Bloomberg Businessweek Weekend-September 19, 2020

big week the Bloomberg Green Festival. We're going to hear part of your interview with inga Group president and CEO, Yesper Brodon, the business case for climate action. Yeah, we've got a trifectave mega ceo as you mentioned, I Kea. We've also got the CEO of Chipotle, and then we've got the co founder and owner of the Atlanta Falcons. All talked with us on our daily radio show about core values. Plus the results of our Business Week Best B School survey, not a ranking this year. But first

the cover story all about Facebook. Yeah, and we gotta tell you there were some news this week on Facebook. The FTC said to be preparing a possible antitrust lawsuit against Facebook. They've been investigating the company for more than a year. It's really whether the social media giant has harmed competition. They could file a case by the end of the year. But as you said, the cover story, it's got a political take when it comes to Facebook.

Bloomberg News technology reporters Sarah Fryer joined us along with the editor of the magazine, Jill Weber. I think it's just a compilation of all the things that my colleague Kurt Wagner and I have been hearing over the past few months and years about how Facebook has increasingly been willing to look the other way when members of Trump's world break the rules on Facebook. And that's not any mistakes the company has. Um you know, the Trump administration

has leverage over Facebook. They're facing a potential regulation and even worse, potential for Trumps to blow up and create another bad news cycle. But they are catering to that power, and employees are quite concerned about what that means, as

we had into the November election. So, you know, I think, um, Sarah um, the there's a lot of stuff in here, and it makes me just think about everything that we've kind of observed um about politics and Facebook going back to basically ten, where obviously all the concerns were ended up being about sort of Russian interference and it's uh

and its role on on on on manipulating the platform effectively. Um, and that is a concern um again, but it's actually it seems like the thrust of this might be in sort of the Facebook's response to that wasn't necessarily uh to to take on that stuff. Um, And they've done it, I think a pretty amazing job of at least recognizing the ability to spot some of that stuff. But there seems to have been sort of a right word drift at Facebook, and and that has been um, you know,

that's obviously the center of the story. Can you talk more about where those concerns are rooted in? Right? So, after the Russian election, interference fromber Russia was was inserting itself into us of polarizing topics like immigration, like race, like like feminism. They were building groups on on Facebook using people pretending to be Americans who weren't. And what Facebook concluded from that is that it wasn't the things that the fake people were saying. The problem was just

that they were fake people. So Facebook really does not care if people are trying to manipulate others on Facebook and spreading, um sometimes at Variancendiary fake news. They don't want to take it down. They only want to get get their enforcement into year if there are people behind it, if they're breaking other rules. And what that's done is it's created this environment where Trump can really test the

limits of these policies. He's been spreading a lot of misinformation about how to vote, telling people things um about mail in voting, saying that that would lead to fraud. Of course it's not true. Um. He has been using Facebook essentially to uh so doubt in the potential results of the election. And Facebook has said, well, I know we said that we cared about voting misinformation, but we don't think that Trump is breaking our rules, and we

don't want to take down anything from a politician. So simply, you know, I want to ask Sarah, is Mark Zuckerberg courting the president and and what's great about your stories? You did some really inside reporting talking to employees who have worked at the company and seen, you know, some of the policies that they have done, and and kind of what they've been focusing on, but is Zuckerberg courting

the president? Well, he's not a Trump Republican. What he is is interested in power and dominance for Facebook, and that requires the support of people in power. And that's not just in the US. We've seen this in many countries throughout the world. Facebook always helped out the government in charge, caters to their concerns and in some cases, you know, give them face time with Zuckerberg, lets them break rules that they wouldn't let them break if they

weren't powerful. And what employees are concerned about is that this is actually having this unbalanced effect on what face with users see and how they are informed about the election. One example that m that we learned for the story is that there were a lot of changes to the new speed after seen presidential elections to try to reduce the amount of incendiary and untrustworthy knews because that was

one of the big problem. Well, Facebook tested the potential outcome of an algorithm change, and the policy team reviewed that and thought, well, this is this is hurting the traffic for conservative outlets too much, And that was Bloomberg News technology reporter Sarah Friar All Things Facebook is her beat and editor Joel Weber. You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week. Coming up, we had to the Bloomberg Green Festival. We

go from social media to social consciousness. We get the business case for climate change from the head of Akia. This is Bloomberg. This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and Jason Kelly from Bloomberg Radio. Welcome back to Bloomberg Business Week. Well, a big week here at Bloomberg, the Bloomberg Green Festival, across the entire week, some amazing conversations, including yours with the Swedish company we all know, yeah,

we certainly do. We're talking about yes Burgh Browed and he's the presidency of the inca group home to some three seventy four Akiat wars in thirty countries. I talked with him about the business case for climate change, which he definitely made. But we began with what life has been like amid COVID nineteen this year for us, like for everybody on this planet, we have been through a very special journey this year, and I must admit us

I share with you too, to be traveling again. I felt a bit like the old movie Castaway when coming back to the office seeing people, um and enjoying that also, I must say at the same time, obviously, UM, we just like everybody else, have figured out new ways of leading. We have figured out that we we didn't have a map for this situation, but we had a very strong compass I think with the way we like to lead and our values that helped us. Actually I think take

many good decisions. But it's been a ride. It's been a ride, no doubt about it. It's interesting that you say that, and we're going to get into kind of your sustainability strategy that is so much the IKEA and corporate culture here. But I do wonder having so many of those measures in place, are there any specific anecdotes that you can tell us that help you guys get

through this crisis because of those green initiatives or sustainable initiatives. Well, you can say, I think the it's all enter tangled, right, people, plan at and business and you can't take out any of these from the equation. So what happened obviously to us was that we had periods of dramatic closures in our stores and we had to find ways to to both protect ourselves, are people, our customers, uh, and then on the other hand, we had to make sure that

we could save the jobs for the future. And the way what actually happened in the end of the day was that we were speeding up everything around multi channel and online and we went from a good year to a record loss forecast to actually coming back on half of our estimate the profit in the end of the day, and that was thanks to I think entrepreneurship of getting things right quickly. Do you think we're through it? Do

you are you guys getting ready for another wave? Well, you know, I think at a certain moment we were. We worked quite early on forecasting different scenarios and the period that we have just entered we called the new normal. And I think it's a bit of a deceptive term in a way, because the way we see it is that for at least a year to come, we need to be very agile, very prepared for outbreaks. I think

the term second wave could be misunderstood. So we like to plan for outbreaks and how to deal with that in the best possible way, both for jobs, for business, uh and for everything we do in society and contribute to. And obviously it's clear for all of us that you know one year later again it's still going to be learning.

