Public relations

BP doesn't need an engineer at the helm. It needs a leader. Of course engineers matter, when the task is stemming damage from the largest oil spill in...

A better approach to stakeholder management

Advice for navigating a contentious climate.

As commissioner of the New York City Police Department, Lee P. Brown faces two enormous challenges. The first is crime. In 1989 in New York City, 712,419 crimes were reported, including 1,905 murders, 93,377 robberies, and 3,254 rapes. As Brown is quick to point out, the situation has grown so severe that people in cities […]

They say that the books business is beleaguered, bordering on broken. Over-production, under-consumption and the looming threat of digital perdition are concentrating minds as never before. Will publishing, as many fear, follow music and movies into an illegal download free-for-all? Or will J.K. Rowling ride to the rescue with a clutch of Harry Potters, as […]

Managers of smaller companies should pay close attention to the image their companies project to the business world. The impression conveyed to bankers,...

The new system in a day-care center is producing biased results--setting off an alarm when some dark-skinned parents enter the lobby. The director of...

Three questions to guide your communication strategy.

That sound you hear is the cry of outrage over the decision by Spirit Airlines to charge customers as much as $45 to stow carry-on baggage. It’s a horrible idea, but not for the easy, airline-bashing reasons cited by most critics. In fact, this decision is a pretty interesting case study in the wrong ways […]

A celebrity’s baby is severely injured when her stroller tips over. Was it user error or a faulty product? The media go wild—and BestBaby faces a PR disaster.

Because of the growing number of domestic and international markets blocked by high entry barriers, companies need to master the art of favorably influencing...

Facebook, Boeing, and too many other firms are losing the public’s faith. Can they regain it?

Dave Balter, founder and CEO of a Boston-based company called BzzAgent, is one of my favorite young entrepreneurs. His fast-growing firm (pronounced “Buzz Agent”) is a pioneer in the field of word-of-mouth marketing. It recruits volunteers to sample products, share their opinions with friends and neighbors, and report back on the conversations. BzzAgent has been […]

During the foul-mouthed film Clerks, a bunch of overgrown adolescents huddle around the counter of a convenience store, grappling with the ethics of Return of the Jedi. Was it moral to blow up the second Death Star, even though it wasn’t yet completed? As one says, “All those innocent contractors hired to do a job […]

Qantas Jet Passengers Saw Engine Blow Up Live on In-Flight TV. Qantas Flyers Lucky to be Alive. Perhaps you saw these headlines late last week. But the news flash could just as easily have gone something like this: Hero veteran Qantas pilot safely lands jet despite flaming engine, saving over 400 lives. The reason that […]

Some multigenerational companies or their predecessors have committed acts in the past that would be anathema today--they invested in or owned slaves,...

A few years ago I met Jose Gabrielli, the CEO of the Brazilian energy giant Petrobras, to talk about an article we were developing for HBR. Dressed in...

Employees notice hypocrisy.

Today, most multinationals have a conspicuous social conscience. They publicize their internal codes of conduct, monitor labor conditions in their global supply chains, and require suppliers to meet basic labor practice standards. But despite efforts to be better global citizens, companies by themselves are unable to eliminate abuses in their supply chains. In fact, so […]

The headline in the Guardian last week read: The Monitor Group: Gaddafi’s PR firm used academics I think it’s safe to say that the Monitor Group would prefer not to be known as “Gaddafi’s PR firm.” (And not just because, at Monitor, they appear to prefer the spelling “Qhadafi.”) The Cambridge, Mass., firm — founded […]

The cases describe the demise of Arthur Andersen, a firm that had long set the industry standard for professionalism in accounting and auditing. Once...

The cases describe the demise of Arthur Andersen, a firm that had long set the industry standard for professionalism in accounting and auditing. Once...

In September 2015, VW had admitted to United States regulators that it had deliberately installed "defeat devices" in many of its diesel cars, which enabled...

Cape Wind has proposed placing a 170-tower wind farm, with each tower more than 400-feet tall, in Nantucket Sound. Not surprisingly, public reaction is...

Peloton had redefined many things about the boutique exercise experience, bringing it into members' homes and eliminating per-class fees of roughly $34,...

Case describes the testimony to the U.S. Congress of the Toyota CEO and the head of its U.S. motor sales.

Examines the principles that apply in any persuasive business situation. Describes how to analyze the goals and audience; how to devise a persuasive message;...

On October 25, 2016, Timothy J. Sloan, the new CEO of Wells Fargo bank, apologized to 1,200 of his employees in Charlotte, North Carolina. Sloan had been...

Kirk Myers, REI's manager of corporate social responsibility (CSR), has been tasked with finding a way to optimize the organization's rental program while...

Between February and July 2010, Toyota sales recover thanks to the use of extensive PR and sales incentives. Yet recalls continue. Can Toyota stem the...

In June 2006, Norway's Pension Fund decided to divest its position in Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. after an investigation by the Fund's Ethics Council. According...

After 18 months of deficit operations, Southwest Airlines stands on the brink of profitability. Selective application of discount fares has contributed...

On April 17, 1994, Kidder, Peabody & Co. announced a $350 million charge against earnings resulting from the discovery of false trading profits. That...

Provides details on the results of the campaign for British Airways (BA) in terms of expenditure by BA, press coverage, effect on bookings, and effect...

The case describes a crisis management situation faced by Mercedes-Benz, a division of Daimler-Benz AG. In 1997 Mercedes introduced a revolutionary new...

Burroughs Wellcome Co., developer of AZT, the first drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of Acquired Immune Deficiency...

In 2015, Uber is building what may be the largest point-to-point transportation network of its kind; it is literally changing the way the world moves....

In 2018, the Seattle City Council unanimously voted 9-0 for a tax that would require companies whose annual revenue surpassed $20 million to pay the city...

The top management team at Charles Veillon, a Swiss mail-order company, is considering whether to work with a human rights organization to monitor the...

Beginning in 2007, Netflix began offering existing mail rental subscribers the opportunity to view a limited number of movies through internet streaming...

The cases describe the demise of Arthur Andersen, a firm that had long set the industry standard for professionalism in accounting and auditing. Once...

BP doesn't need an engineer at the helm. It needs a leader. Of course engineers matter, when the task is stemming damage from the largest oil spill in...

The cases describe the demise of Arthur Andersen, a firm that had long set the industry standard for professionalism in accounting and auditing. Once...

A better approach to stakeholder management

In September 2015, VW had admitted to United States regulators that it had deliberately installed "defeat devices" in many of its diesel cars, which enabled...

Advice for navigating a contentious climate.

The cases describe the demise of Arthur Andersen, a firm that had long set the industry standard for professionalism in accounting and auditing. Once...

Cape Wind has proposed placing a 170-tower wind farm, with each tower more than 400-feet tall, in Nantucket Sound. Not surprisingly, public reaction is...

As commissioner of the New York City Police Department, Lee P. Brown faces two enormous challenges. The first is crime. In 1989 in New York City, 712,419 crimes were reported, including 1,905 murders, 93,377 robberies, and 3,254 rapes. As Brown is quick to point out, the situation has grown so severe that people in cities […]

Peloton had redefined many things about the boutique exercise experience, bringing it into members' homes and eliminating per-class fees of roughly $34,...