While this blog is new, my interest in consumer product recalls
and safety information is not. My first encounter
with a product recall was in the mid 1990’s when, as a litigation consultant, I
was assigned to a product recall case. My
job was to calculate the cost of conducting the recall, from pulling the
product off store shelves to a redesign of the manufacturing process. While I cannot disclose the name of the
client or the details of the case, I can say that I was shocked at the number
of people who had been injured before the product was recalled. Furthermore, even though the information was
publicly available, neither I nor my colleagues were aware of the recall until
we started working on the case.
Following that project,
I began researching how the recall system works, and discovered significant
gaps in the flow of information. Unless
the media chose to cover it, consumers simply did not (and still do not) know
about product recalls. In 2000, this
fact proved true in my own household. As
I walked past the family-room one evening, I caught a glimpse of what looked to
be my son’s pacifier on the 11 o’clock news.
With some sleuthing the next day, I discovered that the pacifier was
indeed my son’s and that it had been recalled because of a potential choking
hazard. All I could think about was, ‘What
if I had not passed by the TV at that precise moment?’
Over the years, I continued to watch what was going on
with recalls and how technology was changing potential solutions, but it wasn’t
until I went back to business school in 2006 that I finally had the opportunity
to really investigate my growing list of possible ways to solve the problem. In fact, I began this blog-writing adventure
at the suggestion and encouragement of several of my professors at UC Berkeley,
where I turned nearly every class project into an opportunity to research business
solutions to consumer product safety and recall problems. From marketing surveys on consumer use of the
Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) website, to studies on the potential
social impact of improving our systems, my professors were not only
extraordinarily accepting of my creative applications of class requirements,
but also offered a plethora of ideas and support. So, before I go any further, I
would like to
thank the following professors for their assistance with these projects related
to the research and development of WeMakeItsafer.com (formerly Consume Alert):
David Charron, Associate Director
for the Lester Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, and Lecturer at the
Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley (Bio)
Project:
Development Strategy
Robert Glushko, Director
of the Center for Document Engineering, and Professor at the School of
Information, University of California, Berkeley
(Bio, Blog, Book)
Project:
Information and Services Sector Analysis
Andrew
Isaacs, Executive Director,
Management of Technology Program, and
Co-Executive
Director, Center for Energy and Environmental Innovation at the University of
California, Berkeley (Bio)
Project:
Marketing Plan
Kellie McElhaney, Executive Director & Adjunct Assistant
Professor, Center for Responsible Business at the Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley (Bio)
Project:
Social Impact Analysis (SIA)
Lloyd Kurtz, Lecturer, Center for Responsible Business at
the Haas School of Business, University of California,
Berkeley;
Senior Portfolio Manager, Nelson Capital Management (Bio, Blog)
Project: Impact of Product Recalls on Financial
Performance
AnnaLee Saxenian, Dean and Professor in the School of
Information and Professor in the Department of City and Regional Planning at
the University of California, Berkeley
(Bio, Books)
Project:
Information and Services Sector Analysis
Jim Schorr, Lecturer, Center for Responsible Business at
the Haas School of Business, University of California,
Berkeley;
Former Executive Director, Juma Venture (Bio)
Project:
Corporate Structure Analysis
One
of my goals entering business school was to determine whether there was a
viable business solution to the social problem of product safety. With the help of these professors, as well as
invaluable input from several of my classmates, I believe we have found a
solution in WeMakeItSafer.com.
I
will post more information about the studies/projects mentioned above as well
as the company’s development in future blogs. You may also request an invitation to our
beta launch by visiting www.WeMakeItSafer.com.
