{"podcast":{"title":"Communication Breakdown","slug":"communication-breakdown-7019931","podcast_index_feed_id":7019931,"rss_url":"https://www.spreaker.com/show/6301456/episodes/feed","website_url":"https://ocrnetwork.com/podcasts/communication-breakdown","image_url":"https://d3wo5wojvuv7l.cloudfront.net/t_rss_itunes_square_1400/images.spreaker.com/original/bb1654c4c2ff3f77a3c1f292f51b3d52.jpg","author":"Observatory on Corporate Reputation LLC","episode_count":86,"summary":"Communication Breakdown is a postgame show for PR pros. In each episode, hosts Craig Carroll (Founder of the Observatory on Corporate Reputation, Editor of the SAGE Encyclopedia of Corporate Reputation, Lecturer at Rice University’s Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business) and Steve Dowling (former head of communications at OpenAI and Apple) discuss the strategies and tactics companies are using in high-visibility crises and PR initiatives, giving listeners unique insight into how key decisions are made. The podcast offers two unique perspectives on communications theory and practice, drawing on Craig’s research and teaching on reputation at USC Annenberg, UNC Chapel Hill, and universities worldwide, and Steve’s two decades of experience as a comms leader at some of the world’s most influential companies. Whether you’re a PR professional, marketing executive, or just curious about how companies make key communications decisions, you’ll find these discussions insightful and valuable.","last_synced_at":"2026-06-05T04:21:27.467075+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/communication-breakdown-7019931"},"episode":{"title":"Of Maersk and Men","slug":"of-maersk-and-men","published_at":"2026-05-14T13:00:02+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/communication-breakdown-7019931/of-maersk-and-men","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/communication-breakdown-7019931","url":"https://www.spreaker.com/episode/of-maersk-and-men--71998037","audio_url":"https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/71998037/ep_83_of_maersk_and_men.mp3","summary":"In this episode of Communication Breakdown, Steve Dowling and Craig Carroll examine two high-stakes corporate communication moments with direct lessons for CEOs, communications executives, public affairs leaders, and reputation advisors. First, they analyze eBay’s sharp rejection of GameStop’s attempted takeover bid and how the company used disciplined messaging, board governance language, and business credibility to control the narrative. Then, they turn to Maersk’s response to rising fuel costs and operational risk tied to the Strait of Hormuz, showing how executive transparency, expectation management, and operational communication can protect stakeholder trust during uncertain ty. Takeaways eBay showed how a board can reject a high-profile takeover bid without overexplaining, overreacting, or letting the other company define the narrative. GameStop’s bid exposed a credibility gap between executive confidence and the substance needed to support a serious corporate transaction. Maersk demonstrated how crisis communication can use selective transparency to prepare customers and investors for cost increases without projecting false certainty. Topics Mentioned corporate communications, CEO communication, executive credibility, corporate reputation, crisis communication, reputation management, board governance, takeover bid, hostile offer, fiduciary duty, investor communication, public affairs, stakeholder trust, narrative control, messaging strategy, messaging vacuum, leadership communication, business credibility, operational transparency, selective transparency, expectation management, geopolitical risk, supply chain disruption, Strait of Hormuz, oil prices, fuel costs, crew safety, customer communication, chaos communication, corporate affairs, public relations strat…","meta_description":"In this episode of Communication Breakdown, Steve Dowling and Craig Carroll examine two high-stakes corporate communication moments with direct lessons fo…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":1825,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/communication-breakdown-7019931/episodes/of-maersk-and-men/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/communication-breakdown-7019931/of-maersk-and-men.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}