Should a Bot Interrupt Native English Speakers?

A new study used a bot to cut off native English speakers during meetings, allowing more time for non-native speakers to participate. The study might spark good class discussion about cultural communication differences and the practice of humility, particularly making space for others.

Two native and one Japanese speaker worked on a “survival” task over video. After a non-native speaker spoke six times in a row, the “conversational agent” interrupted, which increased the Japanese speakers’ contributions from “12% to 17% of all words spoken.”

That result seems rather small to me, so I wouldn’t see this as a great solution to imbalanced class discussions or work meetings. Also, the authors are considering whether other means could be more effective. The bot put pressure on the non-native speakers, who didn’t necessarily have something to contribute at that time, so one option is for speakers to signal when they want to jump in. I also wonder whether the results would be different for speakers from other countries.

Another outcome, which as we might expect, is how the native speakers felt. As the authors conclude, they “perceived the agent's interruption as unfair because they thought all members were speaking equally, which was not the case.” This alone is a good learning outcome for students. But authors are exploring more subtle cues, for example, private messages when someone is taking a lot of air time.

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Toyota's Messages as Intercultural Comm Examples

Toyota’s messages about executive changes are good examples of how these announcements vary by culture. CEO and President Akio Toyoda (the family name spelling) has served in the position for 13 years. Unlike Reed Hastings, who served for 25 years at Netflix and also announced his move to chairman this week, Toyoda wasn’t a company founder, but his grandfather was, so his tenure is important. And yet, we see what looks like fanfare compared to the Netflix announcement. Here are the communications, and I’ll comment below:

• TMC Announces Changes to Executive Structure. A webpage includes links to other communications and handy “current” and “new” tables showing changes.

• Toyota Times News Special Live Broadcast. For more than an hour and a half, outgoing and incoming executives discuss the decision.

• Passing Toyota's Presidency Baton from Akio Toyoda to Koji Sato. Another page includes remarks from the incoming and outcoming CEOs, transcribed from the video.

Here are a few ways the remarks differ from typical U.S. messages, and I’m sure that students will find more:

• In the introduction and in his remarks, Akio Toyoda says the decision was “triggered by Chairman Uchiyamada’s resignation.” This is a way for the outgoing CEO to save face—as though his removal is based on a board opening.

• He also demonstrates humility and vulnerability in ways we don’t typically see from an outgoing U.S. CEO. He mentions, “I was appointed president immediately after our company’s fall into the red due to the global financial crisis,” and “Following that, our company faced a series of crises that threatened our survival, such as the global recall crisis and the Great East Japan Earthquake.” Although the financial crisis and earthquake were out of the company’s control, the recalls were self-inflicted, and I’m surprised to hear him remind the press. At the same time, that crisis was early in his tenure and rather unforgettable, including testimony on Capitol Hill.

• Toyoda also says, ”There was a time when Mr. Sato was struggling with what he should convey at a Lexus dealer convention.” Toyoda advised, “Rather than try to be like me, I want you to value your individuality.” Toyoda tells the story to illustrate Sato’s “love” for company products. Still, I wonder whether a U.S. CEO would reveal such a vulnerability—”struggling” was the translation—of an incoming executive.

• Twice in his short speech, Toyoda mentions Sato’s “youth,” and he says, “Being young is itself a key attribute.” This comment would be highly unlikely in the U.S., where age discrimination laws might cause older executives to immediately call their lawyers. (Also surprising: Toyoda is 66, while Sato is 53.)

• Only once do either of the executives mention EV, which is arguably the real reason Akio Toyoda is stepping down. He has resisted the move to EV and, as a result, Toyota is behind other car companies. In his closing remarks, Sato refers to “accelerating the shift to electrification”—a funny, but translated and probably unintentional car reference.

Steve Jobs Email Blast from the Past

We get a window into executive decision making with Internal Tech Emails. This 2005 thread starts with Google Co-Founder Sergey Brin telling his team that Steve Jobs called, angry about Google “recruiting from the safari team.” Without ever hitting the caps key, Brin described Jobs as “agitated” about at least one potential hire away from Apple. In addition to losing staff, Jobs was concerned about Google developing a search engine to compete with Safari, but Brin assured Jobs that this wasn’t in the works.

The email thread includes other Google execs jumping in to explain that they were, in fact, trying to recruit a high-profile employee from the search team—and that the hire might bring additional employees as well. At some point, an HR leader, Arnnon Geshuri, weighs in: “We are careful to adhere to non-compete agreements if we have established these with any company.  However, it is the staffing organization's practice to aggressively pursue leads that come from our employees and bring the best talent onboard.”