There will be things that we will be um you know, doing differently, and that will be a lot of I think amazing things that we can carry with us from this period as well, hopefully including the way we realize the importance of investment in sustainability and the opportunity of doing that right. Well, let's get to that, because despite this being a crazy year, a tumultuous year, you guys are on track to achieve and exceed a goal to produce as much energy from renewable sources as you consume.

By you have made massive investments about two and a half billion euro in wind and solar power. You've set a goal to be climate positive, meaning you're going to reduce more gas emissions than you admit you are in you know, when it comes to electric a hundred percent electric a hundred percent at the time, ahead of targets, when it comes to deliveries and Shanghai by e vs um you're doing that in Amsterdam, l A, New York, Paris.

And here's something a goal for everyone who's listening. By you guys have set your ambition is to inspire and enable one billion people to live a better everyday life within the limits of the planet. It's really heavy stuff and it's impactful stuff. How tough has this been to do? And what has been the business case for climate change where you are? If you look at the i q S history, you can say we started out with the founder that was a very thrifty person, very smart around resources,

and I think that's part of our stories. So part of this you know that sustainability and being being smart about people and planet is part of our legacy. My own story started back in nine the company when I joined in Asia Pacific. At the time when we invested in I think what is still today an amazing code of conduct when it comes to production. Those days we had some discussions about can we afford it will drive costs to do the right thing with working hours, salaries, etcetera.

And in the end of the day it turned out to be brilliant for business. We have the most efficient partners, happy coworkers along etcetera. So I think we already then we we saw some myths that were we needed to bust. And the same goes for for the climate. The ghost that we have committed to where we we do not have all the answers yet, so we still have some gaps to be filled to coming years. But we are convinced that this is good business for three reasons, or

you can say for two reasons. One is that I coworkers and our customers expect us to take the lead, so it would be I would say dangerous to not take that lead from from your revenue side. But secularly, the business model we are building is the new low cost so sustainability shows in case by case to be there the way we will provide low price furniture in the future. You say, you know a couple of things.

You said it was brilliant for the company, So I'm wondering if you can put some numbers on that in terms of the business case for doing all of this. But I also wonder you said myths to bust because I can only imagine some of the internal you know discussions. Yes, for that, you folks had it said no, we can't do that. I know it's good for the environment, but you know it's gonna cost too much or we can't recreate our supply Chaine. So give me a little bit

of that that feel. But absolutely I think the best number I can give you is that last year, we're very happy and proud that we were able to grow with some six percent plus, which is a good at decent packing a year, and at the same time we reduced our absolute corbon footprint across the whole scope one, two and three with more than four percent, so it was possible to show healthy growth and at the same

time decarbonize if you like. Obviously, we are very humble and respectful to the future to continue that journey with the plan. But that was the I think, the first year of proof for us. But then you can say to the myths. I think there are three myths that I see over and over again. One is that purpose and profit don't go hand in hand, which I think

and we think is the opposite. And there is a very strong if that sustainability should come at the premium, which I think is very dangerous because then this is a US movement that needs to involve everybody on this planet, so therefore it should be rather seeen as the new low cost. And finally, there are a lot of myths around that consumption is all bad, and there is bad consumption, but there is also sustainable consumption, and that's president and

CEO of the Inky Group. Yes, b broad and great conversation, Carl, thank you well, you're listening to Bloomberg Business Week. Still to come, another company were sustainabilities at the core of its business. We check in with the CEO of Chippotle. This is Bloomberg. This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and Jason Kelly from Bloomberg Radio. In this week's magazine, another edition of Business Week Talks, we caught up with

the CEO of Chipotle Mexican Grill. We're talking about Brian Nicol, and we talked with him about the tightness in the labor market that he's seeing and how restaurants are faring during the pandemic. We're not seeing um an issue with applicant flow, you know, We're continue to see great access to great talent um And you know, I think one of the things why people are really drawn to Full

is we have a tremendous growth story. So it's always fun to be a part of a company that when you think about I'm joining today and this company, could you know, triple in revenue over the next decade, you know, double store a count, you know, go from twenty seven hundred restaurants to five six thousand restaurants. Um, you know, they're really excited about all the growth right our our

thing about our digital business. We we went from you know, a couple hundred million dollars to this year will be about like two point four billion dollars worth of digital business. And people love to be a part of companies that have growth. And then what really attracts them here is they feel like it's very much aligned with their personal values. So they love the growth, they love the values, and they're excited to be a part of what our future is.

And uh, you know, I keep telling our team, let's just make sure we're hiring the best possible people, but let's also make sure we're hiring the best possible people that really believe in our purpose and our values. And that's where I think we really strike gold. Why do you think Chipotle has been so successful boosting sales in its digital delivery and delivery business. You guys have just done really well. As you talked about some of the

numbers and some of the growth, it's pretty impressive. Why do you think it's worked so well? You know, I think we have been very focused on keeping the digital execution really simple and mirroring the same experience you get when you come into our restaurants. So you know, we've tried very hard to give you a digital experience that frankly is almost identical too as if you were in our restaurant moving down the line picking out, you know,

how you want to make your bowl or burrito. And you know, we've stayed very committed to keeping it simple. You know, over and over again what I hear people say is, wow, I love your app. It's so easy to use, and then it's so easy to actually get the food when it's time to pick it up. So um, you know, just the aspect of keeping it very simple, really convenient. And then you know, this has always been at the core ruptable. They were really fast and we're

