As a bonus this week, we thought you might enjoy this episode, which originally ran on The Big Story May 15, 2023. We're in the middle of a month in which thousands of Canadians have sworn to boycott any store or product produced by Loblaw Companies Ltd. That includes an awful lot of stores and products, and would require some severe changing of habits. Which is why it probably won't work. It seems that every week we're encouraged to boycott something, but how many of these protests actually result in change from the targeted company, any why? What should Canadians who want to encourage companies like Loblaw to change their strategies actually do to get some traction? And what should boycott organizers aim for to encourage the maximum number of people to join in?
We're in the middle of a month in which thousands of Canadians have sworn to boycott any store or product produced by Loblaw Companies Ltd. That includes an awful lot of stores and products, and would require some severe changing of habits. Which is why it probably won't work.
It seems that every week we're encouraged to boycott something, but how many of these protests actually result in change from the targeted company, any why? What should Canadians who want to encourage companies like Loblaw to change their strategies actually do to get some traction? And what should boycott organizers aim for to encourage the maximum number of people to join in?
GUEST: François Neville, Associate Professor of Strategic Management at McMaster University’s DeGroote School of Business