But, as the conversation continued (and after few more calls from Jobs), we see the team shift. They agree not to pursue more candidates without pre-approval from Apple if the prized employee came on board.

Top Apple Exec Fired Over Joke

This story could be a challenging class discussion, but it gets at where we draw the line with “jokes.” Apple’s VP of procurement quoted an old movie line and got himself fired.

At a car show, a TikTok creator asked Tony Blevins what he does for a living. With his wife laughing, he quoted Arthur as he got out of his Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren: “I have rich cars, play golf, and fondle big-breasted women. But I take weekends and holidays off.” The video went viral, and Apple terminated the 22-year company veteran.

Students will have opinions, of course. Some will believe, as a New York Post writer believes, “Beyond the gross overreaction, canning top talent over a harmless pop culture reference is a bizarre path to innovation for the world’s top tech company.” Others will find the comment offensive and say that Apple had to act when employees complained to HR. In this sense, the video is an integrity issue for the company.

Either way, it’s a reminder that what students say can end up anywhere and have an impact they don’t intend.

Problems with Medical Jargon

A new study identified specific phrases that patients would likely misunderstand from their healthcare provider. Students probably know that medical jargon causes problems, and they might be interested in analyzing their own provider’s communication.

The survey asked respondents to interpret these phrases, listed in the article supplement. In most cases, respondents were asked whether the news is good or bad. I can see how some could go either way. What does progressive, unremarkable, or impressive mean in a medical diagnosis? We could consider this issue a problem with humility in the medical profession.

Understanding didn’t improve with either age or education. In the demographic section, survey authors did provide non-binary options for gender: female, male, non-binary, other. A related article this week describes data scientists’ challenges when asking about gender. Although researchers found no significant differences in this study, in other studies, gender matters greatly, and students should consider this question carefully in their own primary research.

Company and Celeb Last Tweets

With all the turmoil at Twitter, companies and celebrities are posting their final tweets, some giving reasons and some quietly slipping away. Their choices offer lessons in integrity and authenticity. Here are examples for students to analyze:

CBS News Bay Area: In light of the uncertainty around Twitter and out of an abundance of caution, CBS News Bay Area is pausing its activity on the social media site as we continue to monitor the platform.

Playbill: [at right]

Balenciaga: [Deleted account without comment.]

Shonda Rhimes: Not hanging around for whatever Elon has planned. Bye.

Sara Bareilles: Welp. It’s been fun Twitter. I’m out. See you on other platforms, peeps. Sorry, this one’s just not for me. [heart and prayer-hands emojis]

Toni Braxton: I'm shocked and appalled at some of the "free speech" I've seen on this platform since its acquisition. Hate speech under the veil of "free speech" is unacceptable; therefore I am choosing to stay off Twitter as it is no longer a safe space for myself, my sons and other POC.

Research About "Low-Response" People

Research about persuading people to pay NYC parking tickets has implications for business communicators—and raises questions of character. The study, published in American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, found that reminder letters get more people to pay fines, but this approach doesn’t work for everyone.

People who respond least to the “nudges,” including notices about greater fines, happen to be those least likely to pay in the first place. Referred to as “low-response” types, these folks need sterner warnings. As one author says, “It’s only when they get this legal-looking letter that says, ‘We are in default judgment against you; you may get towed.’” Most interesting, people in the “low-response” groups tend to be from historically “disadvantaged populations—lower income, less education, and higher proportions of Black or other racial groups.”

The authors acknowledge that their recommendations ”would not be based on individual characteristics (e.g., income, race, neighborhood) but only on past behavior–while statistically helping traditionally underserved populations to avoid penalties with a nonintrusive nudge. We further note that, in proposing this policy, we are not assuming that the low baseline response rates of the LRs are suboptimal. Rather, we are pointing out a lower-cost policy that could induce more timely payments from the LRs without imposing larger penalties on them.”

Still, this study raises questions about character, for example, compassion, integrity, and accountability. Am I the only one cringing at the term “low-response type” and use of “LRs”? Is it right to threaten one group but not another, even if it’s based on past behavior? True, people should pay fines, but we have deeper societal issues and inequities to consider. How do people in these groups view rules and law enforcement? Are people in lower-income neighborhoods or with cars in greater disrepair more likely to get tickets in the first place?

If, as the authors say, their proposed policy is helpful to avoid “imposing larger penalties,” why not simply eliminate fines that some people can’t afford to pay? Our local library has stopped charging late fees so they don’t discourage reading and cause a disparate impact. The authors do propose eliminating later, greater fines that have little impact and most affect people in historically disadvantaged populations. Theoretically, data can also be used for a sliding fee scale according to income level—or perhaps the value of one’s car.

