Category: Authentic or Not?
-
Authentic Responses to Recession? Try Alternatives to Layoffs
The latest report of the Bureau of Labor Statistics states that in September 2008 alone, 2,269 companies executed a "mass layoff" . (A "mass layoff" is defined as firing at least 50 employees at one time from the organization.) This is the highest number of organizations executing a mass layoff since September of 2001. While…
-
Faking an Identity: How Inauthentic Organizations Dress Up
Special Halloween Edition In the spirit of Halloween, a time of costumes, treats and tricks, I’m inspired to start a list of ways that organizations dress themselves up so that they appear to be what they are not. Some of these terms and concepts are familiar. Some terms I’ve invented (4, 5, 6) and two…
-
McCain Campaign Exploits the Race of Their Hired Help
The McCain Campaign has hired Obama supporters to work as as "paid volunteers ."Â As reported by Tom Baldwin in the UK Times, and picked up by The Huffington Post and the Daily Kos, the McCain Campaign is paying temp workers $10 an hour to go door to door handing out absentee ballot requests. Although…
-
Organizational Identity, Employee Branding and Political Contributions: Should you care if The Body Shop leans Republican?
The Body Shop is Republican? Anita Roddick must be rolling over in her grave. Released last week were the results of a study that shows how organizations have supported the Republican and Democratic parties. The data include direct corporate support (through Political Action Committees) and/or the support of these organizations’ employees (through individual donations). You…
-
The Lyin’, the Which? , and The Wardrobe: Palin’s new clothes cost her more than $150,000
Sarah , Sarah , Sarah . Just when I’m ready to move on to other topics, you serve up yet another opportunity to understand organizations and authenticity. This time, the lessons are all about image, and the relationship between how we present ourselves and who we really are. If Palin’s wardrobe upgrade had been well-executed,…
-
Mix Fake and Real, the Palin Way
People are hungry for authentic leaders and authentic organizations . Assessing an organization’s authenticity or a candidate’s authenticity is one way that we gauge where to place our trust. To entice people to trust us, we need to make them think the organization is authentic. Sometimes, we may even want to create "Fake Authenticity" in…
-
4 Ways Palin Creates a Fake “Reality”
In my earlier post, Use Real Authenticity to Establish Fake Authenticity: Sarah Palin shows organizations how , I argue that Palin is a useful role model for organizations in the way that she has gone about creating "Fake Authenticity." Establishing Fake Authenticity has two steps, and in this post I’ll discuss Step 1: Creating a…
-
Use Real Authenticity to Establish Fake Authenticity: Sarah Palin shows organizations how
Almost anywhere we look at this election season there’s something to learn about authenticity. This is especially true when we’re able to draw analogies between individuals and organizations. Watching the ways that individuals work to present themselves as authentic , we can learn tactics that organizations can use. Sarah Palin has been very effective at…
-
8 Ways to be Authentic: Tyson Foods suggests how
Tyson Food claims that, as part of its core values, it is “striving to be faith friendly”. But, if Tyson’s handling of the brouhaha over recognizing an Islamic holy day in the labor contract of its plant in Shelbyville, TN, is any indication, Tyson is having a hard time finding ways to demonstrate its values…
-
Broken promises hurt twice as much
What hurts more: (a) An offensive organizational action or (b) an offensive action that displays inauthenticity? I vote for (b). An offensive action that displays inauthenticity hurts more than an action that is simply offensive. Why? Because an offensive inauthentic action represents a broken promise. When an organization makes a claim to be a certain…