Remember last summer's big story about John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods? Seems he got carried away posting on various Internet forums more than 1,000 messages offering his opinion on his company's stock, the competition and even vendors. He didn't think to mention to anyone who he was. (He participated in these forums from 1999 to 2006.)
Along came the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) with an informal inquiry into whether Mackey's posts influenced Whole Foods shares. Meanwhile, the Whole Foods board did its own internal investigation, though the results haven't been released publicly. One insider said the board knew about Mackey's activities, but did nothing to stop him.
Now the board has issued an amendment to the company's code of business conduct. In a nutshell, the board is formally discouraging and even forbidding the grocer's officials from getting involved in online discussions.
According to a story in the Wall Street Journal (online subscription required), the board is taking a stand that Whole Foods' "company leadership" is to refrain from commenting about the company, its competitors or vendors on blogs, chat rooms or other Internet forums that aren't specifically sponsored by the chain. No more anonymous postings anywhere. No more pseudonyms or ghost writing.
I can just imagine how many internal memos are flying around today about this situation as executives ask HR and Communications if their company business conduct guidelines are adequate. Good idea. It should just be expected that employees, perhaps even key officials, will participate in online discussions. Unless told otherwise, they may feel anything is fair game, short of obvious proprietary information. NOT addressing online conduct isn't just a mistake, it's tantamount to inviting problems.
I just hope this debacle doesn't scare away thought leaders who should be sharing their opinions and ideas online. We don't have enough company leadership involved in intelligent online conversations as it is. Ignoring the online community isn't the answer. The answer is to monitor it closely to find out where the conversations are taking place, then engage when and where it makes sense and do so in a transparent manner. That's one way a company can remain relevant.
This board is keeping the whole class after school because of one naughty boy. If they think Whole Foods has been talked about before, wait'll the blogosphere lets 'er rip now!
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