The simpler takeaway for business communication students is the relevance of knowing your audience. As study authors say, NYC already has the data and can customize approaches. We do teach analyzing an audience and tailoring a message. But students may discuss the ethics of using data and taking different approaches in these types of situations.

Comms We Regret

Two news stories remind us that what we say may come back to bite us. Two Los Angeles officials resigned from their positions following crass and racist comments by City Council president, Nury Martinez. (Details here, if you have the stomach to read.) Other resignations may follow.

In another situation, Ye (Kanye West) faced Instagram and Twitter restrictions following his anti-Semitic comment. He wrote, “I’m a bit sleepy tonight but when I wake up I’m going def con 3 on Jewish people. . . ” In response, Adidas is reviewing its sponsorship agreement.

In the LA situation, someone illegally recorded and posted a conversation on Reddit. In the second, West made his own comments public, but he admits being tired. In both cases, the comments were offensive and not a good choice.

Let’s remind students that they are responsible for their communications and may not know how what they say and write will be publicized.

Resume Cakes and Other Attention-Getters

Every couple of years an attention-getting resume goes viral, and students might wonder what they could do to get eyes on their job application. This time, we see a cake with a resume screen printed in the icing, sent to Nike headquarters.

The lesson for students is the same: creative approaches for creative jobs might work but are probably not appropriate for more conversative positions or industries. I also wonder, despite the reports on programs like Good Morning America, how often these ideas turn into job offers. A couple have, but I imagine that companies don’t want to encourage a lot of cakes, which, because of safety concerns, are probably discarded.

This story doesn’t have a happy job ending but became about the Instacart driver who carried the cake—and her 8-month-old son—around Nike’s campus to hand deliver the cake. It’s inspiring to see the lengths people will go for their dream job and how determined people can be. But I would encourage students to find other ways to differentiate themselves in the job market.

Communications About Fast Company Breach

Fast Company is suffering embarrassment because of a data breach during which hackers sent racist messages through Apple News on iPhones. The offensive comments reflect poorly on Apple as well, which a Washington Post article describes as an otherwise “walled garden.”

In addition to posting the message shown here on its website homepage, Fast Company sent this message by email:

Fast Company’s Apple News account was hacked on Tuesday evening. Two obscene and racist push notifications were sent about a minute apart. The messages are vile and are not in line with the content of Fast Company. We are investigating the situation and have suspended the feed and shut down FastCompany.com until we are certain the situation has been resolved.”

A similar white-text-on-black-background message plasters Inc.’s home page: “As a result of the FastCompany.com breach, Mansueto Ventures (which also owns Inc.) is temporarily shutting down Inc.com out of an abundance of caution while the investigation is underway.”

Without further comment to news organizations, Apple posted this tweet: “An incredibly offensive alert was sent by Fast Company, which has been hacked. Apple News has disabled their channel.” Apple is doing its best to stay out of the fray, letting Fast Company take the blame.

Suggestions for Sending Voice Notes

A Wall Street Journal article, “The Year of the Voice Message,” offers advice that business communication faculty might want to share with students. The voicemail message is out of favor, but voice notes (or voice memos), which brings their own annoyances, are in.

The article describes dislike for voice notes—both sending and receiving them. Still, they persist for convenience and, in some cases, to preserve tone. Some advice is similar to old voicemail messages: keep them short (less than a minute) and beware that others might hear you. Something new: Send a text to introduce the voice note when your receiver needs encouragement to listen.

Other advice is universal for business communication: consider your audience and choose a medium according to your goals. A very short message is best as a text, and a longer message could be an email. Ask yourself, does my voice make a difference in this message? If you’re sending a voice note just for your own convenience, then reconsider: it may be quicker for the receiver to scan a text than to listen.

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Recalibrating Our Personal vs. Professional Lives

Two opinion articles provide opposing arguments about how much of our personal life we should share in professional settings. I encourage some vulnerability and authenticity, including revealing personal information about ourselves at work—within reason. Most employees want coworkers to share more, and authenticity correlates positively with “job satisfaction, in-role performance, and work engagement.” At the same time, people need to decide how much and when to share, considering the context, for example, the work environment and their coworkers.

Here are the two recent articles as examples, and students will find more on the subject:

• NY Times opinion, ”Do Not Bring Your ‘Whole Self’ to Work”

• WSJ opinion, “Returning to the Office? Let’s Keep the Line Between Work and Home Blurry”

Victoria's Secret Admits "Toxic Culture"

A song has challenged Victoria’s Secret in a way I haven’t seen since “United Breaks Guitars.” Already struggling because of changing customer preferences, a Hulu documentary, and leadership ties to Jeffrey Epstein, the brand responded to try to repair its reputation.

