Harvard Business School Case Study Explores E-Cigarettes

Harvard Business School has recently announced a new MBA case study which will see business and public health students at the school analyzing the growing popularity of the electronic cigarette market as well as looking at the tension between public health and the marketing of such a product. The case will explore the ways in which tobacco companies and regulators are responding, while also considering how businesses can ensure corporate social responsibility and profit.

The new MBA case study, entitled ‘E-Cigarettes: Marketing Versus Public Health’, written by Harvard Business School associate Margaret L. Rodriguez, explores the seemingly innocent consumer market of the e-cigarette in addressing the worries of public health advocates, who assert that the so-called cure to harmful cigarette addiction is not a cure at all, enabling further addiction and acting as a gateway for new – as well as reformed – smokers.

While the benefits of e-cigarettes are clear – there are none of the harmful chemicals and toxins which can be found in normal cigarettes – the popularity of the e-cigarette, along with company takeovers from big tobacco firms, has meant there are definite issues to be examined, not only from health regulators, but also future business leaders who can learn much about corporate social responsibility in business and marketing, while all the while turning a profit.

Existing statistics indicate that electronic cigarettes have led to a net decrease in traditional smoking of 2.2 million in the US, or 5% of the smoking population. But these statistics only tell half of the story, failing to highlight the influence that the marketing of e-cigarettes has had. A crucial point made on the case in terms of corporate social responsibility is that the tobacco industry itself has profited hugely from the success of e-cigarettes, with the vast majority of e-cigarette companies now owned by big tobacco companies.