There’s something rotting at Whole Foods Market («www.businessweek.com») and it isn’t in the produce department. It’s in the company’s management team: «investing.businessweek.com», the chief executive who spent years anonymously posting on the Web about his company and its rivals, appears to share a cynical arrogance with other corporate self-promoters who believe they don’t have to personally uphold the values they publicly proclaim. The Whole Foods mission statement boasts: “We lead by example.” But Mackey’s unapologetic example is hardly the model for the Whole Foods brand.

Any such hypocrisy is not incidental to this particular company following its rapid, acquisition-filled growth. The third most critical challenge the company faces—after market saturation for such expensive foods and the straining logistic infrastructure—is the credibility of its equally straining culture.

Groucho Marx once said, “The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake that, you’ve got it made.” Groucho’s sarcastic advice seems to have been Mackey’s leadership mantra. In fact, one major accounting firm leader told me, “I am going back to buying foods with additives and artificial preservatives.” He was joking, but his distaste for the mess at Whole Foods was real. Talking Head

Mackey’s anonymous efforts to undermine competitors and enhance his own company’s image are as disturbing as they are entertaining. This conduct was not at a scandalized competitor like grocer Royal Ahold («www.businessweek.com»). Rather, it was at a company—like Starbucks («www.businessweek.com»), «investing.businessweek.com», «investing.businessweek.com», or «investing.businessweek.com»—where a total brand campaign was created and marketed to enhance trust and integrity in both product and business conduct.

In endless magazine profiles, public pronouncements, and personal TV appearances, Mackey made honest dealing and fair open conduct part of the Whole Foods brand image. In a CNBC («www.businessweek.com») interview last year, when Mackey explained how he can be both socially responsible and commercially triumphant, he stated: “A lot of people think corporations are the bad guys. There is sort of a disbelief that they can have high integrity, do well, and be successful.” He made a similar point on his blog, complaining about a journalist who wrote a 2004 New York Times («www.businessweek.com») profile on Whole Foods: “It seems hard for him to believe that a business can be both profit seeking and socially responsible at the same time.” Sowing Wild Oats

Many observers, from financial analysts to late-night comedians, were riveted by Mackey’s seeming self-adulation. Posting anonymously on the Web under the name &quotRahodeb,” he proclaimed his own management brilliance and complimented himself on how “cute” he looked after a haircut on Apr. 28, 2000. Others have debated whether he actually damaged competitor and desired acquisition target Wild Oats Markets («www.businessweek.com») in any legal sense through his concealed attacks. But the real issue is how his unsavory conduct has diminished the brand he helped forge, as well as its treasured culture, and undermined the momentum for acquisitions.

STAFF blunders in Scotland’s maternity units killed or seriously injured 20 babies in a single year, according to a disturbing new report.

An investigation by one of the country’s leading childbirth experts has found mistakes by medics “contributed significantly” to almost one-third of the cases where babies unexpectedly died or suffered complications.

And in almost one-third of cases where the fetal heartbeat was being monitored, midwives and doctors failed to pick up early-warning signs the baby was in distress.

Last night campaigners expressed concern about the findings, which they said were backed up by the distressing experiences of many bereaved parents who felt maternity staff could have intervened quicker.

The report, Scotland-wide Learning from Intrapartum Critical Events, was recently published by Dr Gillian Penney, director of the Scottish Programme for Clinical Effectiveness in Reproductive Health.

She examined all cases in Scottish maternity units in 2005 where babies who were otherwise expected to be born healthy either died or suffered damage because of a lack of oxygen.

Babies who are deprived of oxygen at birth yet survive can suffer life-long problems including brain damage.

In a detailed examination of 67 cases, a total of 20 were found to involve “major sub-optimal care” by staff which “contributed significantly” to the child’s death or complications. A further 37 were judged to have been well-managed.

A total of 58 women underwent continuous electronic fetal monitoring, where the baby’s heart rate is recorded by a sensor strapped to the mother’s body.

The practice was introduced to pick up complications during labour. Yet Penney found that in 17 cases there were “persistent abnormalities” in the trace that were not picked up by staff.

Penney looked only at cases where the pregnancy was more than 34 weeks and where babies did not have a birth defect or infection that might have compromised their health. Out of 81 babies who developed complications, a total of 35 died and the remainder were admitted to special care.

Penney said: “The most striking and disconcerting finding was that 29% of women in continuous electronic fetal monitoring had warning signals that were not recognised or acted upon. Our data collectors were looking at the traces after the events and able to pick up warnings on those traces that had not been picked up by the staff at the time.

“This is an area of clinical care where there is room for improvement in staff training. Unless these people are properly trained, continuous monitoring may be a complete waste of time.

“We are really reliant on midwives to recognise early warning signs that call for medical care. Sometimes it may be the midwife failing to pick it up or the registrar who did not take the appropriate action.”

