Over the month of October, which is the end of the fiscal year, most companies have been holding meetings between the shareholders and directors to discuss the companies performance, what should be changed, kept the same... etc.
For the past few years companies have found a cheaper alternative to actual meetings. They have started hosting e-meetings. These meetings occur only in cyberspace, between the shareholders and directors of the companies. The shareholders are allowed to post questions which are then answer by the board of directors; Officials review the posted answers and decide which ones are best to answer. Some e-meetings include voice or video, but most only allow typing. This has been proven to be more economic for companies. Mark Schurman, a company spokesman said "the latest meeting's $3,000 cost was far less than the typical tab of $10,000 to $15,000 for in-person meetings between 2001 and 2006." Therefore it is saving companies time and travel costs. E-meetings also have a larger amount of attendance than in person meetings as it is easier for the shareholders to access a website, thatn to travel across the globe.
However, there is great controversy over the impact and validity of e-meetings. Many shareholders do not want to take part in them "because some investors preferred to look members in the eye at annual meetings" (Miller) This is what happened to the company Symatec, which abandoned e-meetings because of the harsh complaints received after only the first one. There are also companies, such as Johnson & Johnson which make an event out of their annual meeting. Approximately 1900 people line up outside at 7:30 am, two hours before the actualy meeting starts, to make sure that they can get in. J&J gives them Danish pastries and coffee before the meeting and sandwiches and samples of J&J products after. This is a great approach taken by J&J, which seems to be working, and maybe should be followed by other big companies who have trouble attracting their shareholders to annual meetings.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203537304577032313764922458.html
Maria
I think its only a matter of time before more people engage in e-finance and business, despite the deprivation of personal contact.
ReplyDeleteIt is amazing to see that companies are implementing technology to the fullest extent in their corporations. With the use of e-meetings in companies it will be interesting to see if this type of communication will have a good or bad effect of the management of corporations in the years to come.
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