Michael Scott of The OfficeTonight, NBC will tie a big bow on The Office, wrapping up the series for good after nine seasons. Dunder Mifflin fans will desperately begin the search for another show that induces both laughter and that particular, indefinable cringe-worthy element.

The impending series finale has already prompted a number of reflective articles from the web’s biggest fans—my favorites include Forbes’ management lessons from Michael Scott and Buzzfeed’s predictably perfect compilation of key Office moments.

But perhaps there’s room for one more. The Office celebrates the notion that company culture is critical; despite Michael Scott’s antics, he ran Dunder Mifflin’s best-performing branch. Over the course of nine years, the show gave us a peek into the pillars of Dunder Mifflin’s success, leaving viewers with five key lessons about maintaining a strong company culture:

  1. Be clear about your organization’s mission, and reinforce it. When Michael Scott held the managerial reins, there was no question about his mission: to sell paper and create an office environment where everyone felt like family. While implementing the latter was often more challenging, he never stopped trying—through (often misguided) humor, dinner parties, and unexpected field trips. After seven seasons, when Michael finally parted from Dunder Mifflin, it was clear that he left a family behind. Continue Reading »
Share:
  • email
  • Print
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Tumblr
  • Digg
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon

The Week Unpeeled

Bloomberg terminals and the journalists behind them made headlines last week, after an exclusive in The New York Post alleged that reporters were “spying” on customers by looking at what functions were being used and whether they were logging into terminals (prompting calls to Goldman Sachs at one point about whether a partner had left the firm when a terminal had been left idle).  The story, which became front-page news over the weekend, Goldman and JP Morgan officials were blasting Bloomberg for snooping over security in using the ubiquitous boxes. The Fed and Treasury are now looking into the issue, so the story will have long legs no doubt.

Elsewhere:

  • The Dow continued its rally, ending at a record close Friday of 15,118, and the S&P 500 another record close of 1,633;
  • The Fed said it is planning (timing uncertain) its wind-down its massive bond-buying program, which was designed to stimulate the economy;
  • NBC News is expected to name Deborah Turness, the head of ITV News in Britain, as president, the first woman president of a network news division in the US;
  • Alan Abelson, a top editor of Barron’s and columnist for “Up and Down Wall Street, died; and

Researchers last week announced that carbon levels have reached their highest levels in “millions of years” on earth, which no doubt will brings more attention to climate change issues. End of Story

Share:
  • email
  • Print
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Tumblr
  • Digg
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon

Journalists Using TwitterI’m what you would classify as a Twitter observer – I look but I don’t touch. In response to my inactivity, I’m frequently told by digital experts “use it or lose it,” but I like my omnipresent view of the Twittersphere. It comes in handy to quickly ascertain the score of a game or the cause of train delays.

In the vein of self improvement, I’ve been asking myself what more could I do on Twitter? One obvious answer is engaging with journalists. Which lead me to my next questions – how do journalists use Twitter?

With the help of my colleague Cary Ruterman, I conducted an unscientific, but telling, audit of reporters’ social media habits. We spoke with journalists from print, online, broadcast and wire outlets and all of them focused on finance (that is kind of what we are known for here at Prosek).

Here is what we asked and found...

How do you use Twitter (professionally, for your reporting)?
All our respondents utilize it in almost in the same way: to monitor news, to connect with sources and to see what the industry and competitors alike are "talking about."

That seems like a lot to rely on Twitter for. How does it really impact you reporting?
Almost all reporters audited consider Twitter to be a key, daily source for reporting with one describing Twitter an “essential resource.” One reluctant reporter admitted that “it is becoming more useful to a degree.”

Continue Reading »

Share:
  • email
  • Print
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Tumblr
  • Digg
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon

The Week Unpeeled

Amid a backdrop of ongoing investigations in motives and scope of the alleged Boston Marathon bombers and the NRA annual convention, the US economy showed ongoing signs of moderate growth with the jobs report showing the unemployment rate declining to 7.5 percent in April and non-farm payroll adding 165,000, better than expectations.  That news propelled the Dow to a record high, closing up 143 points on Friday at 14,973, briefly topping 15,000.

Elsewhere:

  • The disaster at a Bangladeshi apparel factory is forcing manufacturers to reconsider their productions and brand images tied to poor workplace safety conditions/records, with Disney already pulling out of the country; No doubt consumers will become a different type of label conscious as where clothes are made;
  • Warren Buffett hosted its annual investor hoopla, curious to see what he says about his recent buying spree in newspapers; Meanwhile, Berskhire’s profits jumped 51 percent;
  • While circulation has been on the decline for most US newspapers, circulation rose at The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times for the six months ended March 31, because of digital subscribers: WSJ held onto its rank as largest daily with average weekday circulation at 2.4 million and NYT at 1.9 million, with a Sunday total of 2.3 million;
  • JC Penney launched a big ad/digital campaign after its downfall and CEO shuffle, in a mea culpa of “It’s No Secret,” illustrating on some levels admit errors upfront;
  • Apple sold $17 billion in corporate bonds, the largest deal in history that was met with strong investor demand;
  • Making front-page headlines nearly everywhere, NBA player Jason Collins comes out as the first major league sports player (during Tony Awards announcements week, no less!); and
  • Favorite Orb wins the Kentucky Derby. End of Story
Share:
  • email
  • Print
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Tumblr
  • Digg
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon
Warren Buffett with the late Katharine Graham of the Washington Post at his 50th-birthday party in 1980. Image courtesy: Warren Buffett as seen on Fortune

Warren Buffett with the late Katharine Graham of the Washington Post at his 50th-birthday party in 1980. Image courtesy: Warren Buffett as seen on Fortune

The most recent issue of FORTUNE features an essay by Warren Buffett entitled, “Warren Buffett is bullish ... on women.”* In it, Mr. Buffett contributes his own thoughts to the recent dialogue taking place around women and work in the U.S., characterizing the unfortunate fact that barriers still remain.

Despite our track record as a nation, Mr. Buffett writes, “America has forged this success while utilizing, in large part, only half of the country's talent.”

Ultimately, Mr. Buffett’s FORTUNE essay issues a call to action not only to the men who continue to lead the majority of our corporations and occupy nearly all of the seats on our corporate boards, but also to those men who manage employees at any level.

Mr. Buffett states:

“No manager operates his or her plants at 80% efficiency when steps could be taken that would increase output. And no CEO wants male employees to be underutilized when improved training or working conditions would boost productivity. So take it one step further: If obvious benefits flow from helping the male component of the workforce achieve its potential, why in the world wouldn't you want to include its counterpart?”

While I don’t wholly agree with Mr. Buffett’s assessment on certain points (I’m sure he won’t lose any sleep over that), I did find his argument to be compelling. It also made me take a moment to look at the public relations profession in light of the argument that embracing the ascension of women to executive roles and directorships within companies, in addition to providing greater opportunity, mentorship and promotion of women through all levels of business makes business sense. Continue Reading »

Share:
  • email
  • Print
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Tumblr
  • Digg
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon