Knowledge Centre

Apple apologises for allowing workers to listen to Siri recordings

Alex Hern, The Guardian, Thursday 29th August, 2019, 29 August 2019 Apple has issued an apology in a statement to its customers after a Guardian report revealed Apple contractors could listen to voice recordings of Siri users. “As a result of our review, we realise we have not been fully living up to our high ideals, and for that we apologise,” Apple said in a statement on its website. This comes as producers of...

reputation

US opioid crisis ruling leads to $845 million fine for drug maker Johnson & Johnson in Oklahoma

ABC News, Tuesday August 27th, 2019, 06 August 2019 The Cleveland County District has ordered American pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiaries to pay $844 million, ruling that it helped fuel the opioid crisis in Oklahoma after launching an aggressive and misleading marketing campaign. The US state has been ravaged by opioids, with Attorney-General Mike Hunter stating that...

socio political environment

Google's new community guidelines tell employees not to talk politics on internal forums or bad mouth projects without 'good information'

Nick Bastone, Business Insider, Friday August 23rd, 2019, 05 August 2019 Google outlined its latest set of community guidelines to employees last week, restricting conversations to focus only on ‘fact-based’ and ‘work-related’ matters. The move could be seen as an attempt by Google’s CEO, Sundar Pichai to restore order to internal message boards which have created divisions among employees. The memo went on to state...

issues management leadership communications

Banks condemn Hong Kong violence in newspaper adverts

BBC News, Thursday 22nd August 2019, 04 August 2019 HSBC and Standard Chartered, two British financial services companies with large presences in Asia have taken out newspaper ads in Hong Kong criticising the ongoing protests that have rocked the region. In its newspaper advert, HSBC called for a return to civility and the rule of law. "We strongly condemn violence of any kind and the disruption...

advocacy socio political environment

Group of US Corporate Leaders Ditches Shareholder-First Mantra

Richard Henderson & Patrick Temple-West, Financial Times, Monday 19th August 2019, 03 August 2019 The Business Roundtable is one of the largest and most influential business groups in the United States and it includes CEOs from JP Morgan, Amazon, General Motors and Apple. In a new statement released this week on the Purpose of a Corporation, the Business Roundtable dropped the “shareholder primacy” ideology that has driven corporations for...

corporate responsibility csr

‘Dark art PR’: Amazon uses Twitter army of workers to fight criticism

Jonah Engel Bromwich, Sydney Morning Herald, Tuesday 20th August 2019, 02 August 2019 Amazon employees going by the title of ‘FC Ambassadors’ have been stepping in on Twitter whenever the company’s poor working conditions at its fulfillment centres are mentioned. The ambassadors are supposedly both warehouse workers and public relations representatives as they offer an ‘on-the-ground’ perspective of working for the retail giant....

leadership communications

Cathay Pacific’s CEO resigns following Hong Kong Protests

SBS News, Saturday 17th August 2019, 01 August 2019 After a torrid week for the Hong Kong airline, Cathay Pacific announced the shock resignation of its CEO Rupert Hogg. The flagship airline and its CEO became embroiled in the pro-democracy protests that have plunged Hong Kong into crisis. Some of Cathay Pacific’s 27,000 workforce participated in the protests, which led to Chinese state media...

socio political environment crisis management

Useless Dads and Placid Women: U.K. Bans 2 Ads Over Sexist Stereotypes

Palko Karasz, The New York Times, Thursday 15th August 2019, 30 July 2019 The United Kingdom’s Advertising Standards Authority has banned two television ads in Britain after they were deemed harmful to society. The banned ads were from German car giant, Volkswagen and American multination, Mondelez. The regulator said Volkswagen’s ad showed a series of men “engaged in adventurous activities,” while the only two women...

socio political environment

Why Cathay Pacific changed its tune on Hong Kong protests

Bill Wilson & Robert Plummer, BBC News, Tuesday 13th August 2019, 28 July 2019 Cathay Pacific has warned its staff that anyone participating in the pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong will lose their jobs as the company takes a zero-tolerance approach to the matter. Cathay Pacific were forced to renege on their previous pledge to not interfere if staff members wanted to participate in the pro-democracy demonstrations....

socio political environment adaptive leadership

Rupert Stadler, Ex-Audi Chief, Is Charged With Fraud in Diesel Scandal

Melissa Eddy, The New York Times, Wednesday 31st July 2019, 27 July 2019 Rupert Stadler, the former Chief Executive Officer of Audi, was charged with fraud related to the Volkswagen diesel scandal that continues to plague the German car giant. The charges relate to Volkswagen and its subsidiaries such as Audi, deliberately installing illegal diesel emission software devices in cars that would cheat regulatory tests....

socio political environment