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• Article | Wall Street Journal

  The Right and Wrong Way To Do ‘CEO Activism’

  Aaron K Chatterji and Michael W. Toffel

  CEO activism—where leaders take public stands on controversial social and political issues that aren’t related to their company’s bottom line—has become increasingly common. CEO activism has attracted favorable media attention, but has also resulted in backlash and public scorn. Based on interviews with CEOs and other organizational leaders, this article provides six recommendations on when to engage in CEO activism and how to do so more effectively. Leaders should consider taking public stands when they are motivated by their employees, on issues that align with corporate values, and when the issue is live. To speak out effectively, leaders should set up a rapid-response team, prepare for backlash, and enlist the help of their corporate-communications professionals.

  Keywords: Leadership; Social Issues; Communication Strategy; Performance Effectiveness;

  Citation:

  Chatterji, Aaron K., and Michael W. Toffel. "The Right and Wrong Way To Do ‘CEO Activism’." Wall Street Journal (February 22, 2019).  View Details

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• Case | HBS Case Collection | November 2018 (Revised February 2019)

  JUUL and the Vaping Revolution

  Michael W. Toffel, John Masko and Sarah Mehta

  In the summer of 2018, San Francisco–based electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) maker JUUL Labs, was experiencing exponential growth. Sales of its JUUL e-cigarette had increased by 783% over the preceding year, projected revenues for 2018 topped $940 million, and the company had captured over 72% of the U.S. e-cigarette market. The company’s success had thrust it into the spotlight, and JUUL Labs found itself at the center of considerable controversy. Whereas the company’s stated goal was to provide tobacco smokers with a less harmful e-cigarette alternative, JUUL Labs’s products had proven widely popular with teenage high school students who had never smoked. Some advocacy groups and public policy makers speculated that the company had purposefully marketed its products to minors—an allegation JUUL Labs’s executives strongly denied. The company now faced an FDA probe and investigations by at least two state attorney generals. It needed a strategy to deal with its mounting regulatory and public relations problems.

  Keywords: electronic cigarettes; E-Cigarettes; vaping; Nicotine Replacement; JUUL; Juuling; Advertising; Online Advertising; Customers; Innovation and Invention; Marketing; Ethics; Brands and Branding; Marketing Communications; Marketing Strategy; Product Marketing; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Social Issues; Technology; Technology Industry;

  Citation:

  Toffel, Michael W., John Masko, and Sarah Mehta. "JUUL and the Vaping Revolution." Harvard Business School Case 619-006, November 2018. (Revised February 2019.)  View Details

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• Supplement | HBS Case Collection | April 2018 (Revised February 2019)

  Improving Worker Safety in the Era of Machine Learning (B)

  Michael W. Toffel, Dan Levy, Astrid Camille Pineda, Jose Ramon Morales Arilla and Matthew S. Johnson

  Supplements the (A) case.

  Citation:

  Toffel, Michael W., Dan Levy, Astrid Camille Pineda, Jose Ramon Morales Arilla, and Matthew S. Johnson. "Improving Worker Safety in the Era of Machine Learning (B)." Harvard Business School Supplement 618-064, April 2018. (Revised February 2019.)  View Details

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