Do Business Well

With consumers spending more money on landscaping and their lawns, it is not surprising the purchase incidence of garden equipment, furniture, and decor is strong as well. Purchase incidence of garden equipment, furniture, and decorative items for the garden (i.e., garden hardware) was 42 percent in 2003, down slightly from results of 47 percent in 2001. Continue Reading »

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Some 56 percent of U.S. households bought kitchenware and housewares in 2003, about even with the 58 percent that did the same in 2001.

A category that is often perceived as a household necessity, consumers are encouraged to buy when retailers and marketers give them a reason to replace existing kitchen accessories with the latest models that give new functionality or ease of use. Continue Reading »

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Whistle-blowers—employees who believe their organizations are engaged in illegal, dangerous or unethical conduct and speak out about it—occupy a peculiar niche in America. On the one hand, the public applauds their courage. On the other, it stands quietly by as the whistle- blowers are punished and ostracized for their revelations.

• Allan McDonald and Roger Boisjoly, engineers at Morton Thiokol, testified about serious technical flaws in the space shuttle Challenger and were promptly transferred to menial jobs.
• Herbert Rosenblum, an official of New York’s Human Resources Administration, revealed that 14,000 people who had died or moved away were still on the city’s Medicaid rolls. His reward: demotion and a pay cut.
• Several years ago, Charles Atchison, a quality control engineer at a Texas nuclear power plant, brought numerous safety infractions to the attention of a regulatory board. He was fired and blackballed.

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