tremendous value. So we've just given people another access mode to get great culinary, great ingredients done exactly how they want it, and uh, you know, at a tremendous value. So it's it's working out really well because if you want to order ahead, grab it and go, if you need it delivered, we can deliver it. If you want to run in, move down the line and have that eye to eye, you know, contact, so you get the

brito exactly the way you want it. Um, we have all these avenues available for you, and but at the core of it is great ingredients, great culinary and then you end up with just delicious burritos and bowls. So you know, at the end of the day, we are still a restaurant company that is committed to changing food culture. Hey, bron, you know back in March you did say to me that you thought digital could be about of your business and be a multibillion dollar business over the next three

to five years. That still feel about real and likely or even more perhaps Well, well, yeah, you know, and you know, unfortunately Carol, that was before it became eight of our business. Um for a time there. But you know you probably saw on our most recent earnings report we're in that forty range and uh, you know, obviously that will continue to fluctuate as the dining rooms reopen. But I definitely think our digital business is going to stay around as our dining room business comes back, So

it'll stay among that level you think. I think there's a real possibility that's where it could stick. Yeah, So listen, one thing I got to ask you Brian is and I know, um all the CEO as we talked to, they don't have a ton of visibility at this point. So, UM, I do wonder what metrics do you look at? Is it consumer data points? Is it you know, the app, the digital what are you looking at to get an idea of how healthy the consumer is? Um? And maybe what the rest of looks like at this point. Yeah,

you're exactly right, Carol, there's a lot of uncertainty. I'm sure if you talk to a lot of my peers that we could rattle off the list of all the uncertainties in front of us. What we've decided to really stay focused on is Okay, what can what are the things we can control? And the things we can control is making sure that we have a really safe environment for employees to work in, a safe environment that our

customers believe in and trust. UM. We know if we do those two things, uh, we continue to get people's trust and then ultimately their business around their meal occasions. And so we continue to really monitor how we as a brand are doing on the things that we can control. You know, are we doing a good job of communicating the safety or we're doing a good job of communicating why you can feel great about these ingredients, why you can feel great about getting that grido or bowl from

Chipotle UM. And then obviously we're paying attention to a lot of the macros to understand the health of the consumer um And you know, obviously, depending on where you are in the country, we're seeing a lot of different things. But you know, for the most part, customers and consumers are still wanting to order food out. And that's Chipotle CEO Brian Nichol. You can hear more of that conversation on our podcast feed. It's our latest business week talks.

You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week. Up next. He co created an S and P five hundred company that is a well known brand. He owns an NFL team, and he has some thoughts on running a good company. Talking about Arthur Blanks sploiler alert, This is Bloomberg. This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and Jason Kelly from

Bloomberg Radio. So one of our favorite interviews, no doubt about it, of the week was Arthur Blank Man Jason, he were so many different hats, of course, co founder of Home Depot, owner of the Atlanta Falcons of MLSS, Atlanta United, PGA, Tour Superstores, Paradise Valley Ranches. Man. This is a very very busy guy. He is, indeed, and really he has emerged and I have watched this pretty

up close over the last years. Carol obviously going from being a very successful businessman, one of the best known companies in the country, one that we look at as really an economic indicator in many ways, to being a true community leader because being a sports team owner it's not a sidelight anymore. It is more than a full time job. And listen, and I'm biased here. Atlanta is an incredibly important city. So much has gone on of late.

It is the cradle of the civil rights movement. He was good friends with the late John Lewis and his new book Good Company. I think it's not a coincidence that it echoes John Lewis's Good Trouble. But we of course had to start. Of course, we have to start talking about football because football is back, the NFL. It got kicked off this past weekend. We have made all of our decisions um based on what scientists of telling us, what medicals telling us, what the CDC style in US etcetera.

And we've stayed out of the you know, the the the opinion business. Um. You know, there's nobody in the NFL, certainly at the league office or in any clubs that know better than you know all of these the experts that are on our staffs and consultants and advisory positions that we worked with. So they've given us great council and we followed it, um, and we've asked all of our players to follow it, and they've done a great job in doing that. What are you most worried about

as the next couple of weeks unfold here? Arthur, Well, I think the dangerous you just follow the course of the question you guys have is that you know, now we're beginning to travel, and I think that you know, the risk goes up when we, you know, we travel, although you know, we all exclude juice, you know, chotted planes, private planes, things of that nature. So and again they've been very careful with all the protocols and who's in the team, hotels, who's not in a team hotels, etcetera.

But once you start to travel, you know, we know that personally, but we also know it as organizations. In this case, professional football teams that that will be the case as well. So you know, I think we'll be in good in good stead, there's always your risk, uh. And given the highly contagious nature of this disease, I mean, you know, if you have a breakout, you have a breakout with some of that in baseball and in some other sports as well. So we u we haven't seen

that yet in the NFL. And hopefully we start our season, will be able to complete our season and play your Super Bowl in Tampa Bay in February. That would be so wonderful. And you know what's um really refreshing is it's it's you know, you when you don't like somebody to tell us, and when there's tough situations, you tell us. And it's also very relevant to today in terms of inequalities, injustices, racism. Um, it's all here. You deal with it. Well, I think

