Facebook Ignoring Women in the Board Room

Facebook, which is currently preparing an IPO, has come under fire for lack of diversity on its board of executives. Currently, the seven directors are all white and male, leading to Facebook being attacked for its lack of female representation on the board. Organisations such as Ultraviolet have protested outside Facebook’s headquarters in an effort to encourage Zuckerberg to add women to his board before the proposed IPO occurs. CalSTRS has also previously appealed to Facebook to diversify their board, highlighting evidence that companies with varied board members perform better.

According to recent surveys, 58 percent of Facebook’s 900 million users are female. Is it ill-informed for the company to ignore the voice of so many of their users- nearly two times the population of North America?  In terms of Facebook’s business, is it naïve to completely negate the influence of half your target market? This is the argument many opponents are currently positing towards Facebook.  Many activists are sighting Zuckerberg’s reasoning for not employing a female director as sexist, claiming that he does not believe there is a woman with the technological experience suited for the job. If this is the case, look towards your management structure- Facebook’s own Chief Operating Officer, Sheryl Sandberg, could be appointed. Or, as Facebook needs to look towards advertising and media revenue streams, why not examine someone currently working in these sectors as to diversify the board’s experience also.

However, Facebook is not the first Silicon Valley company to ignore the benefits of creating a diversified and gender balanced board of executives. The longstanding Adobe Systems Incorporation does not have any women directors, with companies such as Apple, Groupon and LinkedIn only having one female director. It appears to be a reoccurring trend to ignore the power and opinion of women in the technology firm's board rooms.

However, at the end of the day it is important to consider not only the gender balance argument. Is it really the best policy to employ an equal amount of male and female directors if they are not best suited to the job? 

The Plight of the Not-For-Profit Sector

Sony has revealed that they experienced a loss of 159 billion yen (2.1 billion US dollars) for the October-December quarter. Unconfirmed reports are predicting that this will mean a six percent decrease in Sony’s international workforce, which in real numbers means that 10,000 people face losing their jobs.

In today’s economic reality stories like this are neither shocking nor surprising. We have become desensitised to the everyday losses of businesses. However it is not just businesses that are facing tough times. A study released by Grant Thornton highlighted the plight of the not-for-profit sector.

It has emerged that one in ten not-for-profit organisations will cease to operate in the coming times due to an inability to plan for the next six months. Over 80 percent said they were unable to plan beyond two years because they were unsure if they would have enough money to survive that long.

Of the nearly 1000 organisations surveyed it emerged that government contributions account for approximately 60 percent of their funding and due to cut backs their future is now questionable. Other contributing factors to their uncertainty were increasing challenges in financing organisations from non-governmental sources and continuing struggles with corporate governance.

In an interview with the Irish Independent, Turlough Mullen, partner at Grant Thornton, said the not-for-profit sector has never been in such a “perilous state”. Mr Mullen added that, "as the crisis continues to deepen, we see that no sector is unaffected. The reality is that, in spite of the fact so many of these organisations do excellent work, we will see consolidation and rationalisation in the not-for-profit sector, just as we have seen in many areas of business".

So what does the future hold for these organisations? With so much good work being done can we live without them? The answer is no! The not-for-profit sector is a sector that if it diminishes many will suffer. The vulnerable will suffer. These organisations will have to find new means of survival. Seven out of 10 charities have had to create new forms of fundraising in the past two years as Government spending was slashed, but is enough being done to save this sector?

Another Year, Another St. Patrick's Day

With March 17th fast approaching, the nation will need to prepare itself for our annual celebration of Irishness; St. Patrick's Day. Unfortunately, being Irish is confused with self abuse through alcohol far too often. In Ireland, St. Patrick's Day has become more about self harm and social disorder than parades and green confetti.

The trends for St Patrick's Day reveal a similar story. Children as young as twelve will be celebrating March 17th with alcohol, while arrests in relation to public disorder and driving under the influence of alcohol are expected to increase dramatically.

