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Walk into any grocery store to stock up for Halloween and you will discover that, for chocolate treats, you have two basic choices: Will it be Mars or Hershey? I often buy both, but that is beside the point. The point is that the two giants compete for market share, but both enjoy robust sales. In other words, a relatively stable duopoly defines the U.S. chocolate candy market. But it wasnt always like this. Before the 1960s, the Hershey Chocolate Corp. reigned supreme as the undisputed chocolate king. It was in that decade that Mars went for Hersheys jugular. Hershey Chocolates response brought lasting change to its candy business, the local community, and Hershey Park, its chocolate-themed amusement park. As a professor of American studies at Penn State Harrisburg who has recently published a book on Hershey Park, I am astounded by how these changes continue to reverberate today. Milton Hersheys paternalistic capitalism Before the 1960s, change was not a word one associated with either the town of Hershey, Pennsylvania, or its famous chocolate company. Better words would be stability and productivityand this was by the founders design. Milton Hershey founded Hershey Chocolate and built up the town of Hershey, Pennsylvania, for his employees. [Photo: Bettman/Bettman Collection/Getty Images] When Milton Hershey entered the confection industry in the 1880s, violent clashes between corporations and labor roiled American society. Hershey imagined a better way: paternalistic capitalism. In the early 1900s, he built a chocolate factory and planned community out in the farms and pastures of central Pennsylvania. Instead of offering men and women wage-earning jobs and nothing else, he took care of his workers. They owned nice homes and benefited from a generous array of free or subsidized services and amenities: snow removal, garbage collection, trolley lines, good schools, a junior college, zoo, museum, sports arena, library, community center, and theater. They even had their own amusement park. But this was a reciprocal relationship. In return, employees were expected to work hard, exhibit loyalty, practice clean living, and refrain from labor agitation. With the exception of a strike during the Great Depression, the company and town lived in harmony. Milton Hershey called the place an industrial utopia, and residents largely agreed. Moving to Hershey, one recalled, was like moving to paradise. Harmony also defined Hersheys relations with Mars. At the time, Hershey produced only solid chocolatethink of Hershey bars and Kisses. In contrast, Frank Marss company specialized in chocolate-covered snacks, such as Snickers or Milky Way, in which milk chocolate is poured over nuts, caramel, or nougat. Where did that chocolate coating come from? Hershey, of course. In those days, Mars was a client, not a rival. Without competition, Hershey enjoyed the luxury of not having to worry about market share. Amazingly, the company did not advertise under Milton Hershey and continued this policy after his death in 1945. The production line at the Hershey chocolate factory in 1969 [Photo: Peter Simins/Pix/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images] Hershey in crisis Everything changed in 1964. The catalyst for change was Forrest Mars, the founders hard-charging son, who was a true disrupter. After seizing control of his fathers company, Forrest Mars set his sights on dethroning Hershey. As reporter and author Joël Glenn Brenner explains, the younger Mars boldly terminated the partnership with Hershey while ordering his engineers to learn how to make Hershey-caliber chocolate in six months. He also modernized the factory and ordered a surge in advertising, all to wrestle market share away from Hershey, the sleeping giant. The strategy worked. By the decades end, Mars had caught Hershey in terms of market share and pushed the chocolate colossus into crisis. The good news for Hershey was that it had at the helm two forward-looking leaders, Harold Mohler and Bill Dearden. Though standard practice had always been to hire locally and from within, Mohler and Dearden recruited outsiders with MBAs from Harvard and Wharton to initiate sweeping reforms aimed at modernizing its archaic business practices. The company oened a public relations office, conducted market research, installed IBM mainframe computers to crunch numbers, retrained its sales force, and created a marketing department. Many employees, a new executive joked, were so behind the times that they had thought marketing was what their wives did . . . with a shopping cart. This effort culminated with the release of the companys first TV commercials starting in 1969. The sleeping giant had awoken. The companys next move altered the town forever. As a cost-cutting measure, it terminated the free services and amenities at the core of Milton Hersheys vision. The era of paternalism was over. As the company liquidated assets, residents howled in protest. It was a very traumatic time for the community, one executive recalled. For residents, the only consolation was that at least the amusement park would stay the same. Or would it? By the late 1960s, Hershey Park had degenerated into what one executive called an iron park with a bunch of clanging rides. Leadership faced a pivotal decision: renovate the park or close it forever. The park had such a rich heritage, one executive recalled, that to shutter it would put a stamp of negative feeling within the community. The company elected to renovate. The original Hershey Co. chocolate manufacturing plant and Hershey Park Entertainment facility, foreground, in Hershey, Pennsylvania, circa 2009 [Photo: Bradley C. Bower/Bloomberg/Getty Images] Hersheyparks transformation But how to renovate was another matter. In the 1960s and 1970s, owners of traditional amusement parks had to think twice before investing in their properties. That was because Disneyland, the nations first theme park, had caused a sensation when it debuted in 1955. Its incredible popularity, and the opening of the more spectacular Disney World in 1971, placed pressure on old-fashioned amusement parks everywhere. After commissioning a feasibility study, Hershey officials decided to gamble: Instead of fixing up the old amusement park, they would convert it into a Disney-style theme park. To pay for the massive overhaul, they redirected capital earned from the dismantling of Milton Hersheys paternalism. Reborn as Hersheypark in 1973, the ever-growing complex has become a mecca for chocolate lovers and thrill-ride seekers from across the Northeast. Every year, Halloween reminds me of this remarkable transformation. The stores become stocked with Hershey brands, and the theme park comes alive with its spooky Dark Nights entertainment. In the past, workers at the Hershey plant would joke that they had chocolate syrup in their veins. These days, they clearly have innovation, too, and that creative spirit is largely due to Forrest Mars. By giving Hershey the jolt it needed, he shook up the status quo and changed the chocolate company, town, and park forever. Read more of our stories about Philadelphia and Pennsylvania. John Haddad is a professor of American studies at Penn State. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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The consulting firm Accenture recently laid off 11,000 employees while expanding its efforts to train workers to use artificial intelligence. Its a sharp reminder that the same technology driving efficiency is also redefining what it takes to keep a job. And Accenture isnt alone. IBM has already replaced hundreds of roles with AI systems, while creating new jobs in sales and marketing. Amazon cut staff even as it expands teams that build and manage AI tools. Across industries, from banks to hospitals and creative companies, workers and managers alike are trying to understand which roles will disappear, which will evolve, and which new ones will emerge. I research and teach at Drexel Universitys LeBow College of Business, studying how technology changes work and decision-making. My students often ask how they can stay employable in the age of AI. Executives ask me how to build trust in technology that seems to move faster than people can adapt to it. In the end, both groups are really asking the same thing: Which skills matter most in an economy where machines can learn? To answer this, I analyzed data from two surveys my colleagues and I conducted over this summer. For the first, the Data Integrity & AI Readiness Survey, we asked 550 companies across the country how they use and invest in AI. For the second, the College Hiring Outlook Survey, we looked at how 470 employers viewed entry-level hiring, workforce development, and AI skills in candidates. These studies show both sides of the equation: those building AI and those learning to work with it. AI is everywhere, but are people ready? More than half of organizations told us that AI now drives daily decision-making, yet only 38% believe their employees are fully prepared to use it. This gap is reshaping todays job market. AI isnt just replacing workers; its revealing whos ready to work alongside it. Our data also shows a contradiction. While many companies now depend on AI internally, only 27% of recruiters say theyre comfortable with applicants using AI tools for tasks such as writing résumés or researching salary ranges. In other words, the same tools companies trust for business decisions still raise doubts when job seekers use them for career advancement. Until that view changes, even skilled workers will keep getting mixed messages about what responsible AI use really means. In the Data Integrity & AI Readiness Survey, this readiness gap showed up most clearly in customer-facing and operational jobs such as marketing and sales. These are the same areas where automation is advancing quickly, and layoffs tend to occur when technology evolves faster than people can adapt. At the same time, we found that many employers havent updated their degree or credential requirements. Theyre still hiring for yesterdays résumés while tomorrows work demands fluency in AI. The problem isnt that people are being replaced by AI; its that technology is evolving faster than most workers can adapt. Fluency and trust: The real foundations of adaptability Our research suggests that the skills most closely linked with adaptability share one theme, what I call human-AI fluency. This means being able to work with smart systems, question their results, and keep learning as things change. Across companies, the biggest challenges lie in expanding AI, ensuring compliance with ethical and regulatory standards, and connecting AI to real business goals. These hurdles arent about coding; theyre about good judgment. In my classes, I emphasize that the future will favor people who can turn machine output into useful human insight. I call this digital bilingualism: the ability to fluently navigate both human judgment and machine logic. What management experts call reskillingor learning new skills to adapt to a new role or major changes in an old oneworks best when people feel safe to learn. In our Data Integrity & AI Readiness Survey, organizations with strong governance and high trust were nearly twice as likely to report gains in performance and innovation. The data suggests that when people trust their leaders and systems, theyre more willing to experiment and learn from mistakes. In that way, trust turns technology from something to fear into something to learn