Jax wrote the song for the girl she babysits, and now it’s 50 on Billboard’s Hot 100 songs. Viewed more than 30 million times, “Victoria’s Secret” speaks to young people about unrealistic body images. Jax demonstrates vulnerability by talking about her own struggles, including how she “stopped eating.” She wrote lyrics the company couldn’t ignore: “I know Victoria's secret / And girl, you wouldn't believe / She's an old man who lives in Ohio / Making money off of girls like me.”

The company responded with two statements. The first, an Instagram post, is a clever handwritten note from the CEO, complimenting the song and promising to do better. The second, below, is a spokesperson’s statement, which illustrates a classic crisis communication strategy: distancing yourself from the issue. Referring to the past, the writer remind us how far Victoria’s Secret has come. In my view, the company demonstrates some accountability but could offer more compassion.

For her part, Jax demonstrates integrity in her video response. She focuses on her intent, which wasn’t to “take down a brand,” and she invites others to share their stories.

We’ll see how Victoria’s Secret fares in the end. Some believe the brand hasn’t changed enough or took too long to be more inclusive of different body types. Regardless, the situation and response are good crisis communication and character examples.

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At Victoria's Secret, we make no excuses for the past. We know the old VS lost touch with many people, projected a damaging standard of beauty, and perpetuated a toxic culture.

Today, we are proud to be a different company, with a new leadership team and mission to welcome, celebrate, and champion all women. We have made much progress, but recognize this transformation is a journey, and our work continues to become the Victoria’s Secret our customers and associates deserve — where everyone feels seen, respected, and valued.

We’re always open to engage with those looking to share feedback as we continue our transformation.

Should Students Change Their Names for the Job Search?

A new working paper confirms and expands what we know about discrimination in the job search. Applicants with names that are difficult to pronounce are less likely to be called for interviews and may suffer career loss down the road. The researchers describe related studies about racial bias: within minority groups, which already face discrimination, those with less “fluent or familiar-sounding names” are 50% less likely than those with “white” names to get called for an interview.

Students make difficult decisions about whether to change their names or “whiten” their resumes in other ways. In Chapter 13 of Business Communication and Character (11e), we explore the advantages, such as more callbacks for jobs, and the disadvantages. Understandably, students may want to keep their given name, which they feel is an important part of their identity. They also may resist because of moral reasons or because of concerns that, even if they get the job, they might not feel as tough they belong. Chalice Randazzo’s Business and Professional Communication Quarterly article, “A Framework for Résumé Decisions: Comparing Applicants’ and Employers’ Reasons,” offers useful guidance for all resume decisions.

Of course, the real onus is on employers to reduce bias by changing attitudes and hiring practices, for example, with blind hiring. In the meantime, students bear the brunt of a discriminatory system.

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RadioShack Takes Risks in New Ad Campaign

RadioShack launched a new advertising campaign that includes sexual and other questionable references. The situation is an interesting example of persuasive communication—catchy and potentially offensive.

A Wall Street Journal article describes franchisees’ mixed reactions to the approach as well as the company’s new cryptocurrency exchange platform. As the majority franchisee, Bob Wilke, president of HobbyTown Unlimited complained, “This is so damaging to their integrity, and the reputation of the brand. We just do not want to be associated with that type of marketing.”

The company follows a sad story line, with 8,000 at its prime in 1999, filing for bankruptcy in 2015 and 2017, getting acquired, and limping along with 110 stores today. Looking at RadioShack’s history, we do see a different picture from the current marketing. This Business Insider article chronicles ads from the company’s inception in 1921, when products were sold primarily through catalogs.

Abel Czupor, the new marketing head, responded to the controversy: “Every company that has lovers also has haters, but that just means that marketing is working. And I would rather have lovers and haters than not having anyone that knows about the brand.” Edgy marketing attracts attention, but it’s not always positive. Business communication students can analyze the company’s roots and progression to decide whether the current strategy might work or only drag the brand further down.

Quiet Quitting and Communication

I wonder whether “quiet quitting” is a communication cop out. TikToker @zkchillin describes the term as “quitting the idea of going above and beyond at work.” He explains, “You’re still performing your duties, but you’re no longer subscribing to the hustle culture mentality that work has to be your life. The reality is, it’s not.”

This sounds like having a work-life balance, and I’m all for it. But the hyperbolic language (and alliteration) makes me curious about how this decision gets communicated. In professional jobs, position descriptions are flexible documents, with the last bullet typically, “other duties as assigned.” How do employees decline responsibilities, particularly tasks they were expected to—and had been willing to—perform in the past?