This raises concerns about our attitude towards alcohol as a nation, not just on March 17th but year round. Irish society is one that glorifies alcohol, and our reputation as a nation has revolved around this for years. Some of our most successful exports are alcohol related, and St. Patrick's Day itself has become a global celebration of Irish culture with an emphasis on alcohol consumption.

Despite its benefits to our international reputation and the Irish economy, the Irish appetite for alcohol abuse has been revealed to have serious health and societal drawbacks.

St. Patrick's Hospital Medical Director Professor Jim Lucey has been quoted as saying that '... There has also been an increase in alcohol related deaths, liver disease and alcohol related diseases/injuries. The statistics on the increases in alcohol consumption are quite frightening yet culturally we are taught to relate alcohol with enjoyment. Many, especially our young people, feel you have to be drunk to enjoy a celebration. This must change.'

What remains are two pressing questions about St. Patrick's Day, Alcohol, and Ireland; 'How can the current societal trends in alcohol consumption be changed?', and 'Is there enough public and political will to tackle these trends when they stem from our own identity as Irish people?' Both questions remain to be answered.

Emigration seems to be the only hope for Irish Job Seekers

Last weekend the working abroad exposition in the RDS personified the desperation of the Irish public with the country’s rising unemployment figures. Over 20,000 job seekers queued for hours to gain access to the event and meet the 80 recruiters that were present from Canada, Dubai, Australia and New Zealand. The jobs exposition followed the announcement that Canadian province of Britsish Columbia will be looking for 350,000 skilled workers the next 12 years.

It was sad to see 20,000 people queuing for hours in a bid to get a golden ticket out of Ireland. Scenes were mirrored once again down in Cork where the exposition travelled next. Organisers appealed to non ticket holders not to show up as they would not be guaranteed entry. Nevertheless thousands queued with or without tickets once again. Men, woman, children and students bared the brunt of a long wait with hopes of a secure future in another country.

The jobs exposition in Dublin was juxtaposed with Fianna Fáils 75^th annual Ard Fheis. The current leader of the party Michael Martin apoligised for the mistakes of his party which have undoubtedly led to the downfall of our small nation.

Party members needed no reminder to the consequences their mistakes, a quick look out of the window and members could see the queues of people waiting for hope outside of this country.

The current government have recognised the need for job creation in Ireland. Richard Bruton recently published the governments job creation plan for 2012, a document whose results will be measured by government and non governmental bodies on a regular basis. The jobs creation document will be updated on an annual basis with hopes to reach the Taoiseach’s ambition for Ireland to be the best small country in the world in which to do business by the centenary of the 1916 Rising.

Although the government are putting measures in place, results will need to be fast in order to stop Ireland’s educated and talented people for leaving the country possibly never to return.

Martin McCaughey - a Dundalk businessman - was recently acquitted of an alleged assault of a burglar who broke into his home. This wouldn't be much of a news story other than the fact that McCaughey actually ran him over in his Mercedes twice, a couple of hundred metres from the scene of the crime. The second hit from the car left Daniel McCormack (the burglar) with a badly broken leg and pinned up against a railing until the Gardaí arrived on the scene.

McCormack was compensated for his injuries by Mr McCaughey's insurance company and received €175,000. However this case throws up a topic of heated debate in Ireland - when an intruder targets your home and is in your rooms stealing your possessions, how far can you go in order to defend yourself and your hard earned valuables?

It's interesting to note that McCaughey was acquitted with a majority verdict even though his insurance company actually compensated McCormack. In my opinion this goes to show that they placed the blame at their client's feet. McCaughey claimed to have been in the dark as to the payout and only became aware of it recently. I wonder would the insurance company have been as quick to compensate him after last week's acquittal?