from, giving employees the confidence to adapt. According to the College Hiring Outlook Survey, about 86% of employers now offer internal training or online boot camps, yet only 36% say AI-related skills are important for entry-level roles. Most training still focuses on traditional skills rather than those needed for emerging AI jobs. The most successful companies make learning part of the job itself. They build opportunities to learn into real projects and encourage employees to experiment. I often remind leaders that the goal isnt just to train people to use AI but to help them think alongside it. This is how trust becomes the foundation for growth, and how reskilling helps retain employees. The new rules of hiring In my view, the companies leading in AI arent just cutting jobs; theyre redefining them. To succeed, I believe companies will need to hire people who can connect technology with good judgment, question what AI produces, explain it clearly, and turn it into business value. In companies that are putting AI to work most effectively, hiring isnt just about resumes anymore. What matters is how people apply traits like curiosity and judgment to intelligent tools. I believe these trends are leading to new hybrid roles such as AI translators, who help decision-makers understand what AI insights mean and how to act on them, and digital coaches, who teach teams to work alongside intelligent systems. Each of these roles connects human jdgment with machine intelligence, showing how future jobs will blend technical skills with human insight. That blend of judgment and adaptability is the new competitive advantage. The future wont just reward the most technical workers, but those who can turn intelligencehuman or artificialinto real-world value. Murugan Anandarajan is a professor of decision sciences and management information systems at Drexel University. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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E-Commerce
Yes, it’s that time of year again, when most of the U.S. gains an extra hour of sleep as we “fall back” from daylight savings to shorter days, colder nights, and standard time. This Sunday, November 2, at 2 a.m local time, we will turn back our clocks to 1 a.mand that will last until March 8, 2026 (when we will once again usher in daylight saving time). Although getting an extra hour of sleep sounds like a win, heres what really happens to your health when the clocks change. Darker nights disrupt the body’s natural clock Darker evenings actually disrupt our bodys natural circadian rhythm, our mood, and our metabolism, according to Dr. Zaid Fadul, CEO of Bespoke Concierge MD. Light is your body’s main ‘time-giver’ that sets your internal clock,” said Fadul, whose practice specializes in integrative medicine with a focus on sleep. “When evenings get darker sooner, your brain releases melatonin earlier, shifting your sleep schedule and throwing off your rhythm.” He added, This disruption affects hormones like cortisol and insulin, lowering insulin sensitivity and increasing stress while also impacting serotonin and dopaminethe chemicals that control your mood and motivation. The one-hour clock change also creates “social jet lag,” disrupting your body’s schedule, especially if you’re naturally a night owl, Fadul explained, noting, “Your sleep quality tanksparticularly the deep REM sleep your brain needsleaving you foggy, tired, and less alert during the day. While getting extra sleep doesnt hurt, the issue is most prevalent in the spring, when people lose an hour of sleep. And that can have other impacts on health. How the time change impacts sleep and health Research shows a spike in heart attacks and cardiovascular issues after the switch to daylight saving time in the spring. Moving the clock forward or backward also alters the timing of when heart attacks occur in the week following these time changes, according to research presented at the American College of Cardiologys 2014 Annual Scientific Session. The time change also affects night-shift workers morewhich include a substantial number of the population, such as nurses, police, firefighters, and doctors. The best way to adjust your internal clock Here are Fadul’s recommendations for readjusting your internal clock after the time change. Morning light: Get outside for 10 to 20 minutes of natural sunlight within 30 to 60 minutes of waking up (no sunglasses, unless you really need them). Exposure to morning light is the fastest way to reset your clock. Evening light hygiene: Dim your lights two to three hours before bed and ditch the overhead lighting. Keep screens on warm mode with low brightnessor better yet, put them away. Consistent wake time: Wake up at the same time every day, even if you slept poorly. If you’re dragging, take a quick, 20- to 30-minute nap before 3 p.m. to recharge without messing up your nighttime sleep. Meal timing: Load up on calories and protein earlier in the day, and finish dinner at least three hours before bed. This supports your insulin rhythm and helps your body know when it’s time to wind down. Caffeine and alcohol: Cut off caffeine about eight hours before bedtime. Avoid alcohol during the adjustment windowit might help you feel drowsy, but it wrecks your sleep quality. Movement timing: Take morning or lunchtime walks to get natural light and movement together. Skip intense late-night workouts for the first two to three days after the time changes. Workouts might fire you up when you need to be winding down. Temperature cues: Keep your bedroom cool, around 64 to 66 degrees Fahrenheit (18 to 19 degrees Celsius). Take a warm shower one to two hours before bedthe cooling effect afterward signals your body that it’s time to sleep.
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