Jeff Caponigro is frequently tapped by news media to analyze and comment on crisis communications, branding, reputation and public-speaking issues.  He has appeared on more than 100 radio and television shows and quoted in publications that include USA TODAY, The Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and Businessweek.

Jordan is 58 years old, perhaps triple the age of his classmates and perhaps enjoying the work three times as much as they do.

He's nearing the end of a roundabout path he took to get a college degree. It started in the mid-1970s, back when he was a basketball player here. It continued when he played for the New Jersey Nets and came back to take a class each summer. "I always wanted to get my degree," Jordan says. "I've always had that intention."

From Pro Bowl quarterback with a $130 million contract from the Atlanta Falcons to felon guilty of dogfighting conspiracy charges, Vick's road to personal, professional and financial redemption began last week with his release from a federal prison.

Where does Vick go from here?

Running of the Bullies - Trampling Workplace Morale and Productivity
Offenders can spread ill will from the top down - Bullies Stampede Through Workplace

Shaken up and stressed out, workplaces are increasingly susceptible to bullying and browbeating behavior.

But instead of being shrugged off, mean-spirited antics are getting new attention as a serious affliction undermining productivity and morale. Researchers are studying it. Employers are trying to stop it. Lawsuits are being filed by workers who say they've survived it.

"Corporate bullies are like termites that eat away at a company's foundation," says Jeffrey Caponigro, author of The Crisis Counselor, on managing crises in the workplace."It becomes part of the culture, something that's normal in the workplace. It's abuse that should not be allowed."

In July, the International Labour Organization, in a worldwide survey of workplace violence, called psychological harassment on the job a growing problem in the USA.

And a study by Minneapolis-based Relia Star Financial found workers were three times more likely to experience such harassment than to be threatened with physical harm. Victims reported lowered productivity and higher rates of psychological distress, including fear and depression.

Skeptics dismiss much of the hubbub as whining, but researchers point out that bullying does not consist of little incivilities. These are not rude slips done more out of ignorance than spite.

European health scare failed to showcase Coke's leadership, critics say
NEW YORK (CNNfn) - When you're the world's largest soft drink maker, you don't get much in the way of public sympathy.

And when you wait one week to issue a formal apology for selling contaminated products to consumers -- no matter what you're doing behind the scenes -- you might just find that a century of brand building and acts of goodwill are forgotten pretty quickly in the critic's corner.

Such were the lessons learned by executives at Coca-Cola Co., who have been lambasted for weeks over their slow initial response to the European health scare that began mid-June.