Gold ATM debuts in Abu Dhabi
May 17, 2010 by Brahm Canzer
Filed under Part 4: Marketing Management
Description: The world’s first gold vending machine is drawing crowds to The Emirates Palace, the most expensive hotel in the world.
Source: CNNMoney.com – video report
Date: 05/13/2010
Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2010/05/13/n_gold_atm.cnnmoney/
Questions for discussion:
- Who is the target market for this ATM?
- How do you think this sort of machine might influence buyer behavior?
- What does this development in distribution strategy portend for the traditional distributors of gold products?
- What other products might succeed through an ATM style dispenser?
Adobe New Ads Take Aim at Apple
May 17, 2010 by Brahm Canzer
Filed under Part 1 Business in a Global Environment, Part 2 Starting and Growing Your Business
Description: Adobe launched an advertising campaign Thursday that takes an unexpected tack in its ongoing feud with Apple: proclaiming, in huge letters, Adobe’s love for the computer giant. Alan Murray and Walt Mossberg discuss this latest development.
Source: Marketwatch.com – video report
Date: 05/13/2010
Questions for discussion:
- Summarize the competitive conflict going on between Apple and Adobe.
- Why are the developers that write applications in Flash and other software so important to both firms?
- From a consumer’s point of view, how should the industry proceed with software and platform development?
‘Shocking’ conditions at Tylenol plant
Description: The quality and safety violations that led to the shutdown of a Tylenol plant were extremely serious, and could lead to tough action by regulators on drugmaker Johnson & Johnson.
Source: CNNMoney.com
Date: 05/14/2010
Link: http://money.cnn.com/2010/05/14/news/companies/tylenol_recall_plant_conditions/index.htm
Questions for discussion:
- Are there any excuses that the firm could offer the public that might mitigate this publicity disaster?
- What public relations actions would you recommend to the firm?
CEO Pay Breaks Glass Ceiling as Bartz Gets $47.2 Million in ‘09
May 17, 2010 by Brahm Canzer
Filed under Part 3 Management: Empowering People to Achieve Business Objectives
Description: Chief executive officers’ pay is shattering the glass ceiling. Boosted by a $47.2 million package for Carol Bartz of Yahoo! Inc. and $26.3 million for Irene Rosenfeld of Kraft Foods Inc., compensation for woman CEOs at the biggest U.S. companies is booming.
Source: Bloomberg.com
Date: 05/13/2010
Link: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aM3CXlOJRBcs
Questions for discussion:
What does this report have to say about the pay earned by CEO women executives?
Google Data Admission Angers Europe
May 17, 2010 by Brahm Canzer
Filed under Part 1 Business in a Global Environment
Description: European privacy regulators and advocates reacted angrily Saturday to the disclosure by Google, the world’s largest search engine, that it had systematically collected personal data since 2006 while compiling its Street View photo archive.
Source: NYTimes.com
Date: 05/15/2010
Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/16/technology/16google.html?ref=business
Questions for discussion:
- Summarize what you learned from the article.
- Do you think the damage to Google`s reputation is serious?
- What should Google do to make amends?
- Should the firm be prosecuted and fined by government?
The cost of Mother’s Day
May 10, 2010 by Brahm Canzer
Filed under Part 4: Marketing Management
Description: All the presents and dinners purchased for America’s moms adds up to billions of dollars.
Source: CNNMoney.com – video report
Date: 05/07/2010
Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2010/05/07/n_cmr_mothers_day_numbers.cnnmoney/
Questions for discussion:
- According to the report, which businesses are big winners at Mother’s Day?
- How do the marketing models in the textbook explain shopping behavior for Mother’s Day?
- Why do you suppose men spend so much more money that women for Mother’s Day?
Fishing Industry Hammered by Gulf Oil Spill
May 10, 2010 by Brahm Canzer
Filed under Part 1 Business in a Global Environment, Part 6 Managing Financial Resources
Description: The petroleum and fishing industries have a long and uneasy intertwined history in the Gulf of Mexico. WSJ’s Andy Jordan looks at how the growing gulf oil spill is hurting Louisiana fishermen who supply around one-third of the U.S.’s seafood.
Source: Marketwatch.com – video report
Date: 05/05/2010
Questions for discussion:
- Can the businesses mentioned in this report thrive together or is the situation one where what is good for one is detrimental to another?
- Can government intervention help solve this conflict of business interests? Explain your thinking.
Yesterday’s market swerve: fat fingers, glitch, or cyber-warfare?
May 10, 2010 by Brahm Canzer
Filed under Part 6 Managing Financial Resources
Description: Theories about yesterday’s stock market swoon, where within a matter of 20 minutes, the stock market plunged by 1,000 points and then nearly completely recovered, are abounding. Fortune asked Rishi Narang, founder of the hedge fund Telesis Capital and author of Inside the Black Box, to share the theories he’s heard and handicap them in terms of likelihood and plausibility.
Source: CNNMoney.com
Date: 05/08/2010
Link: http://money.cnn.com/2010/05/07/markets/market_swerve.fortune/index.htm
Questions for discussion:
What were the possible explanations given for the sudden stock market change in values?
Which do you think is most likely correct?
On Her Team, It’s All About Bench Strength
May 10, 2010 by Brahm Canzer
Filed under Part 3 Management: Empowering People to Achieve Business Objectives
Description: This interview with Sharon Napier, chief executive of Partners + Napier, an ad agency based in Rochester, was conducted and condensed by Adam Bryant.
Source: NYTimes.com
Date: 05/07/2010
Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/09/business/09corner.html?ref=business
Questions for discussion:
- What lessons did you learn by reading this article?
- Which comment do you think was the most insightful?
- What would add to the commentary about the relationship between sports and management?
The New Money Rules for Recent Graduates
May 10, 2010 by Brahm Canzer
Filed under Part 6 Managing Financial Resources
Description: Final exams over, newly minted college graduates may still have some studying to do as they prepare to plan their financial future.
Source: NYTimes.com
Date: 05/07/2010
Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/08/your-money/08money.html?ref=business
Questions for discussion:
- Summarize what you learned from the article.
- Which item in the article will affect you the most?
