Public Lecture: Should Corporations Give in to Twitter Mobs?

Speaker

Chris MacDonald, Ted Rogers School of Management, Ryerson University,
Toronto, Canada

Abstract

Social media, and Twitter in general, has changed the world in many ways. One key way is that social media provides tools for social coordination – that is, for people to communicate and take action towards shared goals. In some cases, such as fundraising for a worthy cause, or encouraging environmental protection, such coordination is to be celebrated. Other cases raise questions. This presentation will consider the use of Twitter as a tool for encouraging corporate action. We will consider two cases. First, we will consider Twitter-based attempts to change corporate policies through things like consumer boycotts. Second, we will consider attempts by Twitter “mobs” to have individuals fired by their employers in the light of perceived wrongdoing.

Biography

Chris MacDonald is an Associate Professor at Ryerson University’s Ted Rogers School of Management. A philosopher by training, he recently ended his term as chair of the Law & Business Department, and is Director of the Ted Rogers Leadership Centre. The author of several dozen peer-reviewed articles, he is perhaps best known for his long history of providing digital resources for scholars and students in the field of business ethics. He is the co-creator and co-editor of the Business Ethics Journal Review (a free, online, peer-reviewed journal), co-author of the Concise Encyclopedia of Business Ethics, and the author—for more than a decade—of the highly-regarded Business Ethics Blog.