Reputation Excellence: Creating, preserving and advancing coporate reputations http://www.morrisseyco.com/blog/ biw7qfyv5j Tue, 30 Jun 2009 19:10:01 CST I recall reading in one of the etiquette books that no gentleman eats while driving. I guess the same can be said about text messaging while driving. No person should try to drive a two-ton automobile at highway speeds (or any speed) while essentially driving blindfolded for seconds at a time. It isn't just bad manners, but puts the driver and anyone in their general vicinity in extreme dange... Thu, 25 Jun 2009 19:10:01 CST http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=232 http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=232 Nothing in the Hippocratic Oath mentions the business aspect of healing. Much of modern medicine is intertwined in scientific discovery sponsored by commercial interests. This is not a problem. The challenge is when commercial enterprises expect a quid pro quo from the doctors and research that they sponsor. Is it realistic for Wall Street to keep its interest in medicine if the risks remain high ... Tue, 16 Jun 2009 19:19:47 CST http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=231 http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=231 Two of the most powerful promises in marketing are "free" and "new and improved." However, sometimes a reputation can be injured by adding the words "free" and "new" to a promise. The claim renders the promise hollow and should also raise the red flag of "buyer beware." This is the case with the New York Times Company putting the iconic daily newspaper it owns, The Boston Globe, up for sale. The T... Mon, 15 Jun 2009 18:29:57 CST http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=230 http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=230 Proverbs, axioms and sayings have their roots based in truth. The sayings, "the straw that broke the camel's back," "death by a thousand cuts" and "crying wolf" could not apply more than to the situation of the recent labor standoff between the unions at the Boston Globe and their owners at the New York Times Corporation. Both appeared hell-bent on being righteous, tough and intransigent. This was... Sun, 14 Jun 2009 18:56:39 CST http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=229 http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=229 Watching elected officials self-police is a fun sport in Massachusetts. Every ten years or so, there is a major corruption flare up and a great deal of fanfare ensues to muckrake and reform. Once the dust settles, the players change, but the opportunity for chicanery persists. This week in Boston, several prominent former-elected officials were indicted on charges that they used their offices to c... Thu, 04 Jun 2009 15:48:55 CST http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=227 http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=227 My father was a person of the Great Depression and WWII. One of the trait's of that generation was fierce loyalty. This was bred into him and his 11 siblings in the tough neighborhoods and environment of the inner city that left no room for neutrality. You were either for or against. Those that were stuck in the middle could not be trusted because they could not, or were afraid to, make up their m... Mon, 01 Jun 2009 11:35:36 CST http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=225 http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=225 Boston University hosted its commencement ceremony on Sunday, May 17, 2009. While the stage featured some celebrities and well accomplished honorary degree recipients - including basketball great Larry Bird and movie mogul Steven Spielberg - the commencement speaker turned out to be an extraordinary choice: U.S. Representative Michael E. Capuano. Capuano labors in obscurity for the most part, help... Wed, 20 May 2009 13:33:18 CST http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=222 http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=222 They call people with money who behave in an unconventional way eccentrics. Regular folks who do things in a quirky way are labeled misfits or even worse: crazy. Well, in today's challenging times, we need more out of the box, zany thinking if we are to ever get back to normal. Wait a minute, I'm not thinking right, or better put, I'm thinking too right. Normal is what has gotten us into trouble i... Mon, 11 May 2009 10:56:26 CST http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=220 http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=220 Nothing brings us closer together than influenza. It is the great equalizer of humanity. It makes no difference if you are a king or a pauper; the flu is nature's way of reminding us that we are all one under her steady gaze. Illness can separate us too. If you don't have the flu, you might not want to be around someone who has it. It is hard to know if the person standing beside you is a carrier.... Tue, 28 Apr 2009 15:31:30 CST http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=219 http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=219 The BAA Boston Marathon (the race's official title) ran its 113th edition this year in flawless fashion with an Ethiopian, a Kenyan and a 26 year old American as the top three finishers. The women's race was just as dramatic, with an enduring Kenyan, an Ethiopian and a lithe American speedster pulling up the rear. The women's finish was the closest on record with the Kenyan and Ethiopian within in... Wed, 22 Apr 2009 13:31:02 CST http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=218 