â–¶ For Business Crises, Bad Press Doesn’t Fit the Crime:
According to a recent report by the Institute for Crisis Management, negative news coverage of business crises was disproportionately high in 2008. The study, which covered 1,500 print publications worldwide, found that eight of the 16 crisis categories examined showed significant increases in negative press despite minor increases in actual crises.
According to the report, the rise of social media may have played a part, allowing stories to flow more freely and quickly. Other findings include:
• Defects and recalls, business financial losses, hostile takeovers, workplace accidents and deaths and environmental incidents were up 21%;
• Eight of the most crisis-prone industries repeated from the previous year, with food and insurance being the two new additions to the top 10;
• 51 hostile takeovers were big enough to make headlines in 2008, up 38% from the year before;
• Product defects and recalls accounted for 15% of all crises in 2008, including recalls by GM, BMW, Nissan, Ford, Honda, Pontiac, Chrysler and Porsche; and,
• Workplace violence made up 17% of all negative business and school news in 2008, up 18% from 2007.
Source: Institute for Crisis Management
â–¶ Little Guy Takes Social Media Plunge: Small businesses are joining large corporations in the social media craze, according to a study conducted by AMI Partners in conjunction with Sage Research. The report found that over 260,000 small businesses in the U.S. and Canada use some form of social networking. More than half of these companies rely on professional networking services such as LinkedIn, while even general social networks like MySpace and Facebook were used by 44% of respondents. The study also found that:
• The most popular reasons for adopting social networking tactics were for responding to customer questions, networking and reference and educational purposes;
• The least popular digital media formats used by small businesses are social bookmarking (6%), wikis (24%), forums (28%) and blogging/microblogging (28%); and,
• Few businesses use social networks to influence purchases, with only 33% using them for advertising and promotional purposes.
Source: AMI Partners and Sage Research
â–¶ Web Access Vital to Journalists: The results of TEKgroup International’s annual Online Newsroom Survey show that online newsrooms have become indispensable resources for journalists in their reporting of corporate news. The survey found that 78% of journalists polled visit companies’ online press sections on a regular basis, and 93% consider newsroom e-mail alerts the best way to receive pitches. Among the study’s other findings:
• 36% of respondents claim they would rather not be contacted by companies after already visiting their online newsroom;
• 77% of journalists would consider registering for access to a password-protected newsroom;
• Only 10% of respondents regularly visit company blogs for research and only 7% receive news from corporate Twitter accounts; and,
• 57% of journalists feel that online newsrooms should be available to anyone who wants access, not just the press.
Source: TEKgroup
â–¶ As the Climate Changes, Disclosure Practices Don’t: Climate change-related disclosure continues to be weak or nonexistent in SEC filings of global companies, according to two major studies released by Ceres, Environmental Defense Fund and the Center for Energy and Environmental Security. Both studies revealed that companies are seriously deficient in meeting the needs of investors in the context of the climate change issue. Among the specific findings:
• 59 of the 100 companies made no mention of their greenhouse gas emissions or public position on climate change;
• 28 had no discussion of climate-related risks they face;
• 52 failed to disclose actions and strategies for addressing climate-related business challenges;
• The very best disclosure for any of the 100 companies could only be described as “fair,” and only a handful of companies achieved this ranking; and,
• In 2008, 75% of annual reports filed by S&P 500 corporations failed to even mention climate change, and only 5% articulated a strategy for managing climate-related risks.
Source: Ceres, Environmental Defense Fund and CEES