Ideally, IR plans or manages all investor/media contact then monitors for inadvertent material disclosures. And, ideally, IR is included in all the high-level activities, like a fly-on-the-wall. (I reported to the Chairman/CEO, alongside the President/COO and personally responded to the analysts.) Unfortunately, many "ultra-ego" CEOs and CFOs regard IR as mere clerical help, taking messages from analysts, scheduling meetings, etc. Even after a critical screw-up like CPQ's, I doubt if they'll realize it was an IR failure. (All this is not to blame CPQ's IR; they're probably doing as ordered by Pfeiffer/Mason.)
BTW, SEC "disclosure" calls for immediate release to DowJones, AP and Reuters. |