http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=218 Every good defense lawyer knows that hearsay evidence - evidence based on what someone has told the witness and not direct knowledge - is inadmissible. Even eyewitness accounts are notoriously unreliable. People see what they want to see and overlook the obvious. We often miss out on the good things in life-- like meeting interesting folks or having new relationships because we avoid contact with ... Thu, 16 Apr 2009 15:28:10 CST http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=217 http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=217 There are funerals going on in major cities all over America. The daily newspaper is being exterminated by the digital age at an alarming pace. The Rocky Mountain News and Seattle Post-Intelligencer are already resting in peace, and there are rumors that even our local preeminent paper, The Boston Globe may be on life support. And if Hearst can't reduce costs or sell, the San Francisco Chronicle m... Wed, 08 Apr 2009 11:04:25 CST http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=216 http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=216 The Boston Red Sox once had the reputation of Avis rental car: "we try harder." The team had superstar individuals - maybe some of the greatest hitters of the game, including Williams, Yastrzemski, Tony C. and Jim Rice. Although they hadn't won a World Series championship since 1918, with new owners, a new manager and a treasure trove of recruited hitters and pitchers, the boys of Fenway finally b... Mon, 06 Apr 2009 10:51:13 CST http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=215 http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=215 If ever there was a poignant photograph of the "changing of the guard" of world leaders, today's New York Times front page photo of First Lady Michelle Obama and Her Majesty the Queen, Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom - walking arm and arm - said it all. Royalty still has its place but it is trumped by elegance, élan and mystique. In her youth, Elizabeth once had these qualities. She was ... Fri, 03 Apr 2009 16:16:25 CST http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=214 http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=214 The age of "bigger is better" thinking in American capitalism may have ended this week with the dismissal of the General Motors CEO under orders from the CEO of the USA. The saying, "As goes GM, so goes the country" could never be truer. The US taxpayer may soon own GM or whatever remains of this once great US institution. With this estate sale, the American taxpayer will collect all of the former... Tue, 31 Mar 2009 15:54:20 CST http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=213 http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=213 The rule of law is crucial to the protection of society. We depend on contracts. We make promises, and our word is our bond. Our reputation depends on doing what we say and what we promise to do. The circumstances might change, but our intentions must be carried through to completion. We create binding documents to record understandings between parties. We make these agreements in peacetime, knowi... Wed, 18 Mar 2009 12:04:25 CST http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=212 http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=212 David Ogilvy, perhaps the greatest advertising genius that ever was, said all effective advertising must meet two important criteria -- the ad must be based on what he called "the BIG IDEA" (he always capitalized) and the ad must "sell." Ogilvy was so convinced of his mantra that he rarely talked about "ads," instead he always referred to them as BIG IDEAS. Ogilvy learned about selling in a former... Mon, 16 Mar 2009 17:00:09 CST http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=210 http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=210 This month, Fortune magazine released its "Most Admired Companies" list. This is the corporate Olympiad of reputation, and the companies chosen always shine as successful companies who consistently out-perform their formidable competitors from around the world. As in many aspects of competition, the best always seem to distance themselves from the merely better.So how do the great companies achiev... Sat, 07 Mar 2009 11:13:35 CST http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=209 http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=209 Over the weekend I met in Washington, D.C. with a group of global public relations leaders from Pinnacle Worldwide, the international public relations network of agencies. Two of the corporate guru presenters at the gathering hailed from global organizations -- one was the chief of crisis communications at the Marriott Corporation and the other was the head of public relations at AT&T. My walk... Thu, 26 Feb 2009 17:32:59 CST http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=208 http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=208 Sometimes it is hard to see just how lucky we are and celebrate what we have instead of lamenting what we lack. As people struggle to create a name for our "Great Depression" of 2009, I'm struck with the folly of this thinking. Yes, there are many people who are experiencing tough times, lost jobs and bleak opportunities for the near future. But regardless of this downturn in the economy (drastic ... Thu, 29 Jan 2009 18:07:07 CST http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=204 http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=204