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Social media regulation essay
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Social Media Policies
Social media has immensely evolved in how many companies and employers do business in recent years. It has helped many companies grow and expand by usage of social media by mass and instant communication and advertising through this technology. Like anything, there is a side effect. The social media "downfall” is the subject of employees bashing their employer's reputation in regards of employee’s communication via social media about their employers. With such controversy, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has had to step in to distinguish what is considered lawful of unlawful termination due to these actions by employees and their employers. The question to ask if such an issue should arise is to determine if it is concerted activity or not. This will help the NLRB determine if proper disciplinary procedures have been taken.
According to Belicove (2012) in article, NLRB Slams Costco On Social Media Usage Policy: What It Means For your Business, “A ruling by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in a case involving Costco earlier this month makes it clear that employers who want to avoid labor disputes would be well served to schedule a sit-down with their legal counsel and take a close look at their existing social media use policies." In this particular case the NLRB disagrees with Costco Wholesale Corp's employee policies in regards to the use of internet and social media usage and limitations by its employees. After complaints made by over 300 employees the NLRB has finally stepped in siding that Costco is in violation of the National Labor Relations Act. "The three-person NLRB panel deemed that the third largest retailer in the U.S. has employee policies in place that are “too br...
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...employees may have any issue with this protocol, I would be willing to hear what they have to say and hopefully add some of their insight along with mine.
References
Belicove, M. (2012) NLRB Slams Costco On Social Media Use Policy: What It Means For Your Business Retrieved May 18, 2014, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/mikalbelicove/2012/09/28/nlrb-slams-costco-on-social-media-use-policy-what-it-means-for-your-business/
Dessler, G., (2013): Human resource management, 13th ed., Prentice Hall
NLRB.gov. (n.d.). Protected Concerted Activity. Retrieved May 17, 2014, from http://nlrb.gov/rights-we-protect/protected-concerted-activity
Smith, A (2012). NLRB: Costco Policy Against Defamatory Statements Violated NLRA - Retrieved May 18, 2014, from http://www.shrm.org/legalissues/federalresources/pages/nlrb-defamatory-statements.aspx#sthash.beWh4Yvj.dpuf
There are ten elements needed to survive a zombie apocalypse: a steady food supply, clean water, medicine, transportation, gas, a defense system, a sturdy shelter, a safe place to sleep within the shelter, weapons, and simple tools. Costco supplies all of these items. According an article in The Concordian, “If you asked 100 people where they would hide during a zombie apocalypse, 98 would say Costco. Costco is a vast market that sells basically anything you would need to live there permanently” (Menexis). Unfortunately that still leaves those two out of one hundred people that disagree. Those people say that Costco would be an unwise place to be during the apocalypse because of its sheer size. They state that the massive size of a Costco store is too big for a person or even small group of people to defend. While this argument has a logical line of thinking behind it, there are several factors that render this viewpoint invalid. Costco does not need a huge defense system because it is literally a huge warehouse. This means that Costco is essentially a huge concrete box with two ope...
Costco will want to check on the employees. Costco will have to develop a disciplinary system, if employees get mistaken. Costco encourages employees or employers to become friendlier. They engage with customers fairly, so that they will be satisfied with Costco’s services. If the employees’ attitudes are not good, customers will avoid Costco.
When we think of those skilled in the art of rhetoric, we often jump to those we know are trying to convince us of something, like politicians, salesmen, lawyers, etc. We do not always consider corporate CEOs part of that group though Netflix CEO, Reed Hastings, would have us believing another thing. On March 20th, 2014, Hastings published an article titled “Internet Tolls And The Case For Strong Net Neutrality” on Netflix’s official blog. Just under a month before the blog was posted, Netflix settled a deal paying Comcast, America’s largest cable and Internet service provider (ISP), for faster and more reliable service to Comcast’s subscribers (Cohen and Wyatt). These “internet tolls” go against the culture of net neutrality in America, which in its essence is when no piece of information is prioritized over another on broadband networks. Hastings took to their blog to advocate for net neutrality and against abusive ISPs. Whether he was conscious of his rhetorical finesse or not, he wrote quite convincingly thus turning this blog into an excellent rhetorical artifact. Reed Hastings’ blog post aims to convince American Internet consumers that strong net neutrality is important by appealing to their values of choice, frugality and empathy while simultaneously making ISPs seem ill intentioned and Netflix seem honorable.
Costco Wholesale Corporation is an international chain of membership warehouses operating on the concept that offering members lower prices will produce high sales volume and rapid inventory turnover (“Annual Report” 4). While Costco warehouses are designed to help reduce costs for small-to-mid-sized companies, memberships are also available for individuals (“Company Profile”). The two memberships offered by Costco include Business and Gold Sta...
Their ability to distribute the cut rate from their operating proficiencies in supply chain management and cash flow, permits them to offers items at discounted rate and a lower price than their competitors. For Costco the meaning of being the low-cost provider while also differentiating from the competitors is ambiguous at best. Costco’s CEO, Jim Sinegal, is certain that low priced, and the high value merchandises are exactly what is needed maintain and achieve a staying power in the industry. Costco also entices their customers with low prices on designated set apart products available only at their stores. Within these designated products, Costco provides a limited selection of nationwide brand-named merchandises in some wide categories. Their approach comprises of selling a limited number of items, keep their costs down, maintain a high volume, compensate employees well, ensure that customers buy their memberships, and target upscale small-business owners through their business only
Have you ever been confronted by an employer or administrator because they just so happened to come across a post you made on a personal account of yours? A friend of mine almost lost her job because of a situation like this. One day, while she was at work, she posted a tweet saying that she was tired of her job. A couple of days later, she was approached by one of her managers. Her manager acknowledged the tweet and also mentioned that his boss saw it as well. She explained to her manager that it was not her intention to be “insulting”. Her manager strictly explained to her that if he were to be notified about a similar post, she would be fired. I believe that her tweet was a personal thought and that she was only expressing how she felt at the moment. In result of this, employers should not hire or fire employees based on the content of their social media.
