Efforts to create healthy workplaces generally focus on safety. Programs that support employees’ choosing healthier behaviors — being more physically active or adopting a better diet, for example — are less common.
For more than a decade marketers of prepared foods have used “front of package” labeling to promote the supposed health benefits of their products to consumers. Today supermarket shelves are lined with items labeled “low in calories” or “better for you” aimed at children and their parents. As concerns have grown about childhood obesity, however, the veracity of these claims has come into question.
The number of well-educated residents that areas draw can have a bearing on economic vitality, and yet local and regional planners must consider how far they should go in appealing to residents who will bring such “human capital.” One outstanding question remains precisely how cultural amenities such as museums and theaters translate into value beyond aesthetic enjoyment.
Over the past 50 years, many nations have legalized casino gambling. Thousands of casinos are now located worldwide, in nearly every populated region of the globe. The licensing of such businesses is sometimes a local or regional affair, but larger national and global patterns may also be discernible.
In the United States, the majority of retirement savings are invested in equity — shares in publicly traded companies. Traditionally, high average returns have offset the inherent risks of investments in stocks, but that equation changed following the recent financial crisis. In the past three years, the value of equity has declined, growth has been sluggish and many forecasters have continued to predict low returns from stocks in the coming decade.
In 2011, the Federal Communications Commission published a 500-page report, “The Information Needs of Communities: The Changing Media Landscape in a Broadband Age,” that assessed civic and news industry trends and made recommendations to help address ongoing difficulties.
Organizations habitually shy away from adopting creative ideas, even though creativity is espoused as an essential driver of innovation, scientific breakthroughs, positive change, and even moral goodness. In other words, creativity is celebrated more than it is implemented, though it is not clear why this is the case.
Daily deal Internet sites such as Groupon and LivingSocial are popular with consumers, but the extent of benefits for participating merchants — who agree to significant price cuts and experience subsequent social media reviews — remains a subject of debate.
Firms pay to compete for the top slot within search engines such as Google. The first result for a search for “toys,” for example, will show a paid placement followed by organic search results generated by an algorithm. How search results influence buying and price-shopping habits within the online ecosystem — and what ultimate benefit it has for businesses — is a matter of ongoing economic and marketing research.
The concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) — the idea that companies directly contribute to the common good — is gaining adherents throughout the business world. However, what constitutes responsible corporate behavior is open to interpretation by the firms themselves and the larger cultures in which they operate.