I think that's very true. I think that you know, it's interesting is that, Um, we started the book about four years ago, so that was before the pandemic, before the crunch from an economic standpoint, before the social unrest and everything else. That our country is all the polization that we're that we're seeing today and feeling today in

our country. So but it's very appropriate for for these for these times because essentially what the what the book is really suggesting is that the six course set of values that we've built HD with a home depot with and still forty forty two years later, as they're still driving the company's incredible success, that we've been able to translate to a football team of soccer team, guest ranches, PGA, business, etcetera, and uh and get the same kind of financial performance,

but also yet on an equally weighted uh dumbbell if you will, or or you know, wait, if you will associate driven purpose businesses, So our associates, our communities, people were serving guest fans, customers, whatever the case may be. You know, they feel like, um, there's UH, We're making the right decision for the right reasons, based on a

based on a pillar set of values. Now, the applications may change from time to time because the environment changes and the context changes, but those those core values are really the same and UH they make decision making a lot simpler, and they bring us to the right place. And as my mother would tell me for many many years, do the right things for the right reasons to live with the consequences. The book really talks about a lot of that, and frankly, our younger populations today are really

demanding that. Um, they want a life and not only purpose for themselves, but you know, how do I serve humanity? Um? They're seeing that across the board. Example of that is UH the program which started Yale University by Dr Lori santos Son. Kids were demanding, like, you know, I'm not happy. I have all these things in life, but I don't feel comfortable. I don't feel as fulfilled as I should feel. Started out with thirty students are now a quarter of

the student body at Yale University. Two or five years old takes that class on a voluntary basis. Had similar similar applications across the country. But our young people today are are demanding more out of you know what, just just the bottom line. I want to see a bottom line of life as well. And I think these values that we described and stories and thoughts and sharings and practical applications always that young people can feel this is

purpose as well. I'm serving not just myself and my family, but serving humanity and serving my neighbors. If you will, what and and Arthur, it's interesting to hear you put it in that framework, especially talking to you from Atlanta, which is, you know, the cradle of the civil rights movement, where young people have driven the conversation. They're driving it now. And there was a young man who ultimately became a friend of yours, who was evoked either intentionally or unintentionally.

I think, and you can talk about it. When I hear good Company, I think of good Trouble, and I think of John Lewis h And I know he was a friend of yours and and and and sort of a partner in many ways. What have you learned in Atlanta and what have you learned of late about where we are right now in those conversation around the quality you know, I I appreciate the question, and if Congressman

Lewis with us, he would appreciate the question. So when we were in the proceeds of this book all go to the National Civil Human Rights Museum, which is based in Atlanta, and that was part when we hosted the Super Bowl in two thousand and seventeen. We we actually we use that facility and all of the owners of management from the NFL players went through that facility, but on my left and on my right. Congressman Lewis was on my right, and Ambassador Young was on my left.

About a month before John Lewis passed, um, we had a long conversation he did with our socialists and with myself, and he said to me, you know we've made you know, since the fifties and sixties, we have made a lot of progress. Is where it needs to be? The answer was no, we need to have a greater sense of urgency, but we need to acknowledge at least the progress that we've made. We need to have a greater sense of

urgency dealing with these issues today. But I have great hope at the American population, American civilization will respond and respond in a positive way. Separately, about a week later, I spoke to Andy Young said exactly the same thing to me, exactly the same worries. These are both disciples of Dr King who you know who walked with him and spend time with them, etcetera. So you know where

I am. I I feel like these uh, these calls to our sensibilities and and to balance in our lives into and to these things that we're protesting about I think a very real and I and I I support him, I salute him. I don't support and salute any any sort of any sort of violence, any sort of chaos

that that we see. And you know, the last book that Dr King wrote, which was never published, is published when he was alive, as published you have, he passed away by Coretta, his wife, was dealing with community or chaos. And that's where our country is today all these years later, community of chaos. And I think the answer, you know, for us, for me is really commune and finding the way to you know, to bring things together in a more purposeful way, in a more collaborative way, crossing aisles

or whatever it may be. And the book in a sense, it deals with that deals with values that don't have to do with you know, red and blue. It has to do with you know, doing the right things for the right reasons by every human being that we're connected to, who were serving the big case guest fans and customers with our associates, and being sensitive to the communities that we live in. Well, go ahead, no, please, are one getting one quick example post the book? Um, we've we

operate these guest ranches in Montana. Two of them. One has opened to the public, owners opened up to use it for nonprofit work and um, you know, a variety of conferences, et cetera. And uh be closing both of the summer they're both were The one has been operating for over one hundred years, the first time it's ever been closed. And we did it. I mean, we knew that seventy of our associates come from out of state. We knew that a hard percent of our guests come

from out of state. We knew that these communities that are nearby, these so called gateway communities that go into Yellowstone Park, Um, we're could be affected. And so you know, it wasn't it was a sad decision, but it was an easy decision based on these values we talked about in the book. And of course that's Arthur Blanco, founder, home depot owner of the Atlanta falcons Man. This guy is so interesting and I gotta say his book, Jason good company, but I love about it. It is so relevant.

He deals with all of those topics in terms of inequalities and racism that we're dealing with today. Well, and we both got a chance to read the book and let's be honest, You and I get a lot of books said to us, we have to do a lot of these interviews. His is quite captivating, in part because it's so candid. I also had a chance to catch up with him for our Business of Sports podcast a couple of weeks ago when the book launched, and I

will tell you he is incredibly thoughtful. He is very real in a way that you might not expect for someone who has been this successful. He owns his mistakes and he also knows that what he's doing in business, especially as a sports owner, it is complicated. He is a steward. He is someone who has to care about the community, and he has to care about his city in a very very holistic way. Yeah, and man, what do he had to say about this time right now?

Just such a difficult one one that I think, you know, as we all know, we're kind of saying, one of the most difficult times that we've ever lived through. So great to check in with him. And that wraps up the first hour of the weekend edition of Bloomberg Business Week from Bloomberg Radio. I'm Jason Kelly and I'm Carol Masser Morehead. In our next hour, including a continuation of that conversation we had with Arthur Blank. We pivot a bit to go deeper into the issues of racial injustice

across the country. We check in with the US Chief Operating Officer for Edelman, a woman who also leads their Washington d C. Office, talking about Lisa Ross, and then Jason on a ladder note, We've got a little B school, a little beer, and a bunch of humor. That's all ahead. This is Bloomberg. This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and Jason Kelly from Bloomberg Radio. And I'm Jason Kelly. Plenty ahead for you in this hour of the weekend

edition of Bloomberg Business Week. That's right, Jason, We've got a surprise from B School students, the fight for racial justice with Edelman's U s CE and head of its DC operations. And then the joint venture that links up two family owned beer dynasties. This was a fascinating conversation. So many families, so much beer. Plus we probably should all be grounded without TV for least a month. Author and political center is p J. O'Rourke, longtime fan, first

time color I'm talking about myself here. He's got a new book, A Cry from the Far Middle. First, though, we caught up this week with Dr miriam A. Lovy. She is the dean of the Sheller College of Business at Georgia Tech. She's also a professor of Information Technology Management. We talked with her about what getting back to school

is like on her campus. Most of our classes that are draw being taught in a hybrid mode, which means it's a combination shot off online and in person classes, where in person classes are really smaller to be able to keep everyone safe and be able to have a social distancing in a classroom environment. And that was Maria Malave, Deana the Sheller College of Business at Georgia Tech, and

