New Kindle tablet targets the iPad

Posted by & filed under Part 1 Business in a Global Environment, Part 4: Marketing Management.

Description: Amazon doesn’t view its new tablets as hardware but more as a way to sell Amazon content as it tries to steal buyers away from Apple. Source: CNNMoney.com – video report Date: Sep 06, 2012 Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/technology/2012/09/06/amazon-kindle-fire-service.fortune/ Questions for Discussions: How is Amazon’s marketing strategy similar and yet different in comparison to Apple’s? Are… Read more »

No Joke: Jay Leno Took Pay Cut of 50%

Posted by & filed under Part 1 Business in a Global Environment, Part 3 Management: Empowering People to Achieve Business Objectives, Part 4: Marketing Management, Part 5 Managing Technology and Information, Part 6 Managing Financial Resources.

Description: Late-night talk show host Jay Leno took a 50% pay cut as part of NBC’s budget-chopping effort last month at “The Tonight Show,” the network said, detailing the scope of the changes for the first time as well as the reasoning behind them. Christopher Stewart has details on Lunch Break. Photo: Getty Images. Source:… Read more »

As PC Sales Turn Down, Intel Trims Its Outlook

Posted by & filed under Part 1 Business in a Global Environment, Part 3 Management: Empowering People to Achieve Business Objectives, Part 4: Marketing Management, Part 5 Managing Technology and Information.

Description:  With the personal computer market stalled, Intel, the primary maker of computer chips, warned its investors Friday that revenue would be lower than expected, as would profit margins. Source: NYTimes.com Date: Sep 07, 2012 Link:  http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/08/technology/intel-downgrades-sales-expectations.html?ref=business Questions for Discussions: What are the reasons for the situation at Intel and the PC industry in general?… Read more »

Pitaya: The Selling of a Superfruit

Posted by & filed under Part 1 Business in a Global Environment, Part 2 Starting and Growing Your Business, Part 4: Marketing Management.

Description:  A few months ago, Eric Helms, the 42-year-old founder and chief executive officer of Juice Generation, a chain of juice and smoothie bars in New York City, wanted to display what he calls “the next big superfruit” in his stores. Having bought exclusive import rights to a year’s supply of pitaya, a softball-sized fruit… Read more »

Jack Daniel’s Parent Targets a Varied Customer Base

Posted by & filed under Part 1 Business in a Global Environment, Part 4: Marketing Management, Part 5 Managing Technology and Information.

Description:  Ted Hissey is senior vice president and director of innovation, consumer planning and global marketing services for spirits and wine producer Brown-Forman, marketer of brands such as Jack Daniel’s, Southern Comfort, Korbel, Chambord and Finlandia. Hissey oversees new product initiatives, market research and marketing services that support B-F’s brands on a global basis. Hissey… Read more »

How Crayola crayons are made

Posted by & filed under Part 1 Business in a Global Environment, Part 2 Starting and Growing Your Business, Part 3 Management: Empowering People to Achieve Business Objectives, Part 4: Marketing Management.

Description: For over 100 years, Crayola has mixed and molded crayons in the hopes of encouraging creativity in children. Source: CNNMoney.com – video report Date: Aug 29, 2012 Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/smallbusiness/2012/08/29/sbiz-hwgs-crayola-crayons.cnnmoney/ Questions for Discussions: Why do you think crayons and Crayola brand in particular have endured for so many generations? Describe the manufacturing process that was… Read more »

Facebook Shares Hit New Lows

Posted by & filed under Part 1 Business in a Global Environment, Part 2 Starting and Growing Your Business, Part 3 Management: Empowering People to Achieve Business Objectives, Part 4: Marketing Management, Part 5 Managing Technology and Information, Part 6 Managing Financial Resources.

Description: Facebook shares fell 5% to new lows Friday as two analysts from firms that underwrote its initial public offering cut their price targets on the shares, Paul Vigna reports on the News Hub. Photo: AP. Source: Moneywatch.com – video report Date: Aug 31, 2012 Link: http://on.wsj.com/R3hzXy Questions for Discussions: Summarize the explanation in this… Read more »

A Weight-Loss Strategy From an Unlikely Pair

Posted by & filed under Part 1 Business in a Global Environment, Part 4: Marketing Management, Part 5 Managing Technology and Information.

Description:  WHEN Myles Berkowitz first met Steven Kates through a mutual friend in 2006, Mr. Berkowitz had serious doubts about him. Source: NYTimes.com Date: Sep 01, 2012 Link:  http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/02/business/lifesize-a-weight-loss-strategy-from-an-unlikely-pair.html?ref=business Questions for Discussions: What is the key selling point in this dieting system? Why do you think it is it successfull with consumers? How else would… Read more »

The Innovation That Could Make Most Job Interviews Obsolete

Posted by & filed under Part 1 Business in a Global Environment, Part 3 Management: Empowering People to Achieve Business Objectives, Part 5 Managing Technology and Information.

Description:  Today I met with three representatives from a seven-year-old company called HireVue that is changing the way a lot of people get hired. Founded by a guy named Mark Newman when he was just 20 years old and fresh out of Westminster college in Salt Lake City, HireVue provides one-way video interviews where candidates… Read more »

Warren Buffett’s simple recipe for success

Posted by & filed under Part 6 Managing Financial Resources.

Description:  I don’t know how to put this, but … Warren Buffett is awesome, and you and me, we almost certainly are not. Source: MontrealGazette.com Date: Aug 27, 2012 Link:  http://www.montrealgazette.com/business/Warren+Buffett+simple+recipe+success/7152863/story.html#ixzz25E1ueyGx Questions for Discussions: What does this report suggest are the reasons for Buffett’s success? What sort of investor should emulate this strategic thinking?