FEATURE
PAPER
Employers
"Butt In" With Regard To Smoking In The Workplace
The
following paper was presented at the 2007 Allied Academies
International Conference - Jacksonville. It was written
by Pamela R. Johnson,
Julie Indvik,
and Claudia Rawlins of California State University, Chico.
Abstract
Cigarette
smoking is the principal cause of premature death in the
United States with over
440,000 people dying each year from smoke related diseases.
And, smoking is expensive. The
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that employee
tobacco use costs US companies
about $157 billion each year in direct medical expenses and
lost productivity. Fed up with
mounting health care costs, companies are trying an array of
tactics to get employees to quit
smoking. This paper will discuss the background surrounding
smoking, describe the costs to society
and businesses, outline the legal issues surrounding smoking,
delineate what companies have done,
and describe what managers can do to help their employees with
this addiction as well as help the
company’s bottom line.
Introduction
“Smoking
is hateful to the nose, harmful to the brain, and dangerous
to the lungs.”
-
King James I
Two
decades ago, smoking in the workplace and public places was
considered a virtual
birthright. However in the late 1970’s, a revolution
of sorts began in the way our society views
smoking. Today, acceptance of smoking in public places has
largely disappeared, replaced by an
increasing recognition of the right to breathe air free from
harmful effects of tobacco smoke
(Leourardy & Kleiner, 2000). In fact, many companies today
have a “smoke-free policy” forcing
smokers outside to take cigarette breaks. The effect of observing
little huddles of workers puffing
away in office doorways sends out a powerful message that
smokers are outcasts – social rejects
from the corporate community.
In
ancient Greece, they used to write the names of unwanted
people on a stone tablet known
as an ostrakon, hence our verb, to ostracize. And this
is exactly what smoking bans are: an exercise
in social ostracism (Overell, 2005). Cigarette smoking
continues to be the principal cause of
premature death in the United States and a major cause
of medical expenditures and lost
productivity. Of the 46.5 million adults in the United
States who smoke, about 70% will see a
primary care provider at least once a year (Kaiser Permanente,
2005). Because of this, businesses
today desperately seek ways to contain the costs they
must pay for health insurance for their
employees by limiting coverage, subscribing to HMOs,
and increasing deductibles. CEOs cast
anxious glances over their shoulders as foreign competition
increases and the ability to cut costs and
increase productivity becomes crucial to survival (Smoking
in the Workplace, 2005).
This
paper will discuss the background surrounding smoking, describe
the costs to society
and businesses, outline the legal issues surrounding
smoking, delineate what companies have done, and
describe what managers can do to help their employers
with this addiction as well as help the
company’s bottom line.
Read
the Entire Paper...
.
TIP
OF THE WEEK
Distributing
and Using Marketing Information
Marketing information has no value until it is
used to make better marketing decisions. Thus, the marketing
information system must make the information readily available
to the managers and other who make marketing decisions or deal
with customers. In some cases, this means providing managers
with regular performance reports, intelligence updates, and
reports on the results of research studies.
But marketing managers may also need nonroutine information for special
situations on-the-spot decisions. For example, a sales manager having trouble
with a large customer may want a summary of the account's sales and profitability
over the past year. Or a retail store manager who has run out of a best-selling
product mat want to know the current inventory levels in the chain's other
stores. Increasingly, therefore, information distribution involves entering
information into databases and making it available in a timely, user-friendly
way.
Many firms use a company intranet to facilitate this process. The intranet
provides ready access to research information, stored reports, shared work
documents, contact information integrates incoming customer service calls
with up-to-date database information about customers' Web purchases and
e-mail inquiries. By accessing the information on the intranet while speaking
with the customer, iGo's service representatives can get a well-rounded
picture of each customer's purchasing history and previous contacts with
the company.
In addition, companies are increasingly allowing key customers and value-networked
members to access account, product, and other data on demand through extranets.