Jason Will. We normally released an annual ranking of business schools around this time this year, and in this environment, well, we just couldn't because of the disruptions caused by the pandemic. So instead we asked a bunch of questions and the results definitely surprised our team. We got the details from Caleb Solomon, our pal. He is senior editor over at Bloomberg News. He's responsible for the magazine's coverage of the world's best business schools and it's well respected annual rankings.

You didn't think the ranking made since this year that the pandemic overwhelmed everything and overwhelmed schools in different ways at different times. So we focused on what the story was, which was this dramatic shift to online learning. And so we instead of thinking, we surveyed NBA students to try to get some basic answers to really important questions that we all have and unfortunately still all have, because you know, so much of higher education is still either fully or

partially online right now. So we wanted to know what works with online teaching, what doesn't, what should continue even after the pandemic, what needs to stop immediately, and you know, we came up with some surprising results, So tell us about that. And the online learning piece, especially, I think is of as you point out, is a huge interest to to all of us, but especially for people who are paying tens of thousands, in some cases a couple

of hundred thousand dollars to go to business school. Exactly that I mean, And we focused a lot on the tuition and costs, and so rather than just asking, you know, is it was it worth? Was it worth the price? That you want to everything to stay online or to be fully in its physical classes. We tried to be a little more subtle, and what we found is that over half of the students we surveyed would be willing to take a portion of their courses online in exchange

for tuition cuts. And so the big book the most the biggest thing we came up was cut intuition would satisfy over half of the students we surveyed. If you know the rest of those courses were online. That's significant, it is. It was really surprising, and there were more so. The willingness to accept online courses, especially where the tuition cut was was the most profound thing we came across. And at the same time, don't get me wrong, there

was no single response to this survey. A good chunk forty something percent said I don't want any online classes at all. It's horrible, it's it's it's it's cheating me to do it that way. It's interesting because I think about business schools, and that's from the programs I know about. I worked at Columbia for a long time, but we've also been visiting them, you know, with you uh and doing a lot of remote coverage for TV and radio and talking to professor's students deaned you know, and really

prominent alumni. But the whole idea is it's you've got people from all over the world together in classrooms working on projects. I mean, that's that collaborative effort um that back and forth face to face is such a big part of it. The experience it is next came up a lot that sort of you know what we call the networking opportunities that you just lose a lot when you're not doing a face to face when there which

fellow students or alumni or employers. The flip side of it is, you know, we're we're all struggling and dealing work, many of us working at home. Probably some of us will continue to work at home regardless. So we are working in a digital space. We are working in teams on zoom, and so having a business school you have to figure out how to do that well that we

know where things could happen for a career. And so Caleb going through all of this and knowing the intricacies of the education, knowing as many people as you do when you're in constant contact with folks at all levels, right up to the to the deans, what was your takeaway? I mean, what what is what has changed and maybe more importantly, what is lasting for business schools as we

work our way through this pandemic. In your estimation, I think elements of what everybody is going through will definitely stay with us. So, for instance, again a surprise to us recorded classes, which sounds a little bit like the dullest thing you can imagine to have to sit through. For certain people and for certain uses, they were really popular. Basic things like you you were sick, you had a

job interview. But even more importantly a lot of the students told us they like recorded classes to get away, get get the sort of the basics, you know, stuff you had to know out of the way, and then you could actually use the classroom itself to have important

discussions and conversations. Um, that's rich, that's rich, right. Think about that, right, It's like your basic stuff you just you kind of go through a tutorial to some extent right online, and then you come to class and everybody's kind of armed for you know, smarter and a higher level discussion. That's pretty cool. It is cool, and so and then also think about some of it you know, you're you're familiar to some of the harder, you know,

some of the more technically oriented courses finance accounting. Let's say it's an hour and a half of a class, but you know you need to understand the first twenty minutes to get to the next twenty to the next twenty. If you're struggling with the first twenty, you can watch it again and again until you get it. Likewise, if you already know that, you can breeze through it and the rest of the course will be done with it faster,

at your own pace. And that had that had a lot of appeal, And it's hard to think why wouldn't that stay? And that was Caleb Solomon, Senior editor at Bloomberg News. He's responsible for the great coverage in the magazine all about the world's best business schools. You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week. Coming up, we dig into the fight for racial justice in America. This is Bloomberg. This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and Jason Kelly

from Bloomberg Radio. Well, Carol tomins themes through just about every one of our daily Bloomberg Business Week shows. Understandably they're about these dual pandemics, the virus and the quest for racial justice. And on this Jason, we caught up with Lisa Ross at the public relations giant Edelman, where she is US chief operating Officer. She also leads Edelman's Washington,

d C. Office. She's president there. She also held several roles in the Clinton administration in the Labor Department, and she was a member of the inaugural team of the White House Office of Women's Initiatives and Outrage. It's a great voice to check in with media fuels racism. Sixty two of all of those polls said that in covering the demonstrations against racial injustice, the news media has focused

on rioting at the expense of peaceful protests. So I think that's something that people have felt, um, something that's been alluded to, but um, this research indicates that that is actually true. UM. The second one that UM there was there's a little bit of a sense, which is problematic that some people have to see it to believe it. So we did this research the first time in June and UH overwhelming numbers said that UH that Americans believe

that systemic racism exists. An overwhelming number says that business and brands have a responsibility to take a stand and to do something. Now, we went back into the field, So that was June. We went back into the field in early August. Did it found a little bit of a dip quite frankly between the murder of George Floyd and early August. And then when Jacob Blake was shot, we went back into the field and it went up.

