Must Reads
There is so much to read, so much to know, so many sources to follow. And the volume of news and information just keeps growing exponentially. How to keep up? Even more, how to rediscover the serendipity of learning something new and interesting for its own sake?
Here, for your enjoyment and interest, are the articles Temin and Company considers “must reads.” They are primarily on the topics of reputation and crisis management, the media, leadership and strategy, perception and psychology, self-presentation, science, girls and women, organizational behavior and other articles of interest.
They are listed below with the most recent articles first, and to the side, by category.
We hope you enjoy them and would appreciate your comments. And whenever you have any favorite articles for us to add, please let us know so that we might include them for other readers to enjoy.
There is so much to read, so much to know, so many sources to follow. And the volume of news and information just keeps growing exponentially. How to keep up? Even more, how to rediscover the serendipity of learning something new and interesting for its own sake?
Here, for your enjoyment and interest, are the articles Temin and Company considers “must reads.” They are primarily on the topics of reputation and crisis management, the media, leadership and strategy, perception and psychology, self-presentation, science, girls and women, organizational behavior and other articles of interest.
They are listed below with the most recent articles first, and to the side, by category.
We hope you enjoy them and would appreciate your comments. And whenever you have any favorite articles for us to add, please let us know so that we might include them for other readers to enjoy.
3 Takata Executives Face Criminal Charges Over Exploding Airbags
Hiroko Tabuchi and Neal E. Boudette, The New York Times, January 13, 2017
United States prosecutors said on Friday that they had charged three executives at Takata, the Japanese auto parts maker, with fabricating test data to mask a fatal airbag defect, a striking turn in a case that set off the largest automotive recall in United States history. […read more]
Volkswagen’s Road to Recovery Has Bigger Bumps Ahead
Stephen Wilmot, The Wall Street Journal, January 11, 2017
On the face of it, Tuesday was Volkswagen’s red-letter day. The company stated record annual car deliveries and confirmed reports that it was very close to settling with U.S. legal authorities over the 2015 emissions scandal. But dieselgate isn’t the company’s biggest obstacle to recovery. Resurgent hopes make it a bad time to invest. Don’t be fooled by the latest headlines: Volkswagen’s recovery is likely to be a drawn-out affair at best. […read more]
Crisis of the Week: Qualcomm Chips Away at South Korea Probe
Ben DiPietro, The Wall Street Journal’s Risk & Compliance Journal, January 9, 2017
Chip maker Qualcomm Inc. takes crisis center stage this week after a regulator in South Korea said it would fine the company $853 million for alleged antitrust violations related to its patent-licensing business.
Qualcomm denounced the decision by the Korea Fair Trade Commission, calling it “inconsistent with the facts and the law” and vowing to appeal. “For decades, Qualcomm has worked hand in hand with Korean companies to foster the growth of the wireless Internet,” the company said in a statement. “Qualcomm’s technology and its business model have helped those companies grow into global leaders in the wireless industry. This decision ignores that win-win relationship.”
The experts evaluate how well the company is handling this crisis.
Davia Temin, chief executive, Temin and Co.: “Qualcomm’s press release response to the ruling of the Korea Fair Trade Commission threaded the needle very well. It is cogent, nuanced, well-stated and argued, and persuasive without being overly aggressive or over-wrought. The communication had a number of goals: to respond to the markets and investment community, to put Korea on public notice that it will appeal and begin to frame the elements of that appeal while trying to not antagonize the Korean government or the court, since Qualcomm is relying on the court’s favorable hearing of the appeal.
“Qualcomm is facing a severe threat to its business model worldwide with this ruling, and in answering it appears to be setting its defensive arguments for many countries to come. Given the importance of a nuanced response, Qualcomm could not offer up a marketing or PR-like overstatement; it needed a clear but lawyerly response, delivered by its general counsel–and that is exactly what it provided. The right person is quoted, and Don Rosenberg’s pull-out quote is effective.
“Will it win the day? Yet to tell, but the response is thoughtful, strategic and understatedly persuasive. [The company has not] answered questions from the media…but it will have to answer questions from analysts on its next earnings call, and the media will be listening in, so they will need to be consistent and additive as this story unfolds.
To read the full article, CLICK HERE.
Crisis of the Week: Qualcomm Chips Away at South Korea Probe
Ben DiPietro, The Wall Street Journal’s Risk & Compliance Journal, January 9, 2017
Chip maker Qualcomm Inc. takes crisis center stage this week after a regulator in South Korea said it would fine the company $853 million for alleged antitrust violations related to its patent-licensing business.
Qualcomm denounced the decision by the Korea Fair Trade Commission, calling it “inconsistent with the facts and the law” and vowing to appeal. “For decades, Qualcomm has worked hand in hand with Korean companies to foster the growth of the wireless Internet,” the company said in a statement. “Qualcomm’s technology and its business model have helped those companies grow into global leaders in the wireless industry. This decision ignores that win-win relationship.”
The experts evaluate how well the company is handling this crisis.
“Qualcomm’s press release response to the ruling of the Korea Fair Trade Commission threaded the needle very well. The communication had a number of goals: to respond to the markets and investment community, to put Korea on public notice that it will appeal and begin to frame the elements of that appeal while trying to not antagonize the Korean government or the court, since Qualcomm is relying on the court’s favorable hearing of the appeal,” says Davia Temin. “Will it win the day? Yet to tell, but the response is thoughtful, strategic and understatedly persuasive.” […read more]
Tackling Disruption and Convergence in 2017
Tony Chapelle, Agenda, January 9, 2017
The Center for Board Matters at accounting and management consulting firm EY has identified six main priorities that corporate boards are likely to focus upon in 2017. However, one of those topics, dealing with disruption and convergence, is perhaps the most vexing of problems boards will deal with this year, so Agenda has called on a group of experts to address this challenge. We asked one director and a handful of corporate governance experts to distill and offer advice on how boards can help their managers develop and implement competitive and effective strategies while the world bombards them with disruption and convergence.
