Is Boeing 787 Really a Dreamliner?

Description:  The Boeing 787 “Dreamliner” was billed as a revolution for travelers, offering a more humid, comfortable cabin and lighting that would lessen fatigue, dry eyes and jet lag. Scott McCartney on Lunch Break looks at the validity of those claims.

Source: Moneywatch.com – video report

Date: 02/15/2012

Link:   http://www.marketwatch.com/video/asset/is-boeing-787-really-a-dreamliner/CC9F10E4-0EE5-4F2D-A2C2-62B6C6D49DDB

Questions for discussion:

  • What are the important selling features to managers of airlines buying these planes?
  • What are the features that would be important to passengers?

Look to weaknesses to find your leadership strengths

Description:   (MoneyWatch)  Steve Jobs, General Patton, and Mother Teresa. They were leaders who broke the mold, using their uniqueness to do what no one else could do. What they had in common was that they were unique.

Source: MoneyWatch.com

Date: 02/08/2012

Link:  http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505125_162-57372852/look-to-weaknesses-to-find-your-leadership-strengths/?tag=nl.e857

Questions for discussion:

  • Summarize the ideas expressed in this article about leadership?
  • What is your opinion of this line of thinking?

250,000 ask Apple to change its labor ways

Description:  Petitions with over 250,000 signatures were delivered to Apple stores calling for reforms to working conditions in its suppliers’ factories.

Source: CNNMoney.com – video report

Link:   http://money.cnn.com/video/technology/2012/02/09/t-ts-change-org-signatures.cnnmoney/

Questions for discussion:

  • Do you think Apple is being singled-out when the concerns likely apply to any company manufacturing in China?
  • How should Apple’s management deal with group?

An Idea for Fixing Education: Skip College, Work at a Startup

Description:  Skip college, work at a startup. That’s the idea behind a new two-year program called Enstittue that started accepting applications Tuesday.

Source:  Mashable.com

Date: 02/02/2012

Linkhttp://mashable.com/2012/02/07/enstitute/

Questions for discussion:

  • What do you think of these arguments for learning on the job?
  • For which careers is attending college a better choice for more efficient learning?

How Zuckerberg changed the game

Description:  Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg grew the college dorm room startup to a global tech giant with more users than most countries’ populations.

Source: CNNMoney.com – video report

Date: 02/03/2012

Link:   http://money.cnn.com/video/technology/2012/02/02/f_game_changers_facebook.fortune/

Questions for discussion:

  • Who is Mark Zukerberg?
  • Do you think his engineering background affected the way he managed the development of the company?

Super Bowl ads are GoDaddy’s domain

Description:  The web hosting company has seen its market share increase exponentially since its first Super Bowl ad in 2005.

Source: CNNMoney.com – video report

Date: 02/02/2012

Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/technology/2012/02/01/t-bcos-godaddy-superbowl-ad.fortune/

Questions for discussion:

  • Why has GoDaddy been so successful using Super Bowl advertising?
  • Who is the target market?
  • What are the pros and cons of managing your own advertising production studios?

The $1.6 Billion Woman, Staying on Message

Description:  SEVENTY-TWO hours before Facebook’s big moment, Sheryl K. Sandberg was half a world away, hobnobbing with the likes of Bill Gates and the Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

Source:  NYTimes.com

Date: 02/03/2012

Link:   http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/05/business/sheryl-sandberg-of-facebook-staying-on-message.html?ref=business

Questions for discussion:

  • How would you describe Sheryl Sandberg?
  • Do you think her gender has helped, hurt, or made no difference in her success?

Small Business Exports Edge Up

Description:  Small businesses have increased their share of exports in the two years since President Obama set a goal to double U.S. sales abroad by 2015, according to new federal data.

Source:  Businessweek.com

Date: 02/02/2012

Link:  http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/running_small_business/archives/2012/02/small_business_exports_edge_up.html

Questions for discussion:

  • What are the reasons for the improved exports by small businesses?
  • Can this be sustained? If so, how?

Kaiser CEO: Time to end piecemeal healthcare

Description:  George Halvorson, CEO of non-profit healthcare insurer Kaiser Permanente, says the current U.S. healthcare system will drive the economy into the ground.

Source: CNNMoney.com – video report

Date: 01/26/2012

Link:   http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2012/01/26/n_davos_halvorson_health.cnnmoney/

Questions for discussion:

  • Describe how the not-for-profit and for-profit healthcare businesses work?
  • How should healthcare work, according to CEO George Halvorson?
  • How could it be better?
  • What managerial issues are stopping the for-profit industry from adopting these policies?
  • How does consumer psychology affect this business?

Amazon’s Hit Man

Description:  Larry Kirshbaum was the ultimate book industry insider—until Amazon called

Source:  Businessweek.com

Date: 01/25/2012

Linkhttp://www.businessweek.com/magazine/amazons-hit-man-01252012.html?chan=magazine+channel_top+stories

Questions for discussion:

  • Describe the changes that management is dealing with in the publishing industry.
  • How has management at Amazon been affected by technological changes?
  • Do you think management decision-making has been responsive?

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