The war of words between Argentina and a group of hedge funds is getting more interesting. Today, it was the hedge funds’ turn to take a full-page newspaper ad to make its case, answering recent claims by Argentina – and demonstrating that the dispute is reaching a critical stage.
When the New York Knicks were contending for an NBA title in the early 1990s (remember those days?), Pat Riley’s postgame news conferences were a marvel to behold. Win or lose, he always kept his cool when jousting with reporters and was unfailingly supportive of his players – even those who’d performed badly. And he […]
Why is speaking to employees during a crisis so difficult? When a company is mired in controversy, it needs every friend it can get. Employees are likely to be supportive in these situations, but companies seldom do much to engage them. Chief executives offer up a variety of objections. Here are the five most common […]
It’s been a rough few days for Arthur Sulzberger, Jr., the publisher of the New York Times. Firing Jill Abramson unleashed a torrent of ugly press coverage, and Mr. Sulzberger soon was cited as a case study in “poor management and worse communications.” So it might be a surprise to hear he actually did several […]
It wasn’t exactly a surprise to see the merger between Omncom and Publicics collapse. We had our doubts when the deal was announced last year. Still, there are some clear winners and losers. Here’s our list.
It’s been a bad week for the image minders in the private equity industry. First, Henry Kravis bemoaned the industry’s awful reputation, and now a tax-reform plan – floated by a Republican (gasp!) – threatens to axe its carried-interest tax goodie. Meanwhile, investors like Carl Icahn that once were reviled as “corporate raiders” have been […]
When companies see trouble on the horizon, often the best course is to act before the storm arrives. Two excellent examples of this strategy were on display in recent weeks.
Give Tim Armstrong credit for doing what President Obama could not. In just one day he managed to humanize the healthcare debate and make it topic number one in nearly everyone’s conversation.
The first earnings announcement for a newly public company is often traumatic. Just ask Dick Costolo and the team at Twitter, which saw the company’s shares plummet 20% after announcing results yesterday. A glorious IPO a few months ago made being a public company seem so easy. Now what?
UBS chief executive Sergio Ermotti bravely launched a defense of the banking sector and hit out at its critics in a candid interview from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. In this post, we imagine the conversation Ermotti had with his PR chieftain when he returned from the mountains.