Alibaba and the SEC

Plenty of people have wondered about the ethics and legalities of last week's Alibaba IPO. Read the formal letter from Pennsylvania senator Robert (Bob) Casey to the Chair of the SEC, Mary Jo White, expressing his grave concern. The letter is contained within this article in the September 17, 2014 New York Times. Should we wonder why a company might be called AliBaba? Will it be Alibooboo for shareholders, or for US tax payers?

Writing out numbers in formal documents

In must informal correspondence, including emails, writing numbers that are not part of a spread sheet such as "1" or "10" is acceptable. But there are conventions for writing out the numbers in formal writing. Here are some tips from "Michael" in a blog about rules for writing numbers.

Six Value-based Dimensions (Hofstede)

Intercultural communication can be seen in psycho-social terms according to six dimensions created by Gerard Hendrik Hofstede (known as Geert Hofstede). You can find details about his work on his websites, but here is a link to a blog that offers a quick and accurate overview: LINK

Walmart vs Alibaba in Intercultural Adaptation

Last week, the world witnessed the IPO of Alibaba Group (on the Cayman's). The company was founded in 1999 by a relatively poor English teacher in China. On Friday, Alibaba's shares (BABA) began trading at $92.70 on the NYSE. Approximately 127 million shares were traded within the first 15 minutes of trading. In the last 72 hours, the stock peaked at just over $99. It's low was just over $89. It is currently hovering around $93. Interesting about this "stock" is that it does not entitle shareholders to ownership of the actual China-based company--only a contracted off-shore group. When it comes to "communication" practices, Alibaba stands poised to enter the US market, and its founder seems to understand the need to adjust to the American market and American customer preferences. Read one Forbes' writer's assessment of Alibaba's future!

Pizza Crisis

Many students, including those who study at Texas State University, work or or have worked at the local Dominoes and Papa John's pizza restaurants. I've been on the consumer end, enjoying the fruit of the student labor at these establishments. But yesterday, media outlets from Facebook to Forbes announced that some pretty nasty stuff has been going on behind the scenes at the major supplier of cheese to these pizza places. Dominoes has officially responded by reminding those who hear and read about the horrible affair that the majority of their dairy suppliers are good people: Domino's is quoted as saying: "The individual family dairy farms throughout the country - 47,000 of them – and the brands who buy and sell cheese are being painted in a horrible light due to the horrendous acts of a small group of individuals," says Domino's spokesperson Tim McIntyre. "A few sick people - whom we hope are prosecuted - do not represent the thousands of innocent people earning a living for their families, whether they work on farms, in cheese production, or in pizza shops.” (Entrepreneurship.com) How would you handle the branding and communication crisis if you were VP of Communications (OR the CEO) of Dominoes, Papa John's or Pizza Hut?

Business Mantras

Guy Kawasaki emphasizes the importance of good business mantras and suggests that they are better for corporate identity and branding (and internal culture-building) than mission statements.

You can read about Kawasaki's views on the "mantra" in his well-known entrepreneurship text called The Art of the Start. You can also find a shorter version of the discussion on Kawasaki's own BLOG.

You can also find mantra-like examples of corporate communication via a company in Australia called Slogan Creator. Take a look!

Ensure - Insure - Assure

To ASSURE is tantamount to making a promise. The manager assured the employees that they would not lose their health benefits. Cartoon source: http://inkcinct.com.au/
To ENSURE reflects the action that fulfills a promise. The captain of the cruise ship ensured that every passenger had access to life vests.

To INSURE is to provide insurance coverage. In Texas, one must insure a car at higher personal liability levels than cars in some other states.

Crisis Communications 101

Sometimes crises, especially those that are the most emotionally laden, can lead to decisions that may not be contextually appropriate. Tears and laughter become intermingled as human beings seek to find relief. In-house reactions to their own corporate tragedies, led Malaysia Airlines to create a marketing campaign that they realized only too quickly was poorly conceived. Read the article at Entrepreneur.Com

Autism in the workplace

Human resource professionals and company leaders understand the importance of a diverse workforce as a means to inspire innovation. Diversity can be exciting, but it can also lead to misunderstandings between and among employees. Not only are "kingdomality" type profiles important to embrace and understand, other forms of diversity are important. Read this article from an online New York Daily article (June 2013). Think about Dr. Temple Grandin and the influence she has had on the practice of workplace diversity!