Marek P. Pfeil, Alison B. Setterberg and James S. O’Rourke
This paper examines the process of corporate downsizing and its implications for communicating employee lay‐offs. In an effort to please one set of stakeholders (investors…
Abstract
This paper examines the process of corporate downsizing and its implications for communicating employee lay‐offs. In an effort to please one set of stakeholders (investors, creditors, shareholders, analysts and others), management may be faced with difficult and unpleasant communication choices as they confront another set of stakeholders (employees, customers, community members and elected officials). The objective in each case is to restructure the organisation, control costs and return to profitability without alienating or traumatising the very people who helped create wealth and productivity for the organisation. This paper reviews current practice, an extended case example, and provides ten specific suggestions for planning and communicating employee lay‐offs.
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James S. O'Rourke, Brynn Harris and Allison Ogilvy
This paper examines the communication strategies organization, and tactics of Google as corporate executives and staff planned and began executing the company's global expansion…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper examines the communication strategies organization, and tactics of Google as corporate executives and staff planned and began executing the company's global expansion strategy with entry into the Chinese market.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper takes the form of a case study.
Findings
To do business in the Chinese market, Google had to comply with Chinese Government censorship restrictions. The company's decision to do so was announced in the wake of Google's very recent refusal to provide user information to the US Government case against child pornography. Wall Street's response confirmed the profit potential of the venture, as the company's share price rose 3.6 percent in just one day, and continued rising to record heights. However, the company's announcement brought strong reaction from the press and human rights organizations. Within days, headlines were screaming across the USA and around the world, accusing Google of abandoning its principles in pursuit of profit.
Originality/value
Mass media in the USA and throughout the developed world heaped scorn and criticism on Google for its decision to censor searches from its servers inside China. Various NGOs took up the drumbeat of criticism, implying that Google could not be trusted with personal data, including search topics. At the same time, however, Wall Street continued to reward the company with a seemingly endless streak of record share price postings. The question appears simple: does the pursuit of profit in the developing world trump the need for ethics and values in business operations?
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This paper examines communication strategies, organization, and tactics of the pharmaceutical firm Merck & Co., Inc., as corporate executives and staff faced the withdrawal from…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper examines communication strategies, organization, and tactics of the pharmaceutical firm Merck & Co., Inc., as corporate executives and staff faced the withdrawal from market of Vioxx, the company's most profitable product.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper explores decision methodology and criteria as Merck executives sought to communicate with their most important stakeholders during the most dangerous and critical period in the company's history.
Findings
As well prepared as Merck & Co. was for a product withdrawal, nothing could have prepared company officers for communicating on the scale, scope, and volume that this crisis would demand. The value of a well‐conceived crisis response plan is underscored, as well as a flexible, responsive organization. Among the more notable findings is that even large, well‐funded, experienced professionals may need to reconsider their organizational structure as they address a multi‐faceted, large‐scale problem. Issues include staffing, functional expertise, length of time on task, and strategic use of key resources.
Practical implications
A number of important lessons in communication strategy have emerged from the experience of withdrawing Vioxx from the market and defending the company against both litigation and continuing bad press. First, a crisis communication plan is essential. Their plan allowed Merck & Co. to identify key individuals to be involved, their roles and responsibilities. A second important lesson concerns persistence and a long‐term view, despite near‐term pressure for earnings performance. Overcoming plaintiffs‐bar litigation may take another five years. A third lesson involves identifying and measuring those issues which Merck stakeholders most needed to know in order to correct misconceptions. Finally, corporate officers recognized that they must have faith in their decisions and recognize the value of their employees (across the organization) in communicating the company's message.
Originality/value
This paper examines the pharmaceutical firm Merck & Co., Inc. and the withdrawal from market of Vioxx, the company's most profitable product.
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The purpose of this paper is to review the latest management development across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting‐edge research and case studies.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to review the latest management development across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting‐edge research and case studies.
Design/methodology/approach
This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.
