Tag: Publish to KM Space

Let’s Get Ethical!, Ethical!, I Want To Get Ethical…

Those of you that watch NBC’s “The Office” see some of the best examples of what NOT to do in business every week. They also tackled what not NOT to do in an Ethics Training course. The clip shows some of the worst training skills (reading from the binder, HR-speak, etc.).

It also provides an unusual example of a compliance problem, with Meredith sleeping with a supplier in exchange for a discount.

Unfortunately, the ethical lapses are not limited to the rag-tag Scranton office, but also exist in the main office. The response to Meredith’s confession from the home office?: “I’m not sure that these circumstances warrant any action…this seems like a grey area.”

Investor Relations 2.0

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eBay took a bold move yesterday, using Web 2.0 tools for investor relations. During its first analysts’ meeting in three years, eBay management had a live twitter stream with live coverage of the meeting and bloggers with just less than live coverage of the meeting.

The securities industry seems to be struggling with Web 2.0 tools. (In fairness, most industries are struggling to with Web 2.0 tools.) Blame uncertainty about these relatively new tools. Blame securities class action law suits. Blame the SEC for a lack of guidance. It looks like eBay was tired of excuses and decided to jump into the world of Investor Relations 2.0.

An article from Dominic Jones of the IR Web Report caught my eye: SEC Disclaimers in the Age of Twitter. Was eBay really going to use Twitter as part of its investor relations? YES.

Apparently Richard Brewer had already been live-tweeting eBay’s quarterly earnings conference calls. Management knew he been using his eBay Ink Blog to report the quarterly earnings results, but were unaware of his use of Twitter. He was called in to meet with the lawyers. But rather than shut him down, they worked out some best practices.  They came up with New Social Media Guidelines for Reporting Company Information.

“Plain and simple, eBay Inc. is a public company and, as such, must comply with SEC regulations. We feel that these guidelines will make that compliance more transparent. What follows is by no means a final set of micro-blogging/live-blogging best practices for companies but it is a step – and a very significant one at that. Something that I realize I will have to refine and evolve over time.”

That seems very sensible. The SEC’s Guidance on the use of company web sites (SEC Release 34-58288) does not give the clearest guidance but certainly opens the way for public companies to use 2.0 tools as part of their investor relations.

Richard kicked off his live Twitter coverage of the meeting with the new disclaimer crafted just for Twitter:

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Which included a link to the a longer legal disclaimer. Its more than 140 characters, but still very concise.

An interesting thing about Twitter is the ability to tag the updates, allowing others to follow on that same topic. Richard used #ebayinc. This allowed you to follow not just Richard’s updates, but all of the reactions to Richard’s updates.

Richard also compiled the twitter updates into a traditional blog post: eBay Inc. Portfolio Roadmap Preview by John Donahue. (Did I just call a blog post traditional?)

With all of that live information and feedback, eBay’s regular investor relations page looks very cold and lifeless. It does not seem to have as much information. Perhaps it is even less relevant?

In the end, Web 2.0 tools are just communication tools. They are not that different than traditional read-only web pages or email. They do allow for easier, faster and more robust communications. You can see the difference in the comparison between the traditional eBay Investor Relations website and the eBay Ink 2.0 website.

How is your company using web 2.0 tools for investor relations?

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Twitter Good or Bad?

Most people are up in the air about what to do with Twitter. I thought I would put together two contrasting views.

First up, Evan Williams on how Twitter’s spectacular growth is being driven by unexpected uses:

And then Jon Stewart on why the Twitter Frenzy is silly:


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I Twitter (@DougCornelius), do you?

Federal Knowledge Management Working Group

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The Federal Knowledge Management Working Group consists of over 700 Federal employees, contractors, academicians and interested members of the public who have mounted a campaign to enhance collaboration, knowledge and learning in the Federal Government by implementing formal knowledge management.

Neil Olonoff, who is the leader for the initiative looking at the formation of a Chief Knowledge Officer for the federal government, sent me note about this impressive initiative.

Mission: Inform and support federal government departments, agencies, organizations, and their constituencies in the research, development, identification, and implementation of knowledge management (KM) activities, practices, lessons learned, and technologies. To accomplish this mission, the Federal KMWG will mobilize and leverage thought leaders and KM practitioners from government, quasi-government, academia, non-government, nonprofit, and the private sector around the globe.

They have already putting together a tremendous wiki full of information at KM.gov (which redirects to http://wiki.nasa.gov/cm/wiki/?id=1926).

I recommend taking a look at the PowerPoint presentation they posted on knowledge management is important to the federal government: Federal Knowledge Management Initiative (PPT). There are some great ideas that are can be reused for your organization.

UPDATE:

Jeanne Holm is the elected chair of the Federal Management Working Group. In the original post, I had identified Neil Olonoff as the holder of that position. Jeanne sent me a nice note with the clarification. You can reach Jeanne on Twitter @Jeanne_JPL.

Twitter in the Workplace

twitter_buttonShould you allow your employees to use Twitter?

Are they already using Twitter?

The answer to both questions is probably YES.

Your employees are probably already using Twitter and they do not need your computer network for access. They can access Twitter by text messages, an iPhone, a blackberry or any other smartphone.

Personally, I have been using Twitter for a while and find it a great way to stay connected with the news, compliance issues and the other compliance related people using Twitter. ( See @DougCornelius on Twitter)

Daniel Schwartz lays out the thinking very nicely in Twitter in the Workplace: Why Employers Need to Be Cautious, Not Afraid:

“Next, I should clarify that I don’t disagree with the underlying premise that is advanced by some that posts on Twitter can get an employer into trouble. Of course that’s true.  But so can a letter to an editor in your local newspaper, or a notable call to a radio talk show or causing a scene at a presentation.

You don’t see advice that we ought to cut off mail service, or remove phones from employees’ offices, or stop allowing employees to attend seminars and presentations.  Rather, we outline a set of expectations as to what is proper business behavior and what is expected by the employer.”

You can also find Daniel on Twitter @DanielSchwartz. He, like me, finds Twitter to “be a great marketing device and novel communications tool.”

Some caution. If you are a registered representative or otherwise subject to FINRA rules, you will need to take a look at the FINRA’s Guide to the Internet. They do address Twitter directly. Unfortunately, the feature set of Twitter can fall into several of the different buckets of regulation.