If an employee feels overburdened, it’s their responsibility to raise concerns over time. That takes courage and integrity and is a more mature and direct strategy than what sounds like passive-aggressively not doing work. Without that conversation, when output is compared to previous work, the employee will appear to be slacking even if they are meeting job responsibilities.

What is the impact on others? If tasks are openly renegotiated, then a team could work more efficiently. Instead, “quiet quitting” misses this opportunity and implies that some work might get tossed to other team members.

I also wonder how long this strategy will last if layoffs become more prevalent in a down economy. Employees have the upper hand now, but that won’t always be the case.

Meta Explains Chatbot Offense

Meta’s new artificial intelligence software is already failing. The chatbot, BlenderBot 3, seems to believe Jewish conspiracy theories and that President Trump won the 2020 election, as shown in the conversation here.

Meta is focusing on BlenderBot 3’s pilot status and requires users to accept a statement before they interact:

I understand this bot is for research and entertainment only, and that is likely to make untrue or offensive statements. If this happens, I pledge to report these issues to help improve future research. Furthermore, I agree not to intentionally trigger the bot to make offensive statements.

The company describes BlenderBot 3 as a “state-of-the-art conversational agent that can converse naturally with people” and claims that feedback will improve how the bot interacts:

Since all conversational AI chatbots are known to sometimes mimic and generate unsafe, biased or offensive remarks, we’ve conducted large-scale studies, co-organized workshops and developed new techniques to create safeguards for BlenderBot 3. Despite this work, BlenderBot can still make rude or offensive comments, which is why we are collecting feedback that will help make future chatbots better.

As we learned from other messages this past week, company leaders are pushing back on complaints and asking customers to be patient. We’ll see whether Meta’s strategy of managing expectations turns out better for Blender than Microsoft’s response to complaints about its 2016 chatbot, which was removed after making anti-Semitic, racist, and sexist comments. Meta asks us for feedback, but I’d rather get offended by humans and invest my time in educating them instead of a bot.

"Woke" Report for Medical Colleges

The Wall Street Journal editorial board criticized an Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) report as “woke” because it identifies diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) competencies for future doctors. A draft copy of the report shows recommendations for students, residents, and faculty.

Competencies include what you might expect for medical professionals, for example, advocating for diverse health care teams, mitigating biases, eliminating inequities, and practicing anti-racism. Although typical for encouraging DEI practice in any profession, the WSJ editorial board has harsh words for the report:

The woke domination of American higher education can seem tragically comic when it’s confined to the English department. But when it infiltrates the hard sciences, far more is at stake. Read and wince at how woke politics is about to infect medical education.

Business communication students can analyze the report purpose, structure, and style—and the opinion letter as an example of persuasive communication.

Honest Email Auto-Responses

The New York Times published a series of automated email responses that let senders know why the receiver will take a while to reply or will not replay at all. Each explains a mental-health reason, for example, vacationing or recovering from a miscarriage. Some are funny, like this one:

Thanks for your email—but unfortunately, I’m rocking in a corner somewhere trying to find my inner peace. As soon as I’ve found it, I’ll be back at work, so please bear with me.

Alain Sobol, Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt

Generally, I like the idea. The responses are honest and demonstrate integrity, vulnerability, and authenticity. A few of the examples might be “TMI” (too much information), but that’s for each receiver to decide.

Students can draft their own responses, but I’ll add a word of caution: these shouldn’t be overused. How much senders will tolerate depends on the situation and relationship. If an email is important, the sender needs alternatives, which I don’t see in the NYT examples. A time estimate or someone else to contact would be appreciated.

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Using Alt Text for Its Intended Purpose

An alternative-text feature allows blind readers and those with low vision to hear descriptions of what they can’t see online. The point is to improve digital accessibility. NASA uses the feature with an “ALT” link that opens an “Image Description.”

This Harvard Digital Accessibility guide provides tips for writing good alt text:

• Add alt text all non-decorative images.

• Keep it short and descriptive, like a tweet.

• Don’t include “image of” or “photo of.”

• Leave alt text blank if the image is purely decorative

• It's not necessary to add text in the Title field.

I would amend this list by suggesting that writers limit the number of “purely decorative” images in favor of meaningful ones.

Twitter users and others are frustrated by alt text that doesn’t meet these criteria and, worse, is used for purposes other than increasing accessibility. Unfortunately, people are using this feature for source information, additional captions, or jokes. Of course, this does nothing to help users who need assistance navigating web content—the intended purpose of alt text.