Findings
Is it worth making business with China at any cost? Complying with Chinese government censorship has caused Google a great deal of reputation damage. Google's image as an innovative company with media appeal and firm principles has been tarnished. Google's attempts at justifying its strategy have failed to convince. Instead Google is facing the consequences of new legislation in its own country and yet another dilemma in China.
Practical implications
Provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world's leading organizations.
Originality/ value
The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy‐to‐digest format.
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Reviews the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoints practical implications from cutting‐edge research and case studies.
Abstract
Purpose
Reviews the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoints practical implications from cutting‐edge research and case studies.
Design/methodology/approach
This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.
Findings
Merck & Co. Inc. is a global research‐driven pharmaceutical company that develops, manufactures and markets a broad range of human health products. One such product is Vioxx, developed in a Merck research facility in 1994 and approved in 1999 by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of pain, inflammation, and stiffness caused by arthritis. The drug was also later approved for use in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis in both children and adults.
Practical implications
Provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world's leading organizations.
Originality/value
The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy‐to‐digest format.
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Sarah Enciso, Carlson Milikin and James Scofield O’Rourke
Business organizations should strive to create ethical cultures to win consumer loyalty and thus safeguard long-term performance success. Management bears ultimate responsibility…
Abstract
Purpose
Business organizations should strive to create ethical cultures to win consumer loyalty and thus safeguard long-term performance success. Management bears ultimate responsibility for promoting ethical behavior. By rewarding ethical behaviors and punishing transgressions, management will reinforce morally upright behavior and create a positive company culture. Successful promotion of corporate ethics, in turn, will boost employee morale, increase performance beyond bare minimums and retain employees in the long run. With a well-structured ethics code and strong reward system, management has all the tools necessary to create an ethical company culture.
Design/methodology/approach
This viewpoint paper, while advocating for a systematic approach to ethical behavior in a business organization, carefully reviews both well-established literature in this area as well as current best practices. The aim is to provide senior managers with a sense of how the best corporate ethics programs are organized and structured.
Findings
A successful corporate ethics program must involve all employees from executives to hourly wage workers, with each taking personal responsibility for his or her own performance and results. While no guarantees of success are offered, one reasonably certain path to failure is for an organization to post an ethics code and then ignore it. Ethics must be discussed, modified from time to time and actively integrated into the life of every organization that hopes to avoid ethical missteps.
Originality/value
This paper offers a fresh viewpoint on both the value and the organization of a potentially successful corporate ethics program. While time-honored ideas serve as the foundation for our discussion, a thorough review of current issues and best practices form the directional heading for the paper’s conclusions.
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Suzanne Hughes, Timothy James Trimble and Anne O’Rourke
Young offenders are disproportionately represented in the Irish Prison Service (IPS) and are a population with complex needs and highest risk of re-offending. Subsets of young…
Abstract
Purpose
Young offenders are disproportionately represented in the Irish Prison Service (IPS) and are a population with complex needs and highest risk of re-offending. Subsets of young offenders in IPS are placed on Protection for their own and/or other’s safety. There is limited research regarding the experiences of young offenders, and there is none on the subjective experiences of young offenders on Protection that could be identified. This study aims to address a limitation of a previous study on the experiences of young offenders in an Irish prison (Hughes et al., 2017) by providing insight into experiences of young offenders on Protection in Mountjoy Prison.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a non-experimental, qualitative, semi-structured interview design, a purposive sampling method was used, and six young offenders participated. Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim with potentially identifiable information removed to ensure anonymity. An interpretative phenomenological analysis was applied to interpret the data.
Findings
Two superordinate themes provided an overview of the young offender’s experiences of Protection in an Irish prison: ‘Social Order on Protection’ and ‘Adjustment on Protection’.
Research limitations/implications
Even though it is a relatively small sample size, this study contributes to existing literature and considers sentence management and clinical implications.
Originality/value
This study helps to address a gap in literature by providing insight into the overall experiences of young male offenders (aged 18–21) on Protection in an Irish prison. The findings are in line with most researches, which highlight additional negative consequences of “restrictive prisons regimes” such as Protection. This study provides information to prisons for the development of best practice guidelines and better sentence management and delivery of services to young offenders on Protection.