Great story A1 on the Journal today looking at the impact an email can have, and how companies today need to respond in a truly 360 degree way. Last November, an employee at Kaiser sent a company wide email extremely critical of a program to convert paper medical files to electronic. Just setting aside the merits of the complaint, here is how the complaint played out:
- Sent on Friday.
- IT department tries to delete from computers with limited success.
- Mail leaks to cyberspace.
- CEO sends own mail responding, also companywide.
- Healthcare blogs pick up the story and do exclusive interviews with the now fired employee.
- Computerworld does a critical story.
- State of California launches investigation.
- Company responds via interviews with blogs.
In a world where the line between media are blurred, where boundaries between corporations and public are thinner than ever, and where news travels at the speed of light, the need to use multiple methods of communications -- both proactively and in crises -- is clearer than ever.