In my opinion McCaughey was in the wrong and I was very surprised to see him walk free last week. It is one thing to defend yourself or attack someone in your house, but chasing him down the street and running him over not once but twice is assault. I understand that that McCaughey woke up with his wife next to him with this man standing in their bedroom with a screwdriver. I cannot imagine the sheer terror and anger that he must have felt and he'd have my complete support if he managed to knock him out in his house. However once the danger is gone (along with the valuables) then your right to defending your property is also diminished and using a car to try to hurt someone is surely at the very least excessive force. Taking the overriding feeling of anger and adreniline flowing into consideration, there could potentially be a case for defence for the first time McCormack was knocked down. That should be blown out of the water when the defendant hit him the second time.

The Criminal Law (Defence and the Dwelling) Act 2011 was enacted on the 19th of December, 2011 giving homeowners the right to reasonable force when dealing with an burglar. This was not the case in Dundalk and as intrusive and deplorable the original crime was, it did not merit what happened next. The phrase "two wrongs don't make a right" springs to mind however in this case the courts have found that they actually do.

The original M&M

Mars announced in December of last year that come February M&M’s would return to the Super Bowl and occupy one of the 30 second slots. Leading up to February 6th it became apparent that the original M&M was back and it was now her time to shine.

Ms. Brown has stated that over the past 70 years she has attended an Ivy League school majoring in business. From that she has learned everything she needs to know about the chocolate business and is now the Chief Chocolate Officer. She claims it was all her idea to introduce colours into the brand and has claimed that she has stayed in the background until now because of her hectic schedule.

Ms. Brown’s release has been well executed. Her unveiling and teaser campaigns were enticing and they created the hype needed to catapult the ad onto social media. Following the ad’s airing Facebook, Twitter and YouTube were alight with the video and people couldn’t stop talking about the original M&M.

However, personally, I am confused as to why now and why this particular character? This M&M coloured candy has been around since the beginning and yet is only being released now? M&M’s have done a great job creating her background and making her fit well with the other characters but why didn’t the brand use a similar strategy to what it has used in the past? Vote in a colour and make a character from that.

All in all, Ms. Brown is a great addition to the bunch. Red has been in the spotlight since the creation of the characters and has always been known as the leader but today we see who the real boss is. The Super Bowl ad, in my opinion, was merely the introduction of Ms. Brown and I’ve no doubt that she will continue to be in our lives for a long time to come. Already the steps that have been taken to engage the public with the character have been immense and there are no signs of that slowing down anytime soon.

If you want to get to know more about Ms. Brown, check out the video below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaaZYENy7eU&feature=player_embedded#!

Or like her page on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/mms?sk=app_204484159647887#!/mms?sk=wall


Posted by: Rachel

Innovator Issues.

Consumers view the market in very simple terms. They want a product that will help them complete the job in hand. If the innovator can understand the job that consumers are trying to complete, design a product which aids in the completion of that job, and positions it so that consumers know that it aids in completing that job, then consumers faced with that particular job will purchase the innovators product in order to complete the job.

A number of innovators don’t approach the innovation process in this way however. One issue stemming from this, as noted in a number of academic articles, is that companies focus on the wrong issues when they are developing new products. This leads innovators to “improve” products by developing new features and functions which they believe will lead to sales and market share, but fail to do so as these “improvements” are irrelevant to consumers needs.

An issue which also stems from innovators approaching the innovation process from the point of view of the product, and not the job, is that any improvements made will only ever be incremental improvements to the product itself. This may make the product easier to use or slightly more aesthetically appealing but it will never lead to a breakthrough that will revolutionize the way that the task in question is completed. If the added cost to consumers of this new product outweighs the value they place on the improvements, then they will not adopt it despite it being an improvement on its predecessor.

Another issue that innovators have to overcome is consumers’ natural resistance to change. Consumers tend to find comfort in familiarity and so overvalue the benefits that current products offer them. Another example of when a consumer resists change is when the new product on offer requires them to change their behaviour. This resistance can lead to consumers failing to adopt products which are superior to the ones they are using, simply because of the learning curve involved. This typically occurs with technological products. For example, if a new tablet was developed, which outperformed the ipad but was significantly more difficult to use, consumers may be unwilling to adapt the new technology.