I believe that the decision would have an effect on all aspects of the case above at my workplace. According to the case study it states” For one employee, it was just the latest example of management’s ‘continuing disrespect for employees’”. In this case it starts with how the employer treats the employees, at my current workplace profanity is used but not in a direct manner. My employer sets an example for all to never disrespect each other and treat each other like family. In order to eliminate issues among the workplace among the workplace the decision in this case would be useful to create a balance and a level of boundaries for employees to determine what is the right way to use social media using the appropriate standards according to the working conditions. In my workplace, Sephora, social media is a huge factor in our own company. Each store holds their own Instagram account and tags the cast members that are featured in the photos, which means it’s also important for the cast members to keep a clean social media account because we represent the company’s image. This means it is not prudent for me or any of my coworkers to post messages or commentaries on social media which could undermine the company’s relationship with the employees, in order to prevent future reoccurrence just like in the NLRB v. Pier sixty LLC.
There is a reason that it is the second largest and continues to grow. There are many things we can take from what Costco has done. Craig Jelinek said “treat the consumers with respect and treat employees with respect, good things are going to happen to you.” He treats his consumers with respect and they keep coming back to buy more good at the lower prices that Costco has. All of the benefits that he is giving his employees between their wages and healthcare, this in return puts money back in the economy and makes for a healthy country. Another thing to learn from this is creating a happy work environment. By treating its employees well Costco believes that it is creating a happy work environment in which they believe will result in a more profitable company. Also what you can learn from Costco is they are marking things up by fourteen percent or less. This is attracting customer to their goods, and as stated in the article by David Schick “they are selling more olive oil, more cranberry juice, and more throw rugs than just about anybody.” This is allowing Costco to get larger discounts from their suppliers and allowing Costco to set the industry’s lowest price. Some simple things as that are good to take away from what Costco has done. Treating people right makes them want to come back, lower prices helps you sell more and get larger discounts when you buy things, and helps you
Lichenstein, N. (2007) Why Working at Walmart is Different Connecticut Law Review, Volume 39 Number 4, May 2007
This world as we know is heading towards a more virtual era, where everything we need to know is under the palm of our hands. We have many devices such as smart phones, tablets, computers, which gives us access to an infinite amount of information. This virtual life style we are becoming accustomed to introduced us to social media. An increase amount of interaction is being built between known and unknown users from all around the world. Social networks such as Facebook, MySpace, twitter, and even tumbler have become an everyday routine of our daily lives. In this modern society, all these social media websites have brought about a significant amount of impact in many of us. It has really influenced its users on how to conduct their lives.
Social media is an imperative public relations tool for companies to utilize in their business practices. Social media cannot be regulated so anyone can say what they please about the company, whether it is good, bad or ugly. Social media is developing rapidly and there are new platforms
Platforms such as Facebook and Twitter allow users to access company information, photos and employees as well as ask questions and express personal experiences with the company. It also allows potential employees to understand the vibe of the organization and gain a deeper and more personal understanding than a website. However, with social media, it is important to not ove...
..., which can result in decreased productivity. An employee may be spending more time viewing their friends’ posts and pictures, rather than focusing on their job. Social media can be addicting to some people. This should be monitored by all business owners. Employees can attend a party with people taking pictures, and then the pictures can be misconstrued or distorted. Online reputational concerns can be critical for businesses along with their employees. It can result in loss of employment, loss of economics, and unforgivable social humiliations. Businesses are at another disadvantage while using social media because followers can post negative comments on the business’s Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram site. Also, a hacker can retrieve the company’s page and post false information. A business or organization’s reputation will suffer from these actions. (Oravec 97)
Since the introduction of internet in the 1990’s, its importance worldwide has always grown tremendously. From the first email send to the domination of Facebook and other social media websites, it has changed the way people communicate. The use of social media is increasingly becoming the preferred way people share their daily activities, ideas and knowledge and that is why it’s the most talked about and used platform. Many companies are encouraging their employees to use various social media platforms and engage online for office productivity, posting opinions and presenting their thoughts. Corporations realize that Social Media tools such as blogs, forums, podcasts and social networking websites makes internal communications faster, more convenient and effective. Social media is a low-cost, high-impact tool that can also complement and reinforce your existing communications efforts. It gives a new dimension to internal communications in many ways: building relationship with employees, leads to diverse thinking and innovation, and reduce costs and Increase Productivity. Social media has impacted positively in the business world, but its downside has impacted teens in high school, with issues such as cyber bullying, and people using Facebook and twitter to get over their boredom and research proving that the more they use social networking websites the more envious they feel.
Employee stakeholders have another story. The discrimination lawsuits ranging from female employees not getting equal pay or equal positions, to disabled employees, class-action lawsuits stating that Wal-Mart doctors questionnaires to prevent disabled workers from applying, Wal-Mart does not rank very high with these employees. Lawsuits stemming from Wal-Mart’s failure to monitor labor conditions at oversea factories and hires illegal immigrants add to the rift in relations between the employees and the company. Wal-Mart continues to deny charges...