September 19, 2024
September 19, 2024
In this week's edition: Leaders who dare not speak, Greenpeace slams Dove, truthiness isn't beauty, the problem with panels, the Trump-Harris handshake, DEI rollbacks, and much more...
What Makes Companies Do the Right Thing? “Vaccine makers varied widely in their engagement with global public health efforts to broaden access to COVID-19 immunizations. Ethically motivated leadership was a dominant factor.” (MITSloan)
Institutional Leaders Who Dare Not Speak, Dare Not Lead - “Leadership communication has come a long way from ‘General Motors believes.’ Alas, now we seem to be headed back in that direction.” (ProRhetoric)
How to rebuild trust after a scandal - “The solution to conduct issues almost always lies at the intersection of systems and culture, argues organisational ethics expert David Rodin.” (Management Today)
How to Build a Cyber Crisis Communications Plan - “Leaders building cyber resilience often overlook the need to develop a crisis communications plan. Here’s how to construct and practice a strong response before a hack.” (MITSloan)
Greenpeace slams Dove for the ‘toxic influence’ of its plastic waste - “20 years into Dove’s ‘Real Beauty’ campaign, Greenpeace is accusing the Unilever brand of contradicting its message of protecting women and girls by contributing to plastic waste that harms both them and the environment.” (The Drum)
Keeping to the same topic, Truthiness isn't beauty - “Dove deserves praise for running a successful commercial campaign and smartly riding the cultural waves of the past two decades. But the purpose of purpose is purpose, and the impact of a social intervention has to be measured by its social outcomes. In that context, it’s not enough to talk about starting conversations or generating social media impressions.” (Thoughts on Writing)
Managing reputation risk in a politically polarised world - “In an era of polarisation, post-truth politics, and populism, articulating and living by a clear corporate purpose can be a powerful differentiator. But companies must ask themselves: Is there a business case for this, beyond just moral considerations?” (Strategic Risk)
Three things to know about corporate DEI rollbacks - “Several companies have framed their DEI shift as a decision to narrow their focus to core business priorities, rather than more far-flung social goals. Yet, in practice, some of the same companies have simply changed the content of their social activism, sponsorship, or political signalling, rather than jettisoning that work altogether.” (FT - Subscription may be req’d)
Five ways AI can strengthen early warning systems - “Using AI only as a complementary tool for gathering insights from those who are most at risk in local communities is critical to ensure that the innovation is people-centred and equitable.” (PreventionWeb)
Blending AI and Human Superpowers for a New Era in Communications - “In order to masterfully harness AI in our work, it is key that we understand where AI excels and where humans excel, which can then help us unlock how the collaboration between the two can create extraordinary outcomes.” (Page Society)
Google outlines plans to help you sort real images from fake - “Google is planning to roll out a technology that will identify whether a photo was taken with a camera, edited by software like Photoshop, or produced by generative AI models.” (The Verge)
The Social Intelligence Technology Landscape - The Social Intelligence Lab has mapped more than 500 social intelligence technology providers across 9 technology categories and 37 subcategories ranging from Social Listening & Monitoring and Influencer Marketing & Analysis to Audience Analysis and Trends & Foresight. It’s exhaustive and impressive. (SILab via Alan Chumley)
The problem with panels - “Group discussions don’t need to be ruined by droning participants and egoistic chairs” (FT - subscription may be req’d)
Play-by-play on the Trump-Harris handshake - Brilliant! (Mark Bowden)
And finally, the most popular article from last week was The importance of strategic stakeholder engagement: More than who you know by Julio Romo. And that’s a wrap!