Chapter 11

1. Do you think Larry Summers was too outspoken?

Larry Summers is able to say what he pleases. He has that right. But i do believe he could have basically said the same thing, just differently, and it would have been better. He is able to say anything he wants, yes, but he is held in high regard in a very public position and needs to realize that when he says something, a lot of people are going to hear it. Summers got mixed up in all this trouble because he mixed business matters with personal matters. Even if his statements were “behind closed doors,” you always represent your place of employment. It doesn’t matter where you are or who you are talking to.

2. How would you characterize Summers’s remarks about diversity?

Meh. He probably didn’t say them to hurt anyone, but i don’t exactly think he was as sincere as he should have been when he was apologizing. He did give some money to women in science, but still.

3. Was it wise for the president to apologize after his public spats with the faculty?

Absolutely. If he didn’t he probably would have been treated even more harshly.

4. If you were Larry Summers’s public relations advisor, what would you have counseled him to do in presiding over such a tumultuous situation?

I would have him give multiple press conferences to try and limit the damage to his reputation. I would also suggest he admit that he was wrong. Don’t bother with the whole “statements were taken out of context” scenario. Nobody wants to hear his excuses. He should also give to a local charity or do some sort of community work to show he still cares about his community.

5. If you were Harvard Board’s public relations advisor, what would you have advised it to do about the Summers situation?

Harvard needs to do the classic “Summer’s values and beliefs to not reflect those of Harvard” speech and show the public that they are not a racist or sexist school. I would advise they ask Summers to resign. That would show they have a zero tolerance for that kind of behavior.

Chapter 17

1. What do you think of Michael Vick’s decision to accept jail time and hold a press conference?

I believe that this was a good decision on Vick’s part. Going to jail and having the press conference was a good way to show that he understood that he was wrong and knows that there were consequences for his actions. Showing that you he knew he was wrong helps the public see that he is human and makes mistakes.

2. If you were advising Vick, how would you suggest he comport himself now that he is back in the NFL? What should he do, in a public relations sense, when he is freed?

If I were advising Vick, I would suggest he come back to the NFL a “changed” man. He should show that he is making effort to make change in his life both on the field and off. He should take the opportunity to get back on the public’s good side. He should publicly say that he learned his lesson, things about himself, and let the public know that things will be different. He should realize that football is really important to him and he was foolish to jeopardize his career and life the way he did.

3. If you were advising the National Football League, how would you suggest it handle Vick’s reinstatement?

I would suggest they keep him supervised and accountable for everything he does until further notice. He’s already crossed the line and made the NFL look foolish once, so a zero tolerance policy with Vick should be instated. If Vick wants to play in their league, they better make sure he follows their rules.

4. If you were advising corporate sponsors, what would you suggest they do relative to Michael Vick, now that he is back in the NFL?

I would advise the sponsors to take advantage of press he’s getting. It would be silly not to take advantage of Vick being back to the NFL. For all of the people who don’t like Vick anymore, there were just as many people itching for him to come back.

Chapter 16

1. What is the introduction you would write for your CEO

Good evening. I stand before you conflicted. We have all been given the privilege to work for this company and we strive for excellence in all our endeavors. Year after year we are tested, tried, and challenged. This year will be no different. We are the oldest firm in our industry, and as such we are under great pressure to “keep up.” Our profits are down seven percent, we just spent $15 million in new systems, and adopted new bonus programs. We will not keep up. We will surpass. We will continue to strive for excellence and we will achieve it. We are and will continue to be among Fortune magazine’s “100 Best Companies to Work For.” The year we face will be difficult. The environment, uncertain. The challenges, numerous. but if we all pull together in the several specific areas I’ll describe, I’m confident that we will have a banner year.

Chapter 6

1. Were you the public relations director of HP, what would you have advised Chair Dunn in terms of “plugging leaks”?

I would never have advised Dunn to do anything like “pretexting.” That is extremely unethical. Taking someone’s personal information to impersonate them to gather more personal information is unacceptable. I would have advised a legal way to acquire the necessary information rather than something so invasive.

2. Had you not been consulted in advance but found out about the leak investigation after-the-fact, what would you have done?

I would advise that the investigation be immediately halted. If word got out that HP was doing something completely unethical, it could ruin their spotless reputation. I would advise the company to keep the investigation under wraps and if that failed then I would advise they admit the investigation to the public.

3. What steps would you recommend Hewlett-Packard take to avoid such ethical problems in the future?

Implementing or requiring a course on business ethics would be good. Everyone could use a refresher course. Also they should review and update their code of conduct. They should include identity theft into the “do not do” category. You figured it would be there already…

Chapter 8.

1. What kind of communications program would you launch to accomplish Rapcorn’s objectives?

I would launch a program that would put the hospital in a positive view by showing everything that the hospital does and compare it to other hospitals in the area like how the equipment, staff, and building is just as good as the top rated hospitals. I could do this by making surveys, interviews, and talking to the staff.

