In 2013 the genetic testing firm 23andMe received a cease-and-desist letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration forbidding it from selling its spit-in-a-tube DNA test to consumers. Since its founding, six years earlier, 23andMe had operated in a murky space: Previously, genetic tests were ordered only by doctors, and it was unclear whether the device the company sold to consumers to facilitate testing constituted a "medical device." .....more

Investors these days are paying close attention to companies'' environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices. But business leaders are discovering that it''s not enough just to disclose ESG data or invite shareholders to a sustainability-focused event; those sorts of cookie-cutter efforts fail to bring rewards from capital markets. The Spotlight feature "Social-Impact Efforts That Create Value" suggests a better approach--one .....more

For decades, the business world has embraced worker empowerment. But recently a countermovement--workforce optimization--has been on the rise. It treats labor as a commodity and seeks to cut it to a minimum by using automation and artificial intelligence, tightly controlling how people do their jobs, and replacing employees with contractors. This approach is especially prevalent in the tech sector and the gig economy. And it is cause for deep concern, .....more

Many White people deny the existence of racism against people of color because they assume that racism is defined by deliberate actions motivated by malice and hatred. However, racism can occur without conscious awareness or intent. When defined simply as differential evaluation or treatment based solely on race, regardless of intent, racism occurs far more frequently than most White people suspect. As intractable as it seems, racism in the workplace .....more

Even in severe economic downturns and recessions, some companies are able to gain advantage. In the past four downturns, 14% of large companies increased both their sales growth rate and their EBIT margin. A shock like the Covid-19 pandemic can produce lasting changes in customer behavior. To survive and thrive in a crisis, begin by examining how people are spending their time and money. Challenge traditional ideas and use data to actively seek out .....more

The U.S.-China trade war and the supply and demand shocks brought on by the Covid-19 crisis are forcing manufacturers everywhere to reassess their supply chains. For the foreseeable future, they will face pressure to increase domestic production, grow employment in their home countries, reduce their dependence on risky sources, and rethink strategies of lean inventories and just-in-time replenishment, which can be crippling when material shortages .....more

Rather than try to follow a set of simple rules ("Don''t lie." "Don''t cheat."), leaders and managers seeking to be more ethical should focus on creating the most value for society. This utilitarian view, Bazerman argues, blends philosophical thought with business school pragmatism and can inform a wide variety of managerial decisions in areas including hiring, negotiations, and even time management. Creating value .....more

To succeed, a new company must rally investors, staff, customers, and the media around a good story. But often that narrative turns out to be wrong, and entrepreneurs realize they need to change direction. How that shift is communicated can have a huge impact on a venture''s future. Through extensive research with founders, innovation chiefs, analysts, and journalists, the authors have identified stratagems for maintaining stakeholder support .....more

Companies struggle with innovation because they put all their chips on one innovation paradigm--what Holt calls "better mousetraps." This is innovation as conceived by engineers and economists--a race to create the killer value proposition. It wins on functionality, convenience, reliability, price, or user experience. Fortunately, building better mousetraps is not the only way to innovate. In consumer markets, innovation often proceeds according .....more

To make it through the downturn and return to growth, companies will need to rewire operations, reallocate resources, and in some cases reinvent business models. Joint ventures and partnerships can help many firms with those efforts. In this article, three consultants outline how companies can shore up their existing JVs through capital-raising, cost-reduction, and synergy-tapping techniques that often aren''t available to wholly owned entities. .....more