And so interesting that and particularly it went up in two categories, Republicans and UH people fifty five and older. And so after the shooting of Jacob Blake, there was a definitely an increase in the number of people who support protests UH and the people who definitely seemed to believe that, yes, UH, systemic racism does exist. But interesting that we saw a dip when we didn't see um, some of the incidences um third um. And this is this,

this is the space where I live. Super high expectations for business, but low marks on business response to date. So you know, you saw when this first happened, everyone was making their statement, everybody was releasing their data. Black Lives Matter, I stand against racism, and so forth and so on, and it was all attributed to the CEO, so definitely since all summer long. Appreciate the conversation, but what have you actually done? That is like, what have

you actually done? Lisa? I want to jump in. And we've we've been lucky enough to have Richard to Richard Dentalman join us several times to talk about this barometer. Uh and as it's you know how it has been certainly through the pandemic. Talk to me. You guys are at the nexus of talking to so many different CEOs.

You have those high level, you know, conversations. I do wonder you know, everyone's saying it's going to be different this time around, But I you know, I'd be a really wealthy lady if I got a nickel for every

time I heard that. You know, there are high expectations right of this is to do the right thing and not just talk about Okay, we're gonna do you know, a focus group, and we're gonna do this, and we're gonna do that, but rather really make some change to make sure that they have a diverse workforce, that they have diverse suppliers, and their supply change. I mean, these are the things that move the needle. So are you having those high level conversations and do you have those

high hopes that things actually do change? Carol, your your thought on and everything that you noted that, um uh, saying something is one thing, Doing something is dramatically different, and the respondent overwhelmingly agree. So yeah, my I believe that things will change because the CEOs that we are talking to are intimately concerned and involved about these issues. But to be frank, for many of them, this is

unchartered territory. Um. You know, when we first started advising that, many ceo s were like, I want to say something, but um, my health isn't in order, and I'm like, to what, no one's houses in order. That's why we're having the problems that we are having. But you still

have to speak out. But you know, a lot of this for for CEO is a lot of this for us is um these are lived experiences for many people, and for many CEOs who are overwhelmingly white, male, uh, mainstream Christians uh straight uh, the list experience that other people seem to have does not affect them, and so in many ways they are trying to catch up culturally with what's happening in the rest of the world. Now is the intent they're Absolutely, it's their heart in the

right place. Absolutely, But um, many of them are catching up and they're learning about things, which I think is impeding some of the progress that we're making. What do you mean they're learning? I mean where have they been under a rock the last you know, ten years? So I have to be careful in my response to this question. But yeah, right, I mean absolutely, it is. It is in. It is increasingly frustrating to me when uh, people say I didn't know, and I have to say, how didn't

you know? How why why didn't you know? And how didn't you know? But um, we are focused on the future, and we are focused. But the reason they don't know is because in many ways it's not their lived experience. I had a CEO say to me who was truly, truly Carol and Jason like really tried to understand what he could do, and he was like, I just don't

want you to want what's missing. There's a gap. And I said, all of you are very comfortable, some of you more so than others putting up your statement that says black lives matter on your company website, But will you put a black Lives Matter sign on your doorstep on your front lawn, you know. So that's different. So you gotta live that, and you have to feel that, and you have to speak it so that what you do at home is not different from what you do at work. And I think that's the gap that many

of them are experiencing. And so Lisa only got unfortunate out minute left. We were going to catch up with you very soon in the future. I help, what advice do you give them? What should they do? What should they read? What should they watch? What sort of conversations should they be having to take it to the next level. So I've got I've got a six point playbook. And then I've got my own personal guidelines. One. Uh use your influence. You have it, uh to advocate and educate.

That's expected of you. Uh. Three, listen to folks who know uh those are advocacy groups and many people within your own organizations for uh get your own house in order. Uh. Five knows that there are consequences um if you don't. So those are actually five playbook, right. So Lisa's personal guidelines are don't expect to thank you. As my mother said, you don't get credit for doing the right thing. They don't expect to thank you. This is what you should

have been and you've got a chance to do now. Three. Um, you can't boil the ocean in your actions, which you do have to do something. You can't eliminate four hundred years of systhetic racism in a summer. Um and three proceed with big skin and a pure heart. For some whatever you do is not going to be enough those for others, it's going to be too much. That's Lisa Ross at the public relations joint Edelman. She is US chief operating officer and also leads Edelman's Washington, d C. Office.

She's president there. Well, obviously, Carol, this is a topic, as we mentioned, that we were talking about all the time and from all different angles with people from all walks of life. So great to catch up with someone who is clearly right in the middle of so many of these important discussions from both the public and a private sector perspective. You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week coming up, We're going to switch gears a bit. We've got a

little bit of beer, a little bit of humor. Jason, I think it sounds just about right for the weekend. Absolutely fall is upon us. This is what This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and Jason Kelly from Bloomberg Radio. All right, so Carol, this week we have to talk a little bit about beer. Yes, please, yang Ling and Molson Corps. They got together forming a partnership. These are two family businesses ultimately, and this is all

about getting Yngling two more and more people. Yeah, we caught up and talked about the joint venture with Gavin Hattersley, President CEO Molson Corps, and Wendy Yingling. She's the chief administration officer at DG. Yingling and Son. She's also sixth generation as you can tell, of the Yengling family. What clearly stood out for both of us, I think, was the fact that these are family owned brands a business for the first time in the case of the Ynglings

being passed from father two daughters. We're a family company, were family owned and operated. You know, we're so fortunate to be in our sixth generation and so the family component of this was very attractive to us. To be able to partner with other legacy brewing families like Cores and Molson, and we just feel like our cultures are very similar. There's a shared commitment to quality and tradition

amongst the two ju brerees. So we just feel like it's a natural fit for Yengling And so, Wendy, just one more question for you. You've mentioned several times the family aspect it. I'm sort of fascinated because we don't talk to candidly a lot of family businesses, and certainly not a lot of family businesses that have been around for almost a couple of centuries. What is it about this business that is so conducive, the beer business to

