The New Rules

The courtroom has been a busy place for the business world lately. The Americans with Disabilities Act has new accommodations, and the Federal Communication Commission’s has new rules and these legal changes are important for employers, and businesses alike to be aware of.
    The Americans with Disabilities Act is now less stringent in the naming of the disabled than in the old version due to an overturning by the Supreme Court. This change in the act which “the EOCC did not issue its new accommodations until May 20, 2011”, has left employers unclear about the changes in what a disabled employee is, and how we as an employer accommodate them. The only time it is legal to not accommodate a disabled employee is if “the accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the operator of the business.” But of course if that is the case what is “undue hardship”? In legal context that means, “the employer must show it will suffer significant difficulty or expense, either in finance or administrative difficulties”. Due to this change employers must be very careful to effectively accommodate disabilities now that the legal definition of disability has expanded. (Ackermann)
    The internet is a very fast gateway to information which has become very helpful and very competitive. Thankfully, the FCC has finally published some well over-due guidelines for internet trafficking . These “net neutrality” rules will go into effect Nov. 20. These Rules include:

1. “First, transparency: fixed and mobile broadband providers must disclose the network management practices, performance characteristics, and commercial terms of their broadband services,”
2. “Second, no blocking: fixed broadband providers may not block lawful content, applications, services, or non-harmful devices; mobile broadband providers may not block lawful websites, or block applications that compete with their voice or video telephony services.
3. “Third, no unreasonable discrimination: fixed broadband providers may not unreasonably discriminate in transmitting lawful network traffic.”  (Vorro)

In retrospect these new changes to the law books are going to one change how businesses accommodate employees with disabilities and two provide everyone access to all information the internet has to offer. This will be either a real good progressive step in how businesses are ran or lawsuits waiting to happen. I think we can clearly see broadband companies will be in the courtroom very soon and employees will be in the courtroom complaining they weren’t given proper accommodations. That being said it is up to the business to be aware and understanding of the new rules.

• Ackermann, Sara. "Labor: 7 Questions about the New ADAAA Regulations." InsideCounsel Sept. 2011. InsideCounsel. Summit Business Media, 26 Sept. 2011. Web. <http://www.insidecounsel.com/2011/09/26/labor-7-questions-about-the-new-adaaa-regulations>.

• Vorro, Alex. "Net Neutrality Rules Finally Published." InsideCounsel Sept. 2011. InsideCounsel. Summit Business Media, 26 Sept. 2011. Web. <http://www.insidecounsel.com/2011/09/26/net-neutrality-rules-finally-published>.

Too Little Too Much

A lot of changes are being made in the business world being new technology, new practices, or new improvements. Change and progression can be very good for a business, to stay fresh, and find better and more innovative ways of doing things. But a problem often arises from information overload. To be able to take in information and use it effectively it must be given in a concise and succinct way.
    This article “The Trouble With Too Much Information” tells a story about a company who gave their factory workers improvement initiatives with hundreds of pages of training material causing the workers to make stupid mistakes. “production performance slipped and safety issues surfaced” The factory workers were experiencing too much information to be productive, and as management the last thing wanted is an unproductive team. (Chakravorty)
    As management it is important to know how to directly address your audience with clear, professional language without sounding repetitive or overwhelming. As Markus Reitzig of London Business School points out, idea proposals as management shouldn’t be too skimpy on information, too lengthy, lacking of focus, or insufficient in explanation, but it has to be just right. He says that tone is important, that being a positive attitude toward the topic at hand. He explains, “the fact is, the lower-level managers who screen proposals are busy and have short attention spans.” (Brokaw)
    I completely agree that too much information can be just as unproductive as too little, so as managers it’s your job to be clear, concise, succinct, and always professional.

• Chakravorty, Satya S. "The Trouble With Too Much Information." MIT Sloan Management Review - The New Business of Innovation. Massachusetts Institute Technology, 21 Sept. 2011. Web. <http://sloanreview.mit.edu/the-magazine/2011-fall/53116/the-trouble-with-too-much-information>.

• Brokaw, Leslie. "The Best Length for an Idea Proposal." Web log post. MIT Sloan Management Review - The New Business of Innovation. Massachusetts Institute Technology, 19 Sept. 2011. Web. <http://sloanreview.mit.edu/improvisations/2011/09/19/why-250-words-is-the-ideal-suggestion-length>.