Description: In a global push, the carmaker will open its third plant in China and introduce four new vehicles before 2012. Source: CNNMoney – video report  Date: 9/25/2009 Keys: International business, management, marketing, strategic planning Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/markets/2009/09/25/mkts_asia_ford_china_u3x.cnnmoney/ Questions for discussion: Why do you think Ford is building new plants in China? Explain your thinking…. Read more »
Monthly Archives: September 2009
Bullish Estimates Fail to Keep Up With S&P 500 Gain
Description: Strategists at Wall Street’s biggest securities firms can’t keep up with the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index after the steepest surge since the 1930s. Source: Bloomberg.com Date: 9/23/2009 Keys: Stock markets, economy Link: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=azdTAKZ2QQ7w Questions for discussion: Summarize the explanations for the rise in stock markets as well as the arguments saying they are… Read more »
Silicon Valley reinvents the lowly brick
Description: Forget microchips. Silicon Valley sees a profitable future in the humble brick thanks to a low-energy production process that illustrates the greening of the U.S. technology capital. Source: Reuters.com Date: 9/22/2009 Keys: Marketing, new product development, technology Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSTRE58K47220090922 Questions for discussion: What are the risks to builders using these new bricks? What risk… Read more »
Study shows U.S. bank CEO pay dwarfs rest of world
Description: You wouldn’t know it by his pay stubs, but Jiang Jianqing heads the world’s largest bank. Jiang, chairman of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, made just $234,700 in 2008. That’s less than 2 percent of the $19.6 million awarded to Jamie Dimon, chief executive of the world’s fourth-largest bank, JPMorgan Chase & Co…. Read more »
Xerox: A smooth CEO transition
Description: Outgoing chief Anne Mulcahy and incoming head Ursula Burns discuss their historic CEO handoff. Source: CNNMoney – video report  Date: 9/16/2009 Keys: Management, HR, strategic planning Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/fortune/2009/09/16/f_mpw_xerox_transition.fortune/ Questions for discussion: Summarize the similarities and differences you can observe about these two CEOs. Do you find it strange that their educational backgrounds are… Read more »
Riding the bull a little longer
Description: The momentum that boosted the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq to nearly one-year highs looks to reassert itself in the week ahead. Fed meeting, housing reports, G-20 summit on tap. Source: CNNMoney.com Date: 9/20/2009 Keys: Investing, stock market Link: http://money.cnn.com/2009/09/18/markets/sunday_lookahead/index.htm?postversion=2009092008 Questions for discussion: Based on the report, do you believe the stock markets will… Read more »
Marchionne Managing Chrysler Means 5 Mobile Devices in Backpack
Description: To save Chrysler Group LLC, Chief Executive Officer Sergio Marchionne has to create a mid-size sedan that can compete with the world’s best. It’s a three- to five-year job, and he may have two years to do it. Source: Bloomberg.com Date: 9/14/2009 Keys: Management, investing, marketing Link: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=awHymjXNOYdI Questions for discussion: Summarize the strategies… Read more »
Renault’s Ghosn Says Future of Electric Autos Hinges on $70 Oil
Description: Renault SA Chief Executive Officer Carlos Ghosn said the future of electric cars depends on a rebound in oil prices that may boost sales of the battery-powered vehicles he’s spending 4 billion euros ($5.9 billion) to develop. Source: Bloomberg.com Date: 9/16/2009 Keys: Marketing, finance, technology Link: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aR2eQwSe7_S8 Questions for discussion: Do you think Renault’s… Read more »
Steve Jobs is back
Description: Apple’s CEO makes his first public appearance in a year to unveil iPod upgrades. Source: CNNMoney – video report  Date: 9/09/2009 Keys: Management, marketing Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/technology/2009/09/09/f_tt_apple_steve_jobs.fortune/ Questions for discussion: Why is the return of Steve Jobs so important to Apple and the industry in general? Do you think Apple’s new product features will… Read more »
Big week ahead on Wall Street
Description: One year after Lehman Brothers, the stock market is right back where it was. Beyond the anniversary, reports on the consumer loom. Source: CNN News Date: 9/12/2009 Keys: Marketing, pricing, new product development, technologies Link: http://money.cnn.com/2009/09/12/markets/sunday_lookahead/index.htm?postversion=2009091206 Questions for discussion: Explain why the stock market fell and returned to the current valuation during the past… Read more »