being a family business. Yeah, we're very lucky. So my great great great grandfather started the business back in eighteen nine, and it's gone from generation to generation, passing from father to son. And you know, my sisters and I are very fortunate. There's four girls that are part of the sixth generation and it will be the first time the business is transferring from father to daughters rather than father to son. And I don't know, there's something about the

beer business. It definitely brings strong family ties and we're so happy to be a part of it. Well, and I do think about you know, I know in the press release it's you know, three storied brewing families three and they're you know, collective eighteen generations. You know, a families that you know have been brewing beer. Um. You know, Gavin, what is it about that background too, that maybe you know, differentiate yourself from some of the other folks that are

out there on the market. Well, it's really three businesses that have still got families involved with them. So, you know, as Wendy staid, the England side, and then you've got the Quiz family and the Molson family are still involved in in our business. And you know, such a commitment to quality and and and great people that I think the as I said, I think the chemistry just worked really well between us, and I'm really excited about it. Um. Let me put it out to both of you, and

Wendy you maybe you take it first. I am curious, you know the impact of the virus. We've been talking with so many CEOs and leaders um about the last six months, what it's meant for their teams, what it's meant for their business. Give me give me your thoughts on how that has been and kind of where we are right now, especially when you look at the marketplace in the outlook. Yeah, we've definitely seen an impact on

where people are buying and consuming their beer. Our on premise has been hit hard and it's been tough with all the bars and restaurants shutting down, but you'll see more people shopping in the off premise and stocking up and pantry loading. And as a result of it, we've seen staple brands, tried and true companies like Youngling really resurged during this, and we've seen tremendous improvement in some of our peripheral brands like Light Lagger and Black and Tans.

So we've fared pretty well in all this. Um. You know, it's been tough on everybody across all industries, primarily for us, it's the on premise bar business. Gavin, I would imagine similar for you, but from a brand perspective, have you seen anything surprising or different in terms of what's been more or less popular than you might have anticipated. Yes, we've experienced the same thing as as Wendy just referred to as as well. We saw initial strong pantry loading

in March. It was it was a fourth of July week n back in March, and we've actually experienced three or four fourth of July weekend load ins over summer, so we've seen strong demand. We've also seen consumers go back to tried and trusted brands, and in our case those would be would be Miller Light and Queers Light and Blue Moon. So we've seen a similar struggle on in the in the on premise, but it's it's shown up in the in the off premise for us in

those in those three brands. I guess what surprised me a little bit is we haven't seen a trade down in processions past we've seen a trade down to two cheaper beers and we haven't seen that. Actually, in fact, somewhat to the country, we've seen a trade up into into a both premium products. What do you think that is? Well, I think the stimulus package certainly helped. It certainly put

more money into into folks's pockets. So I also think that you know it's your your dollar goes a little further in the off premise than than perhaps in the in the on premise. So it's it's probably a combination of those two factors and Wendy, any supply chain issues that you've run into owing to the pandemic in terms of either workers not being able to work or supply is not getting to where they need to get to. No, we haven't had any issues. Fortunately, we're very lucky. Our

workforce is very loyal and committed. But fortunately we have a good relationship with our vendors and we've been able to keep our products in supply. And that's Wendy Yangling, chief administrative officer over at DG. Yangling and Son. It goes back generations and Gavin hatters Lee presidency of Molson Coors. He's not a Moulson or a Cors, but that's also a family business. Yeah. Absolutely, a lot of heritage from

those two. Still look on the highlight. I think this is safe to say the highlight of Jason's week and the reason you're a journalist. Yeah, absolutely, pg r ROURK. He's coming up. This is Bloomberg. This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and Jason Kelly from Bloomberg Radio. So great way to wrap up our weekend. And I'm guessing many of you probably have read his columns or his many many books. We're talking about author and political satirist p J. O'verarke joining us. He's got a new

book at Jason and you are a super fan. Yeah, I'm gonna say just warning everybody here, I got a little fan boy on this guy because I've been reading him for decades. It was really cool to just hear his take on the world. It's refreshing and kndidly made me feel a little bit better about where we are as a country. Everybody is so angry, and anger is not the friend of the happy humorist, so it makes

it really tough. It's not so much that I'm worried about offending people, It's just that I'm well, I'm I'm worried about people being in any kind of mood to receive, receive any kind of lightning up um about anything. Well, you know, that's such a good point, you know, PJ. Because people it's like, you know, I try to conversations with people and it gets so heated and angry so quickly. I'm like, lighten up. We're discussing things, and you're gonna

have maybe a different opinion. I'm gonna have a different opinion, but let's let's discuss it is. We got the whole nation involved in that kind of fight that those of us have been married for a long time cannot help

but be familiar with this kind of fight. It starts out over like whether we should slip cover the couch, and by the end of the fight it's like, uh, and not only that, I remember when you flirted with that girl at that party in nine and you leave wet towels all over the bed and your socks are all over the floor, and it's it's the kitchen sink. You know, we're throwing the kitchen sink at each other, and uh, we we we, we'd better stop that. The other thing for it is, I don't get what the

causes really. I mean, in a way I do. Trump is shall we say that he's a somewhat divisive president? I could probably go that far. I get that. And then the pandemic has got everybody cooped inside, like seething with grievances, you know, and like letting their minds run on all the things that make them angry and stuff. But you know, really we're not facing a huge external threat at when we're you know, wars overseas were winding down. China is a worry, you know, but it's uh, you know,

it's just a worry. It's not you know, it's not an imminent threat. I don't think. Uh. The economy was perking along pretty well and shows some signs of being able to re perk um uh. And you know why are we so mad? So you take this on directly in your book. And the essay that I love the most is whose bright idea was it to make sure that every idiot in the world was in touch with every other idiot. Social Media, I have to think, is responsible for part of this. Right. Social media has got

lots and lots to blame. You know, I grew up. I'm I'm I'm old. You know, I'm seventy two years old. So I grew up in like, you know, the fifties and sixties, and there was this wonderful idea that we would all get along better if we could just communicate, you know, if the generation gap could be closed with communication, if we could just talk to the Soviet Union, you know, if if if if races people from different races would

just communicate with each other. And there was this big star, Malcolm mclowin, you know, who had the whole idea that that that television would create a global village. And we all thought, oh, this is just genius. This is just wonderful and it gives me excuse to sit around and

watch TV. And what thing is is that we were we knew about Marshall mcloon, but we hadn't read him, because if you read him, Marshall McLellan, he was I found a radio interview with him actually, where a Canadian radio broadcaster says, I thought you said we're to have a global village, and there's almost like war and Hadrian rioting and stuff. You said we're gonna have a global village, goes. I said we were going to have a global village.

