Why HBR Strategy Blogs Can Be Bad for Business
Rafi Mohammed writes for Havard Business Review. Recently, he wrote about his reasons for recommending that clients abolish their loyalty programs in all but three cases. There’s nothing wrong with writing opinion pieces on a blog. I do it all the time. As a loyalty and engagement strategist, though, I am careful to distinguish my gut opinion from my professional recommendations. When recommending a strategy, I try to cite hard evidence. I cringe when a business strategist makes recommendations based on . . . pure opinion. Mohammed arrived at his professional recommendation through a little research: he asked his mother if she’s frequents a restaurant (Subway) more often because of its loyalty program. ”No,” she told her son, “but it’s nice of them to offer it.” [source] There are two big flaws in Mohammed’s opinion of loyalty programs: the weak science he relied upon, and the strong science he ignored. Weak Science The survey method is