Suppliers, customers, resellers, and select other network members may access
a company's extranet to update their accounts, arrange purchases, and check
orders against inventories to improve customer service. for example, one
insurance firm allows its 200 independent agents access to a Web-based
database of claim information covering one million customers. This allows
the firm to avoid high-risk customers and to compare claim data with their
own customer databases. And Wal-Mart's RetailLink extranet system provides
suppliers with a two-year history of every product's daily sales in every
Wal-Mart store worldwide, letting them track when and where their products
are selling and current inventory levels. Other retailers are rolling out
similar data-sharing systems, including Lowe's (LowesLink) and Target (PartnersOnline).
Thanks to modern technology,
today's marketing managers can gain direct access to the information
system at any time and from virtually any location.
They can tap into the system while working at a home office,
from a hotel room, or from the local Starbucks's through a wireless network-anyplace
where they can turn on a laptop and link up. Such systems allow
managers
to get the information they need directly and quickly and to
tailor it to their own needs. From just about anywhere, they can obtain
information
from company or outside databases, analyze it using statistical
software, prepare reports and presentations, and communicate directly
with others
in the network.
Philip
Kotler and Gary Armstrong. Principles of Marketing
12e.
2008. Perason-Prentice Hall. pg.113.
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ANNOUNCEMENTS
Request for
Papers & Reviewer Volunteers
The
Small Business Institue is now requesting papers and paper
review volunteers for the Small Business Institute Journal.
If you are interested in submitting a paper or becoming a
volunteer, please let us know. The first issue
is to be printed April 2008. For more information please click
here or email us at sbij@uca.edu.
SBANC is Updating
Their Entrepreneurship and Small Business Network
The Small Business Advancement
National Center is currently updating their Entrepreneurship
and Small Business Network. If you currently teach or know
a professor in your
school or state that teaches an Entrepreneurship or Small
Business course, please provide us with any available information
at sbancj@uca.edu.
We appreciate any help. Thank you.
.
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CONFERENCES
MMA
|
| Who: |
Marketing Management
Association
|
| What: |
MMA
Fall Educators Conference
|
| Where: |
St. Louis, Missouri, USA |
| When: |
September 26-28, 2007 |
|
|
|
FU
|
| Who: |
Fordham University
|
| What: |
The Fordham University Pricing
Conference
|
| Where: |
Fordham University, New York, New
York, USA |
| When: |
September 28-29, 2007 |
|
|
|
ASBE
|
| Who: |
Association
for Small Business and Entrepreneurship
|
| What: |
2007
Conference
|
| Where: |
Austin,
Texas, USA |
| When: |
October
10-12, 2007 |
|
|
|
ISBE
|
| Who: |
Institute
for Small Business and Entrepreneurship
|
| What: |
30th Annual ISBE Conference
|
| Where: |
Heriot-Watt University, Glasgow,
Scotland |
| When: |
November 7-9, 2007 |
|
|
|
MELT
|
| Who: |
The
Association of Management
|
| What: |
26th
Annual Management Education Leadership Technology
|
| Where: |
Washington, DC |
| When: |
October (TBA), 2009 |
|
|
|
CALLS FOR PAPERS
ASBE
|
| Who: |
Association
for Small Business and Entrepreneurship |
| What: |
2007
Conference
|
| Where: |
Austin,
Texas, USA |
| When: |
October
10-12, 2007 |
Submission
Deadline:
August 1, 2007
|
|
|
|
AEBAI
|
| Who: |
Applied
Business and Entrepreneurship Association International
(ABEAI)
|
| What: |
4th
Annual Meeting
|
| Where: |
Marriott Wailea Beach Resort - Maui,
Hawaii, USA |
| When: |
November 16-20, 2007 |
Submission
Deadline:
August 15, 2007
|
|
|
|
USASBE
|
| Who: |
United
States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship
|
| What: |
USASBE
2008 Annual Conference
|
| Where: |
The
Westin La Cantera Resort - San Antonio, Texas |
| When: |
January
10-13, 2008 |
Submission
Deadline:
August 15, 2007
|
|
|
|
SBI
|
| Who: |
Small
Business Institute
|
| What: |
2008 SBI Conference
|
| Where: |
Handlery
Hotel – San Diego, CA |
| When: |
Feb.
14-16, 2008 |
Submission
Deadline:
October 1, 2007
|
|
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Management Association (MMA), Small Business Administration
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are interested in membership or would like further information
on one of our affiliates, please see our web site at http://www.sbaer.uca.edu
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