2. What would be the cornerstone-the theme-of your communications program?

The cornerstone would be the comparisons between Alan Louis General and the other big name hospitals. Highlighting the pros and mentioning the actions being taken to improve the cons. The program ultimately needs to get people to choose this hospital over another, so pointing out reasons for them to do that is the main goal.

3. What would be the specific elements of your program?

The biggest push would be to improve the hospital in areas where it lacks. Also, since it’s a smaller hospital, we could play with the “family style” aspect. Kind of like a small college versus a university. Personal attention and doctor examinations, not just nurses. We would use testimonies of current and past patients to reinforce that point. That could start buzz, or word of mouth, within the community.

4. In launching the program, what specific steps would you follow-both inside and outside the hospital-to build support?

Inside the hospital I would reinforce the staff. We already know that patients have been especially impressed with the staff. I would also let them in on what the board knows about where we stand in comparison with other hospitals in the area. Just to keep those things in the back of their minds. Outside I would get something in the newspaper, maybe an article or an advertisement, I’d research both radio and television advertising to reach more people in the area. Another area to work in is online advertisements. Some big name sites have cheap advertisement slots and can make them just for local viewers like google or bing for example.

5. How could you use the internet to conduct more research about area hospitals and residents’ perceptions of the care at these hospitals? How could you use the internet to research the effectiveness of the communications program you implement?

I would research other hospitals that are similar to us, but in different areas.  You can learn a lot from similar places in different geographical locations. I would also do surveys and questionnaires to help gather information about the hospitals image, care, etc. You could do this via email lists of previous patients.

Chapter 3

1. What public relations options did Walmart have in response to the Roehm suit?

Walmart had multiple options at their disposal. The first was to settle with Roehm and not respond with the counter-lawsuit that involved company policy and not involved Womack. This would have kept things clean and quiet, but would’ve cost Walmart some dollars. Another option was to simply talk to Roehm before going public with the company policy allogations. Tell her that, unless she wants the info to go public, she should drop the lawsuit and quietly resolve matters outside of court. A third option was the counter-lawsuit involving Womack’ and her violation of company policy.

2. How would you assess Walmart’s response to the suit of its former employee?

I would assess that Walmart responded to the suit, while maybe not well-mannered, but an effective way. Walmart has a precedent with it’s employees and when they do not follow the guidelines there are consequences. They also proved that if you want to play with the big boys, bring a bigger bat.

3. What is the downside to the Walmart response? What is the upside?

I think it’s obvious that the downside was all of the negative news and press coverage they were getting. Like the quoted attorney said, “Usually these matters are quietly resolved.” Walmart proved why. The upside is that Walmart showed that they care about the employee atmosphere and turned the negative energy toward Roehm.

4. Critics suggest that Walmart’s action will “poison” the atmosphere for hiring future executives. Do you agree? Why or why not?

I don’t think that Walmart’s action will “poison” the atmosphere for hiring future executives. If executives worried about something when trying to get hired, then they should follow company policy. Plain and simple. It’s only going to poison it with people who will have something to hide. In that case they shouldn’t be hired in the first place. \

5. What would you recommend Walmart do now, relative to the Roehm court case?

I would recommend that Walmart make their interview and hiring process more thorough. Also I would suggest they quickly donate a generous sum to a large charity. Get some good PR out there after all of this negativity.

Chapter 1

Question 1: Had you been advising Imus, what would you have counseled him to say/do after making his racial slur?

If I were to counsel Imus, he would need to admit he screwed up. This should be done publicly and the apology should be to the Rutgurs team, their families, and Rutgurs as a whole. His words didn’t just affect the players but also Rutgurs’ persona. He would have to acknowledge how poorly his judgement was and he understands the severity of his statement.

Question 2: Had you been advising his employers, WFAN and MSNBC, what would you have counseled them to do?

If I were advising Imus’ employers, I would advise they consider his termination and make him publicly apologize. I would also suggest they apologize that someone they hired and trusted would say such a thing and that they do not share his views and do not condone his actions.

Question 3: How would you have counseled Imus with respect to Al Sharpton? Would you have gone on Sharpton’s radio show?

If I were Imus, going on Al Sharpton’s show would have been out of the question. There are many, many other ways of resolving the conflict and making up for the statement than going on a radio show with someone who will just rip you apart.

Question 4: How do you explain Imus’ “radio friends” failing to stick up for him in his hour of need?

Honestly, which one of Imus’ friends wanted to be known as the person who defended him? Friends are friends because they do right thing and defending someone who was clearly in the wrong is definitely not the right thing to do. His friends were probably just as shocked and disappointed as everyone else. I don’t blame them.

Question 5: How must Imus comport himself now on the air?

He needs to update his “filter.” There’s that switch in everyone’s head that goes off when a though pops in that says “Oh, I probably shouldn’t say this out loud.” He’s in a profession where that filter cannot fail. In other words, he needs to think about what he’s going to say before he says it because he proved that not everything he comes up with is appropriate.