Articles/Apple Post

I think the articles that were posted on Lambiase blog were really good examples of the way that companies can handle PR and do a really good or really bad job. In the McKinney cheer leading sponsor story, I think that the school district was already really publicized when the cheerleaders posted the pictures of them online in front of a condom store in uniform. It looked really bad on the image of not just the cheer leading store but also the school district. I think that the school did a really bad job at handling the entire situation because they could have used it to do something positive LIKE have some sort of seminar about the kind of things people are posting online, especially on myspace and facebook, and it is important for people/athletes/scholarship recipients/miss America contestants/teachers, etc. are getting caught doing things and it is simply because of the type of material that is being posted online. Also, this type of material is being used by people in court cases etc. They could have done some type of seminar; I've seen on the news that colleges are having these people come and talk to students about this issue.It's a big deal and students/people in general need to be aware of these dangers. But the school district did next to nothing, then fire the person who was really trying to do the right thing, and really sent mixed messages to people.
Same thing with Southwest. Horrible. Mistakes happen, Southwest should have taken an immediate stance on the issue. They can not use the "we will just sit back and let it die down." It doesn't work like that and it an apology is made, and steps are taken to help the company, such as an official policy come out about dress code, then laying low for a while, trying to stay out of headlines might be okay. Saying nothing does nothing for you. It really hurts you.
Apple really did a messed up thing to it's commit ed buyers, the one that are loyal to every Apple product, and the one that care about Apple the most. And then the company allowed Steve Jobs to almost be sarcastic in what he said the those people who expressed their frustration with the situation and then the PR people must have gotten involved and told him what needed to happen. But needless to say, it was a classic case of a company not understanding that anyone out there can make phones, MP3 players, computers, whatever. But you have to keep customers, and make people loyal to your brand. Without that, you are nothing.

Supply Chains

I think that supply chains do ave a responsibility to know wha is going on within their businesses. It is their business, what brings them livelyhood, and therefore it is their busines to know how the company operates and things that are happening within its walls. I think that every good business owner knows what goes on within the company that they own, and usually this allows for the company to be sucessful. Bosses that know every detail about their companies are usually the companines that people become loyal to, and I think this happens to be because people like the services that they render but also becasue those kind of comapnies are good to work for. I always find myself becoming loyal to comapnies that their employees are happy. It makes things so much more pleasent as a consumer. In business, I like that owners should think that everyhting that has to do with their business is their business. They should know about everything. It will do good for not only their consumers but their employees and also it would help immensly with ethical dilemmas, because most likely their wouldn't be any.

What does the Cosmopolitan Model have to do with PR?

I think the model is just something to get people to recognize how they feel about an issue, why they feel that way (though like the book says there probably is not any really good explanation) and then helps with thinking about why other people may feel differently. I really think that PR is about dealing with people, and truly understanding where people are coming from so that we can do our jobs correctly in this business. We have to understand our markets and our consumers so that we can keep them happy, or in the event that something is done wrong, we can understand the best way to fix the problem. It is very important to our jobs in the PR business. We have to be careful not to judge or offend, and we have to try and see others point of view, despite how we feel about the issue.

Does Everyone Matter...

I think that what Appiah is trying to convey is that every person matters to themselves and everything that each person does makes sense to them. In his book, Appiah says time and time again that people believe what they believe and they have their own reasons for believing those things or ideas, and are not easily persuaded otherwise. It is important to understand that even though we, as in everyone else, may not agree with what everyone else does, it is mostly because we do not fully understand the beliefs or customs of other people. I think that the underlying message is that everyone matters most to themselves.
Again, if you take the statement "everyone matters the most to themselves," and analyze that, I think it is pretty easily understood that America's supply chains are included in that statement. The suppliers, distribute rs, etc. matter most to themselves, and probably look after their own interests and understandings more than anything else. That is why sometimes incidents happen and things get covered up or excuses are made, etc. Supply chains are looking out for their own interests first and foremost and after that, they worry with caring about others.