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

Description: Walt Disney Co. (DIS) and its state-owned China partner will invest about $4.4 billion building a resort in Shanghai, the entertainment company’s second amusement park in the world’s most-populous nation.

Source: Bloomberg.com

Date: 04/08/2011

Link: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-08/disney-breaks-ground-on-4-4-billion-shanghai-resort-in-china-market-drive.html

Questions for discussion:

  • Do you think Disney will do well with this venture?
  • What are the factors supporting the belief that this venture can be the start for bigger and better economic exchange with Asia, and China in particular?
  • What risks are associated with this venture?

Posted by & filed under Part 1 Business in a Global Environment, Part 4: Marketing Management, Part 6 Managing Financial Resources.

 

Description: After decades of decline, the bus is the U.S.’s fastest-growing way to travel, led by curbside service from Megabus, BoltBus, and others.

Source: Businessweek.com

Date: 04/07/2011

Link: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/11_16/b4224062391848.htm

Questions for discussion:

  • What does this report have to say about the current business models for transportation?
  • What are the competitive advantages for this firm?
  • Why would this model be a threat to others in the transportation business?

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

Description:   Information sent from your cable box about your viewing habits allows advertisers to target ads more effectively.

Source: CNNMoney.com – video report

Date: 03/30/2011

Link:  http://money.cnn.com/video/technology/2011/03/30/t_tv_advertising_target.cnnmoney/

Questions for discussion: 

  • Do you think television viewers will collaborate with the effort to deliver smarter advertising to them?
  • What incentives could encourage compliance?
  • Why is this technology so valuable to advertisers?
  • What are the ethical and social implications?

Posted by & filed under Part 3 Management: Empowering People to Achieve Business Objectives.

Description: Guy Kawasaki, author and former Apple executive says the company maintains consumer appeal despite its business tactics.

Source:  CNNMoney.com – video report

Date: 03/31/2011

Link:  http://money.cnn.com/video/technology/2011/03/30/ctd_kawasaki_apple.fortune/

Questions for discussion: 

  • What is the recipe for management success as suggested in this report?
  • Do you think Apple’s brand will suffer after Steve Jobs?

Posted by & filed under Part 4: Marketing Management, Part 6 Managing Financial Resources.

Description:  IN late June 2008, a week after he astonished the golf world by winning the United States Open while grimacing in pain on a torn left knee, Tiger Woods traveled to a craggy chunk of land on the Baja Peninsula in Mexico.

Source: NYTimes.com
 
Date: 04/02/2011

Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/03/business/03tiger.html?ref=business

Questions for discussion:

  • Summarize the reasons that suggested this business would be successful?
  • Explain why it has had trouble succeeding?
  • What do you believe is the single major factor that will determine whether this business succeeds or fails?

Posted by & filed under Part 4: Marketing Management.

Description: Vogue and Elle have long influenced what clothes and handbags image-conscious consumers buy. Now, in a bid to reverse flagging sales and stay relevant, fashion magazines may sell the products they feature in their articles.

Source:  Bloomberg.com

Date: 04/02/2011

Link:  http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-31/click-to-buy-that-handbag-in-vogue-as-magazines-become-e-tailers.html

Questions for discussion: 

  • Explain why this concept is likely to work well for consumers, producers, and retailers?
  • What risks are there for these players?

Posted by & filed under Part 1 Business in a Global Environment, Part 4: Marketing Management, Part 6 Managing Financial Resources.

Description:  E-readers may evolve into multipurpose devices that can surf the Web, show movies, play music, and perform other tricks

Source: Businessweek.com

Date: 03/28/2011

Link: http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/mar2011/tc20110325_523054.htm

Questions for discussion: 

  • What does this report have to say about the evolution of ebooks and the related technologies?
  • Where do you think this will all lead in terms of readers and content distributors?

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

Description:   One company in Orange County, Calif., mines landfills and converts consumer trash into reusable, eco-friendly moving boxes.

Source: CNNMoney.com – video report

Date: 03/25/2011

Link:   http://money.cnn.com/video/smallbusiness/2011/03/24/sbiz_green_box.cnnmoney/

Questions for discussion: 

  • What are the ethical and social responsibility issues associated with this business from the company’s point of view as well as their customers’?
  • Should government play a role in encouraging customers to choose this option?
  • What are the consequences of  subsidizing socially responsible business behaviors?

Posted by & filed under Part 3 Management: Empowering People to Achieve Business Objectives.

Description: Equipois’ “zeroG” devices help lift heavy objects — a major breakthrough for industrial workers.

Source:  CNNMoney.com – video report

Date: 03/24/2011

Link:   http://money.cnn.com/video/technology/2011/03/24/t-tt-robot-arm.cnnmoney/

Questions for discussion: 

  • How might a manager evaluate the cost versus the benefit of installing this sort of equipment?
  • Do you think the purchase of this  sort of equipment would produce other benefits for employees?

Posted by & filed under Part 3 Management: Empowering People to Achieve Business Objectives.

Description:  Eric Firestone began a new job at a Web start-up here three weeks ago, and he’s already thinking about what he might do next. But that’s just fine with his new employer.

Source: NYTimes.com
 
Date: 03/25/2011

Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/26/technology/26recruit.html?_r=1&ref=business

Questions for discussion: 

  • What does this report suggest about the hiring environment in Silicon Valley?
  • How are the perks mentioned in the article related to the motivational models described in the textbook?
  • Do you think they are affective?