Posts Categorized: Part 2 Starting and Growing Your Business

How Pandora Became a 10-Year Overnight Success

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:  Rarely is a startup an overnight success. Even if a company seems to come out of nowhere and sell months later, there were usually years of work behind the scenes. That’s the case for Pandora founder Tim Westergren. Source:  Sprouter.com Date: 12/21/2011 Link:  http://sprouter.com/blog/how-pandora-became-a-10-year-overnight-success/ Questions for discussion: Summarize the trials and tribulations of the… Read more »

What would make Caterpillar add jobs

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.

Description:  Caterpillar CEO Doug Oberhelman explains what the company needs to hire in the near and long-term. Source: CNNMoney.com – video report Date: 12/13/2011 Link:  http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2011/12/13/n_cat_ceo_adding_jobs.cnnmoney/ Questions for discussion: What are the challenges facing the firm? How do these issues relate to your understanding of the state of the economy? What should companies, governments and… Read more »

How Eric Ries Changed the Framework for Startup Success

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:  Eric Ries may be synonymous with startup success now, but in college he was just another kid with a business plan. The entrepreneur behind the Lean Startup philosophy started his first business while still in school at Yale, an online database of student resumes. The company, CatalystRecruiting.com, was a casualty of the dot com… Read more »

Facebook buys Gowalla

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 5 Managing Technology and Information.

Description:  Facebook has acquired location sharing service Gowalla for an undisclosed sum, according to a source close to Gowalla. Source:  CNNMoney.com Date: 12/02/2011 Link:  http://money.cnn.com/2011/12/02/technology/gowalla_facebook/index.htm?iid=SF_BN_Lead Questions for discussion: What are the reasons behind this and other acquisitions by Facebook? What are the advantages and disadvantages of this strategy from a strategic managerial as well as… Read more »

The joy (and peril) of small business shopping

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:  Like many Americans, I like to shop at small, locally-owned businesses when I can. Millions of people participated in “Small Business Saturday” this past weekend, with an eye toward improving our local economies. After all, a 2008 study of Grand Rapids, Mich. from research firm Civic Economics found that locally-owned businesses tend to spend… Read more »

Unleash the Entrepreneurs

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.

Description:  Bad policies are holding back the ultimate job creators. Source:  City-Journal.org Date: Fall 2011 Link:  http://www.city-journal.org/2011/21_4_entrepreneurs.html Questions for discussion: Summarize the key points presented in the article about the relationship between job creation and entrepreneurialism. What are the statistical arguments? Why do you suppose government still looks to older industry and big-businesses as the… Read more »

The Shadowy World of iPhone Cases

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.

Description: Smartphone case makers rely on rumors and leaks to get their products on the market first Source: Businessweek.com Date: 10/14/2011 Link:   http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/the-shadowy-world-of-iphone-cases-10132011.html Questions for discussion: What did you learn in this report about risk-taking and the planning process? How would you make decisions in this business environment?

Firing Steve Jobs was “a terrible mistake”

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:   Former Apple CEO John Sculley reflects on how Steve Jobs recruited him to run the tech company and why its board ultimately fired Jobs in 1985. Source: CNNMoney.com – video report Date: 10/06/2011 Link:  http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2011/10/06/t_gc_sculley_jobs.cnnmoney/ Questions for discussion: According to John Sculley, what sort of businessman and entrepreneur was Steve Jobs? Do you think… Read more »

Five Steps to Job Creation

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.

Description: First off, forget budget-cutting and think about training your existing staff Source: Businessweek.com Date: 10/04/2011 Link:   http://www.businessweek.com/management/five-steps-to-job-creation-10042011.html Questions for discussion: Summarize the prescriptions for job creation presented in the article. Do you think small businesses are more likely to respond to these suggestions?

Cable’s ESPN Dilemma: Wildly Popular—but Costly

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

Description: As the Disney-owned network pays more for sports content, cable bills may rise Source: Businessweek.com Date: 09/29/2011 Link:   http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/cables-espn-dilemma-wildly-popularbut-costly-09292011.html Questions for discussion: Summarize the problems described in the article. What are the possible solutions?