CVS’s Smart No-Smoking Strategy (The Washington Post)

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CVS has announced that by October 1 it will no longer sell tobacco products in its stores, reports The Washington Post. It is a smart decision, says Sydney Finkelstein, the Steven Roth Professor of Management and the associate dean for executive education at the Tuck School of Business.

“I think it’s actually going to enable them to grow revenue faster than they’re going to lose sales,” Finkelstein tells the Post. “It’s a win in terms of strategy, it’s a win in terms of PR, and it’s a win in terms of internal motivation. Most employees in a healthcare company would see this as a good thing.”

Read the full story, published 2/5/14 by The Washington Post.

NPR turned to Paul Argenti, a professor of corporate communication at Tuck, for his reaction to CVS’s decision to stop selling tobacco products. “They’ll end up getting more than $2 billion in reputational capital and kudos,” Argenti says. “How often is the president of the U.S. going to come out and say your company is great?"

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