Speaking with the members of the media has significant potential benefits. Whether a conversation is initiated to build awareness of Quintiles' offerings or to convey our point of view through thought leadership, the goal of the engagement is to enhance and strengthen Quintiles' reputation. These conversations with the media can also be a source of great reputational risk if not managed properly.
Social media brings new opportunities to build conversations and communities, but it also brings new risks. While it is accepted that Quintiles employees will participate in social networks, it is expected that they exercise common sense in all communications, whether on or offline. To aid employees, Quintiles has official guidelines for participation in social media. Quintiles’ guidelines apply to all Quintiles employees and contractors whether they are creating or contributing to blogs, wikis, social networks or virtual worlds created by Quintiles or are independent of Quintiles. The guidelines will be revised as necessary to keep pace with changes in technology and communication media.
Quintiles respects the privacy of all employees and, in general, employee actions outside of work are not governed by Quintiles’ corporate policies. However, activities outside of work that impact the company’s reputation or ability to conduct business fall within the scope of corporate policy. Quintiles' social media guidelines are designed to protect both Quintiles employees and the reputation of Quintiles.
Quintiles monitors mentions of our brand in public communication on social media channels, such as blogs, Twitter, Facebook, etc., in order to track and manage our online reputation. As a result of this monitoring, Quintiles may have visibility to public posts made by employees using social media.