Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Occupy Wall Street May Actually Be Changing Wall Street Firms

Though the Occupy protesters have taken their tents out of Zuccotti Park, they're still making their mark.

The majority of marketing and communications executives at financial services firms said that Occupy Wall Street has impacted their business, according to a study conducted by Echo Research and Makovsky -- a research company and an integrated communications firm specializing in financial services, respectively. The number one challenge for firms this year is dealing with a negative public perception, according to Scott Tangney, an executive at Makovsky. In recent years past, recovering from the financial crisis superseded that concern.

"Banks and financial services firms have now shifted their focus from liquidity and financial performance to customer satisfaction and their own employees," said Scott Tangney, an executive at Makovsky. "The Occupy Wall Street Movement has indicated to firms where they need to be focusing."

The study’s findings come a little more than one week after Occupy Wall Street protesters were met with arrests celebrating the movement's six month anniversary.

Yet despite all the ruckus caused by the movement, more than 95 percent of marketing executives are blaming their firms' bad reputations on the companies themselves, not the protestors, according to the study.

That's in line with sentiments expressed by Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit in October, when he said the protesters' sentiments are "completely understandable."

Since the Occupy Movement began, the financial sector has faced a slew of other PR debacles. Last year, Bank of America dealt with heavy customer backlash after attempting to impose a debit card fee. Earlier this month, negative public perception became a heightened problem for Goldman Sachs when a former employee wrote a scathing op-ed about the company’s culture in The New York Times.

Still, even with all of these public disasters, the financial services industry may be inching its way back into the good graces of the American public. This year, 46 percent of Americans said they trust the financial services industry, up from only 25 percent that said the same thing last year, according to an Edelman report from earlier this month.

Original Article
Source: Huff
Author: Khadeeja Safdar 

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