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Risk Management
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Monday, May 2nd, 2011Continuing my Friday series on keeping your business out of court, let’s nip across the pond, where Prince William has just married the lovely Duchess of Cambridge, nee Kate Middleton. The royal wedding has been much in the news, and it was a delight to listen to the festivities. Listening to NPR’s coverage [...]
Don’t be a sexist!
Friday, April 15th, 2011Continuing my Friday series on keeping your business out of court, let’s look at the class action lawsuit that’s currently pending against Walmart. Ten years ago, six female employees filed a class action suit against the mega-retailer, alleging that the company had a pervasively sexist culture. The plaintiffs alleged that female Walmart employees [...]
Disaster planning is essential to running an ethical business
Tuesday, April 12th, 2011This morning we awoke to the news that Japanese authorities have raised the severity level of the nuclear crisis iat the damaged Fukushima Daiichi power plant. The accident has now been raised to Level Seven, previously applied only to the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster. The good news is that the levels of radiation [...]
Don’t sugarcoat the risks - or ignore them, either!
Friday, March 18th, 2011Continuing my Friday series on keeping your business out of court, let’s focus on the situation in Japan, and what the Japanese seem to be doing very well. While it’s impossible to be sure without being on the ground and in the midst of the nuclear plant crisis, it appears that Japanese authorities have [...]
Is it ethical to send workers into a nuclear meltdown?
Thursday, March 17th, 2011The situation in Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant continues to deteriorate, with explosions in several reactors and radiation levels rising. As of this writing, a mere fifty workers remain at the plant, struggling to contain the disaster. I find myself wondering if it’s right to ask anyone to stay onsite and, simultaneously, [...]
Deal fairly with your employees’ union
Friday, March 11th, 2011Continuing my Friday series on keeping your business out of court, I want to take a cue from recent events in Wisconsin and offer some thoughts to private companies on how to deal with unions. After all, if the Wisconsin legislature can strip state employees of their collective bargaining rights, shouldn’t private employers be [...]
Don’t blame the customer
Friday, January 14th, 2011Continuing my Friday series on keeping your business out of court, let me tell you what happened recently to my friend Joan. An avid crafter, Joan is also a not-so-secret Ebay addict. She’s built up quite a stash of craft supplies by bidding on Ebay, and she usually enjoys wonderful relationships with sellers [...]
Pay your people a fair wage
Friday, January 7th, 2011Continuing my Friday series on keeping your business out of court, let’s focus on a class action suit that’s pending against my favorite celebrity chef, Mario Batali. Full disclosure: I had the privilege of eating in Batali’s Babbo restaurant in New York a couple of years back, and briefly met the Maestro himself. He’s [...]
WikiLeaks’ supporters should leave e-vendors alone
Wednesday, December 8th, 2010It’s been a busy couple of days for me, as I’ve appeared on BBC World’s “Have Your Say” and Public Radio International’s “The Take Away” radio shows to discuss the WikiLeaks situation. Sounds like there’s a full scale cyber-war going on out there, with Amazon, Mastercard, Visa, PayPal and other e-service providers having decided [...]
Listen to your peeps
Friday, December 3rd, 2010Continuing my Friday series on keeping your business out of court, let’s discuss a situation in which a friend of mine (let’s call him Allan) once found himself. A hard-charging executive, Allan had a habit of shooting the messenger whenever he received bad news and blowing his stack whenever any of his subordinates dared [...]
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