She added: “The fact that 30% of cases had major suboptimal care was also disconcerting. When problems develop in mothers there are clear protocols that staff are supposed to take.

“But when there are problems with babies there are no protocols because the problems are more complicated and less easy to define.”

Dorothy Maitland, spokeswoman for the Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Society, said many parents felt staff could have acted quicker to save their babies.

She said: “This does not surprise me. As much as bereaved parents feel that the care they received was good, a lot of them feel that a different decision should have been made, and made quicker. Parents are left for a lifetime wondering ‘what if?’”

Gillian Smith, national officer for the Royal College of Midwives Scotland, said maternity staff did their best for women in labour. She added: “It is really important that we have this kind of benchmark and there are always lessons to be learned.

“We can only improve care if we monitor care. All of these cases will have been peer- reviewed and we would hope that the lessons of this report have been learned and things have moved on.

“If there has been an individual incompetence issue that will be dealt with but it is much more appropriate to put in place a programme of improvements in the system.

“We are very fortunate in Scotland in that almost all women have one-to-one midwife care in active labour.”

A Scottish government spokesman said: “We are aware of this report. When sub-optimal care was identified, we have learnt from these events and ensured progress has been made.”

The spokesman said that health service managers had produced maternity care standards against which all NHS maternity services are audited.

He said: “The most recent audit published in January this suggested high-quality maternity care across Scotland.”

Related topic

- http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=57
http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=57

Most undergraduate students apply to the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University at the end of their freshman year. But the few who know what they want to do before arriving on campus can be directly admitted into the undergraduate program if they meet certain qualifications. Out of about 2,250 incoming freshmen who indicated business as their desired major in 2005, 340 were offered direct admission. The Kelley School admits between 1,200 and 1,400 undergraduate students in total each year.

JoAnne Namy is the director of certification at the Kelley School’s undergraduate program, which means she tracks students through admissions and their semester of Integrated Core (I-Core), a third-year team project where students incorporate classroom concepts to help a local company solve a real business problem. But to earn a spot at the Kelley School, students must first impress Mary Ellen Anderson, who is director of admissions for the greater university.

Namy and Anderson recently spoke with BusinessWeek reporter Helena Oh. Here are edited excerpts of their conversation:

What are the requirements for direct admission?

Namy: Students admitted to IU with intended business majors need to have an ACT score of 29 or above or an SAT score of 1270 or above and a high school GPA of 3.5 or higher to be offered direct admission to the Kelley School. Since class ranking is used by fewer and fewer schools, the GPA has become the important academic performance factor in this mix.

For admission after the first year, we look for consistent academic performance. The mean GPA is a 3.3 or 3.4. Students come in with lower GPAs, but they demonstrate a really solid work ethic.

Anderson: Relatively few students are offered direct admission.

What’s the acceptance rate for students who apply at the end of their freshman year?

Namy: Typically 72% to 78%. They’re pretty well screened, because those who didn’t do well in the beginning won’t apply. We typically get around 1,200 to 1,500 applications a year.

What does the application entail for second-year admits, and what are you looking for?

Namy: It involves a number of questions about their background and work, volunteer, and leadership experience. There’s also a 250-word essay. The essays always concern critical issues facing the business world and ethics or global communications.

There’s a comment section, where they can tell us about the experience they’ve had that makes them a strong candidate. We’re looking for how well they manage their time, because time management makes them successful. You have to be committed on a big campus with lots of partying going on to keep focused

What tips do you have for avoiding common mistakes when answering the essay question?

Namy: A common mistakes is that sometimes applicants will only loosely support their thesis. They will say what they think is the most pressing concern but provide little documentation. Students certainly learned in high school how to present an argument, so we’re looking for that kind of writing. You need to organize your thoughts.

What are the essay questions like for direct admits?

Anderson: Actually, Indiana doesn’t require essays. However, they become important for students who want to apply for scholarships. Many students will send essays and letters of recommendation even though they aren’t required. Students can send a personal statement if something isn’t explained in the transcript.

Are there interviews?

Anderson: Unless a student has specific questions, we suggest they come for an information session instead. We really prefer they come for a campus visit, interact with current students, and get an idea of who we are. Our office will also be in other parts of the country. For instance, we’ll be doing a series of receptions in New York, Chicago, Washington D.C., and Dallas for admitted students and families.

Namy: No. Our fundamental decision is based not on what you tell us but what you show us in your academic performance. We look at the individual courses applicants take, the pattern of courses they’ve taken, and how well they’ve managed them. We don’t recommend the pass/no pass option [vs. getting a letter grade].

Can students take the same classes as direct admits?

Namy: Yes. Students take fundamental courses during their first two years here, and anyone can take the basic courses regardless of their major.

Is the program conducive to double majoring?

Namy: Since 50% of our requirements are arts and sciences courses, a dual major is very do-able. We also have a good number of students who pick up more than one major in the Kelley school. Kelley also offers two secondary majors that don’t stand alone: international studies and computer information systems (CIS).