Description: Google Inc. cut its taxes by $3.1 billion in the last three years using a technique that moves most of its foreign profits through Ireland and the Netherlands to Bermuda. Source: Bloomberg.com  Date: 10/21/2010 Link: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-10-21/google-2-4-rate-shows-how-60-billion-u-s-revenue-lost-to-tax-loopholes.html Questions for discussion: Are Google’s actions unethical or illegal? What does this report have to say about the… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Part 1 Business in a Global Environment
Rum Battle in Caribbean Leaves Tax Hangover
Description: Rum and politics have made a fiery mix since America’s earliest days, when a young politician named George Washington won election to the House of Burgesses in colonial Virginia with the help of spiked punch at the polls. Source: NYTimes.com  Date: 10/15/2010 Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/16/business/16rum.html?ref=business Questions for discussion: What does this report have to… Read more »
What J&J’s CEO didn’t say
Description: CEO William Weldon admitted to lawmakers that his company made mistakes involving numerous recalls, but never explained how they happened. Source: CNNMoney.com – video report Date: 10/01/2010 Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2010/09/30/n_tylenol_recall_hearing.cnnmoney/ Questions for discussion: Summarize the plan at Starbucks to expand into other businesses by using the web? Do you think this plan will be successful?… Read more »
HP taps outsider as CEO
Description: Although ex-SAP Chief Leo Apotheker lacks experience in the key consumer market, analysts say he will bring much-needed leadership to the tech giant. Source: CNNMoney.com – video report  Date: 10/01/2010 Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/markets/2010/10/01/mkts_hp_apotheker.cnnmoney/ Questions for discussion: According to the report, what are the positive and negative aspects of the recent appointment of Leo Apotheker… Read more »
World’s largest off-shore wind farm
Description: Off of the coast of Great Britain, 100 wind turbines power 200,000 homes Source: CNNMoney.com – video report  Date: 09/23/2010 Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2010/09/23/n_gb_off_shore_wind_farm.cnnmoney/ Questions for discussion: Do you think this energy business would be as successful, without government subsidies? What role should government play in helping emerging enterprises establish themselves? Are subsidies fair to… Read more »
Oprah Blesses Facebook Founder Zuckerberg’s $100 Million School Gift
Description: You have to be impressed with Mark Zuckerberg. Not just because the 26-year-old has packed a lifetime of achievement into a period when most late adolescents are still trying to find themselves. In seven years he’s gone from being an awkward college freshman to a reported net worth of nearly $7 billion. Source: BNET.com… Read more »
iPad clones hit shelves in China
Description: As Apple launches the iPad in China, locally-made wannabes are released at a fraction of the price. Source: CNNMoney.com – video report Date: 09/17/2010 Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/technology/2010/09/17/t_iclone_china.cnnmoney/ Questions for discussion: Do you think consumers will look at these devices as equivalents to Apple iPads? How is Apple able to sell iPads at five times the… Read more »
Small business: Stop ignoring us!
Description: Business owners from across the U.S. say the government should clarify its stance on taxes and do more to help them. Source: CNNMoney.com – video report  Date: 09/08/2010 Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2010/09/08/n_small_business_owners.cnnmoney/ Questions for discussion: Summarize the comments made by the small business owners in this report. Do you agree with their positions? Why are… Read more »
After the Financial Meltdown, Where’s America’s Outrage?
Description: Andrew Ross Sorkin of The New York Times noted that 49% of people surveyed had a negative view of Goldman Sachs. Financial companies are busily trying to rebuild their reputations by, among other things, running lots of advertisements touting their lending activities, but numerous reports show that banks are cutting credit lines to both… Read more »
Japan CEOs Learn `Globish’ to Expand Overseas as Economy Stalls
Description: Oki Matsumoto, chief executive officer of online trader Monex Group Inc. and a former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. partner, has a solution to Japan’s stagnant domestic economy: Learn “globish.†Matsumoto holds regular parties at the Tokyo-based company where employees must speak globish, or global English, a language for non-native speakers using basic grammar and… Read more »