Davia Temin, CEO of strategy and communications consulting firm Temin and Company, says boards need to pay attention to the evolution of convergence.
For example, almost all corporations have had departments or silos that traditionally focused on cyber security and risk management. They’ve also had traditional marketing departments. But now, the ability of a law firm or an online retailer to send and receive information securely has itself become a marketing issue. If clients don’t have assurances that a company has certifications or other indications of top-notch Internet protection, they may not use a company’s services or products.
More broadly, Temin says, with mainstream news and social media converging, it’s going to be important for boards to ensure that regular news is clearly differentiated from simple opinion.
In order for directors to get out in front of disruption scenarios, she says, “the board really needs to assure that the company strategy factors in all possible disruptions that they know of right now when it comes to products, to the business environment, to the business model and to consumer audiences.” […read more]
The 9 Worst Ways To Brand Yourself
Leadership, “Reputation Matters” Forbes, January 6, 2017
Are you getting tired of all the content-less “content marketing” that pervades the internet in order to “brand” professionals as thought leaders? I know that a lot of the HR heads and CEOs I work with are.
They see this explosion of self-branding “lite” as insubstantial and overly self-promotional. And while the internet does afford everyone a platform to air their thoughts, when done poorly it can backfire and actually take away from your professional reputation and brand equity, instead of building it up.
Unlike a celebrity profile, an executive reputation or brand is forged when you truly stand for something and the totality of your work product, presence, writing, insight, and professional and personal actions support that stance. Whether it is as an A++++ player, a subject-matter expert, a breakthrough strategist, or an inspired leader, these are brands that are built up over time and execution, and validated by the opinions of others, including the media.
True content marketing is leveraging the unique ideas, expertise, opinions, and insight of employees not for the employees’ sake, but to raise the reputation of their organizations.
It is possible for corporate or non-profit professionals to successfully position themselves in public as thought leaders, but not for everyone and not in the wrong ways.
So, to help you avoid some of the pitfalls of over-self-promotion and under-delivery, here is my list of the nine worst ways to brand yourself in 2017. […read more]
Ancient Wisdom For The New Year: The 36 Chinese Stratagems For Psychological Warfare
Leadership, “Reputation Matters,” Forbes, January 2, 2017
2017 is the perfect time to learn some new leadership and coping strategies for the battles ahead — in business, politics, war, and life.
Last year we found out just how wrong we can be in our collective assumptions — and how much we don’t know about what others are thinking, or doing behind the scenes.
Whether it is because the Internet allows us to only hear from people who think like we do; polls relying on “Big Data” can be wrong; we are convinced of the wisdom of the crowd, even when the crowd is being manipulated; or we are just plain gullible — it is time to realize that leaders need to listen to and learn from those who think differently from them. […read more]
China’s Cybersecurity Efforts Could Pose New Challenge for Foreign Firms
Paul Mozur, The New York Times, December 27, 2016
It has been a tough year in China for America’s technology companies. Uber sold off its operations there. Beijing ordered some of Apple’s services shuttered. And Microsoft faced a new inquiry. Now, in the final days of 2016, China’s internet regulator suggested the coming year may be even trickier. A report by the regulator on Tuesday suggested it would formalize a cybersecurity review system on tech products in the country. That could mean another problematic step for foreign tech firms in what has already become a tough market. […read more]
Four Years of Living Dangerously: CEOs Brace for the Trump Era
Matt Townsend, Bloomberg Technology, December 19, 2016
As president-elect, Donald Trump is pro-business and a champion of corporate tax cuts. And anti-free trade and a big-company bully.
That’s a disorienting mix for chief executive officers trying to suss out whether Trump in the White House will be a blessing or bad luck. Planning ahead’s no easy task when the next commander in chief is a guy with a hair-trigger Twitter finger who touts policies that could both help and hurt U.S. companies.
“It will be a fascinating experience to see how things that have worked inside global organizations translate to the political arena,” said Davia Temin, founder of the crisis-management company Temin & Co.
For all that, the victim of a Twitter pounce must be careful, she said. “Never start a press war with someone who can outgun you.” […read more]
Donald Trump just tweeted about you — what do you do?
Cory Schouten, CBS MoneyWatch, December 9, 2016
A high-profile dustup this week between Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg and President-elect Donald Trump has left corporate board members and CEOs on edge.
Shortly after news emerged that Muilenburg had questioned Trump’s stance on trade in a speech in Chicago, the president-elect fired back with tweets threatening to cancel the company’s contract to build two new Air Force One jets. Boeing’s stock fell but eventually recovered after the CEO and Mr. Trump made nice on a phone call. (Boeing also pledged $1 million toward the inauguration festivities.)
The exchange was a cautionary tale for business leaders who are accustomed to a certain way of interacting with political leaders, said Davia B. Temin, president and CEO of a boutique management consultancy focusing on crisis and reputation management.
Temin, who advises several industrial, biotech and financial firms, including Fortune 500 companies, talked with CBS MoneyWatch about the implications of the Trump-Muilenburg exchange. […read more]