3D jolts Hollywood
January 11, 2010 by Brahm Canzer
Filed under Part 1 Business in a Global Environment
Description: DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg says 3D films may account for a fifth of box office revenue in 2010.
Source: CNNMoney – video report
Date: 01/08/2010
Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/technology/2010/01/08/tm_katzenberg_dreamworks_ces.fortune/
Questions for discussion:
- Do you think 3D will continue to grow in popularity? Explain your thinking.
- Do you think the home entertainment market will be greater than the movie theatre market?
Job growth returns — then fades
January 11, 2010 by Brahm Canzer
Filed under Part 1 Business in a Global Environment
Description: Employers once again slashed a substantial number of jobs off their payrolls in December, according to a disappointing report from the government Friday. But there was a small glimmer of hope as well.
Source: CNNMoney.com
Date: 01/08/2010
Link: http://money.cnn.com/2010/01/08/news/economy/jobs_december/index.htm
Questions for discussion:
- Why is the loss of so many jobs so significant?
- What does this say about the businesses letting these workers go?
- How does net job creation or loss affect how well the economy will perform? Explain your answer.
Yahoo CEO Gives Herself B-Minus Grade in First Year
January 11, 2010 by Brahm Canzer
Filed under Part 1 Business in a Global Environment, Part 3 Management: Empowering People to Achieve Business Objectives
Description: Carol Bartz gives herself a B-minus in her first year as chief executive officer of Yahoo! Inc., saying she could have moved faster to reorganize the company and strike a Web-search agreement with Microsoft Corp.
Source: Bloomberg.com
Date: 01/08/2010
Link: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=a.Nuu2H6FSPY
Questions for discussion:
- How would you grade Carol Bartz and Yahoo!? Explain your thinking.
- Are you optimistic about the future for Yahoo!? Explain your thinking.
CBS chief: failed Leno/NBC experiment boosted CBS
January 11, 2010 by Brahm Canzer
Filed under Part 1 Business in a Global Environment
Description: CBS entertainment chief Nina Tassler said on Saturday that the No. 1 U.S. television network had reaped advertising benefits from rival NBC’s decision to move comedian Jay Leno to prime time in place of scripted drama.
Source: Reuters.com
Date: 01/09/2010
Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN095858520100109?type=marketsNews
Questions for discussion:
- Why do you think the 10PM time slop failed to work for the Leno Show?
- Do you think Leno is done or could he be successful again in another time slot? Explain your thinking.
- What would you advise NBC to do? Explain your thinking.
Look for travel deals in 2010
January 4, 2010 by Brahm Canzer
Filed under Part 1 Business in a Global Environment
Description: Analysts expect consumer business to increase, but slow business travel will help keep prices low.
Source: CNNMoney – video report
Date: 12/31/2009
Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2009/12/31/n_cmr_travel_outlook_2010.cnnmoney/
Questions for discussion:
- Summarize the projected business environment for the travel industry in 2010.
- Do you agree with these predications and the basis for them? Explain your thinking.
3 reasons home prices are heading lower
January 4, 2010 by Brahm Canzer
Filed under Part 1 Business in a Global Environment
Description: After four months of gains, home prices flattened in October. Worse yet, industry insiders think that they’ll soon start to fall.
Source: CNNMoney.com
Date: 01/01/2010
Link: http://money.cnn.com/2009/12/31/real_estate/home_price_drop/index.htm
Questions for discussion:
- Summarize the reasons given for house prices heading lower.
- How do you think homebuyers will respond to this news? Explain your answer.
- How do you think homebuilders will respond? Explain your answer.
- How might falling or flat house prices affect consumers in general? Explain your answer.
Avatar’ Is Top Film, Nears $1 Billion Sales Mark
January 4, 2010 by Brahm Canzer
Filed under Part 4: Marketing Management
Description: “Avatar,” the futuristic 3-D adventure, was the top film in the U.S. and Canada for the third straight weekend with $68.3 million in sales, and will cross the $1 billion mark in domestic and international receipts today.
Source: Bloomberg.com
Date: 01/03/2010
Link: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aiMQc2VTfFE0
Questions for discussion:
- Why do you think some films become such huge successes at the box-office? Explain your answer.
- Do you think the current state of the economy or some other factor is a major influence on the box-office success of films? Explain your thinking.
Microsoft Needs a Swift Kick in the Boot-Up: Rich Jaroslovsky
January 4, 2010 by Brahm Canzer
Filed under Part 4: Marketing Management
Description: It took about 20 years before television viewers no longer had to wait for their sets to warm up. Yet here we are, 30-plus years into the personal computer era, and the instant-on PC remains elusive.
Source: Bloomberg.com
Date: 01/02/2010
Link: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601093&sid=aZ.Y_dCigYME
Questions for discussion:
- Do you think “instant-on” technology is an important consideration for buyers? Explain your answer.
- How much money do you think a buyer would be willing to pay for this product performance improvement?
Investors Hope the ’10s Beat the ’00s
January 4, 2010 by Brahm Canzer
Filed under Part 6 Managing Financial Resources
Description: The U.S. stock market is wrapping up what is likely to be its worst decade ever. In nearly 200 years of recorded stock-market history, no calendar decade has seen such a dismal performance as the 2000s.
Source: WSJ.com
Date: 12/20/2009
Questions for discussion:
- Summarize the highlights of the story.
- Do you think dividends will regain their earlier growth patterns? Explain your answer.
- How do you think stocks will perform over the next ten years? Explain your answer.
- Which stock sectors do you think will outperform the averages and which do you think will underperform? Explain your thinking.