I didn't say the villagers would like each other, right right. Um, there's one essay. It's the inaugural address. I'd like to hear the president, whoever it may be, deliver. Um. PJ. You do write a lot about politics, and you know, there's so much in here that I love, but there's also one that I'm just trying to find. I had the line highlighted just this reminder of the government is more than just one individual, even though that's who we elect.

And you know, just tell us about kind of how you look at politics right now and what you kind of want to get across to Americans with your writings. Well, A, one of the things about the presidency is we've just allowed it to grow into some sort of cult. You know. It's almost like a shi Jing thing or or or Vladimir Putin, where the President of the United States becomes like the sort of sacred king who is responsible for

our well being of our entire country. And and of course if anything goes wrong, we we we take that sacred king and we sacrifice him. Um uh, actually what we We don't kill him the way the primitive societies do. We just give him a giant book contract for a really really boring book. But you know what I mean. And the thing is that that's not how it works. If you read the Constitution, it's you get you get about five pages into the Constitution before the president is

even mentioned. You know, you know, he's a chief executive. He's not the chairman of the board. We're the chairman of the board. He's he's just the chief executive. And he's supposed to make the laws that we make in Congress. He's supposed to make sure that they're put into force. Yes, he's the commander of chief during wartime, but it's Congress that has the power to uh, to declare war, not

the president. They should remember that every now and when they're there when they're griping at the president for the wars that he said, they've got the power. And uh, yeah, this was never meant to be some sort of of of of weird kingship or or or our cult of personality for good or for real. You know, we're not supposed to worship the president and we're certain and we're not supposed to revile him. Um, he's he's he's just he's got a corner office. But you know he depends

on us for for to do all the work. And yet p J. As I think about it, and and I am conscious of the fact that I and Carol make our living in the in the media, and you make your living, you know, in and around the media. And I listened to you and wait, wait, don't tell me. And I love those appearances. But you know, from mccluan to Facebook to Twitter, like the media broadly defined is certainly, if not complicit in all of that, or is complicit maybe and and and may be responsible for the way

that this has been a little bit warped. We probably should all be grounded without TV for at least a month, right, and take away our phones. Right, I'll take my share of the blame here. I'm not I'm not not picking on you guys, but the um, um yeah, we we get obsessed with trivia and then you know, of course, there's always been that thing in the media where if it bleeds, it leads. Natural naturally we love a disaster. But then there's also this thing that has emerged more recently.

If it sleaves, it leads, and um yeah, I I don't think that uh many members of the media could could could say of the media as a whole. I mean, I think we each try and do our own job as well as we can. But overall, the media gets is easily distracted. It's getting sort of Facebook brain, you know where it's so easily defend Twitter, Twitter brain worse than Facebook brain. Facebook at least has some pictures of grandchildren.

Uh so it's the it's the last thing anybody said, it's the last thing anybody heard, and uh, you know, end depth reporting is is is hard to find, and impartial reporting is hard to find. Um, journalists, I'm old enough to remember when journalists like really looked down on partisan politics, and the idea of a journalist having partisan politics would be really like the I don't even know what to compare it to exactly, would be like, uh, a journalist having like a favorite European soccer team. We

have a few of those. Actually, yeah, well listen, one thing I want to ask you and you you know, you end up this new book, um that's out with a bunch of your essays, and you end with and I'm an optimist and I know j and is too what I like about you USA? And you say three things I like about America fast food, suburban sprawl, and traffic jams. Um. We haven't seen a lot of traffic

jams because of the virus. Um suburban sprawl, though, we're thinking we might see a little bit more of because of the virus as people are running moving on in the gundry. Even if the country is only as far as love it town, you best get out of town. Well, you know, and it's interesting and you write you do a pre preface if you will in your book, because you say you wrote these essays in and then happened.

As we know, it's been a year of just one you know, explicative and one unbelievable story after another, and a lot of heartache, if you will. And I think we're all wondering what happens on the other side. You know, what are your thoughts about this year? Well, I mean it rights itself, you know. I mean, people say, oh, America is so divided. America's never been this divided, and I go eighteen sixty one, I'm not sure America has ever been, having survived the sixties in the early seventies.

America is a ship that's got a lot of keel to it. And that's author and political centrist P. J. Rourke joining us from New Hampshire his book A Cry from the Far Middle, Dispatches from a Divided Land. I gotta say I felt better after talking to him. Yeah, I do feel a little bit better too, And I love how he asked, you know, why are we all so angry right now? And then, of course, how can I forget his remark America is a ship that has a lot of keel to it. I love, love, love that.

That's going on our T shirt list. And that wraps up the weekend edition of Bloomberg Business Week from Bloomberg Radio. Thanks so much for joining us. I'm Jason Kelly and I'm Carol Master. Be sure to check out our daily radio show Monday through Friday starting at two pm Well Street Time. And if you miss any of our big interviews, check out our podcast feed. You should be subscribing here all of our daily conversations and this show. Yeah, and be sure to check out our extra podcast. This week,

we check in with Paul Rayther. He's KKR Senior advisory partner and he joined us to talk about opportunities for diverse students who otherwise probably wouldn't get them. And check out the latest edition of Bloomberg Business Week. It's on newsstands now. We'll be back next week at the same time. This is Bloomberg