at Smith & Nephew: The Greatest of these is …

November 20, 2009

Tweet Love. That was what I saw when I went to the home page of Smith & Nephew: UK & Ireland. I saw love, even thought that’s not what Smith & Nephew said was one of their organization’s core values. Smith & Nephew is a medical products company that makes, among many things, wound dressings. […]

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Amazon’s Pay Phrase: Behavioral Targeting or Identity Aspiration?

November 18, 2009

Tweet Has Amazon.com figured out something really personal about me? I’m wondering, because Amazon’s new Pay Phrase feature has me a bit disconcerted puzzled. Pay Phrase: Two words that mean….what, exactly? Amazon has this new feature, called “pay phrase”, where you pick out a unique phrase, attach it to a pin number, and then use […]

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7 Signs of Change at Comcast: What I’ve found so far

October 28, 2009

Tweet It looks like Comcast is, in fact, working to integrate its social media efforts into its internal systems. This integration of their customer contact efforts, along with internal leadership initiatives, is powering overall organizational change. In my previous post, I questioned whether people were assuming cultural change at Comcast simply because their CEO claimed […]

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Is Twitter is Really Changing Comcast’s Culture?: 7 Signs to Look For

October 26, 2009

Tweet If you read TechCruch or pay attention to social media gurus, you might think that Comcast was really making progress towards becoming more customer-oriented. We hear a lot about Frank Eliason and his leadership in getting Comcast onto social media to respond to customer complaints that, increasingly, are being voiced online. With @ComcastCares on […]

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Can a Flu Shot demonstrate Authenticity?

October 15, 2009

Tweet Has your organization made it easy for you to get a flu vaccine? If your organization really wanted to be authentic, maybe it would offer everyone flu shots. At a private pre-school near me, they had a pediatrician offer a “flu shot clinic” for children, teachers, parents and caregivers– doing their best to get […]

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The People Make the Place Authentic

October 1, 2009

Tweet When you think about “the organization” or “your organization”, do you simultaneously overlook the actual people in it? This tension between thinking of an organization as an entity and simultaneously recognizing that it is also a collection of individuals runs through all our conversations about organizations. When managers and leaders are considering their organization’s […]

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