Remembering the Triangle Fire 100 years later

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

Description: As labor unions battle to retain collective bargaining rights in Wisconsin, Ohio and other states, they are marking the centennial of a tragic factory fire that started the movement that first won those rights.

Source:  CNNMoney.com

Date: 03/25/2011

Link:  http://money.cnn.com/2011/03/24/news/Triangle_fire_centennial/index.htm

Questions for discussion: 

  • Summarize the details of this event.
  • How has it come to influence the labor movement relationship with business ever since.
  • What are some of the current labor issues facing workers, businesses and governments today?
  • Do you think unions are a general force for good?

No Buyers for Barnes & Noble at 60 Cents on Dollar: Real M&A

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

Description:  Even with Barnes & Noble Inc. selling for 60 cents on the dollar, the cheapest retailer in America still isn’t cheap enough to entice private-equity buyers looking for cash.

Source: Businessweek.com

Date: 03/25/2011

Link: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-03-25/no-buyers-for-barnes-noble-at-60-cents-on-dollar-real-m-a.html

Questions for discussion: 

  • What does this report have to say about the financial viability of this business model?
  • What other business are also likely to find themselves in similar situations in the next 10 years?

Japan quake threatens global supply

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

Description:   Some say the quake’s hit to Japan’s manufacturing sector will have a profound impact on the global supply chain, CNN’s Kyung Lah reports.

Source: CNNMoney.com – video report

Date: 03/18/2011

Link:   http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2011/03/18/n_japan_supplychain.cnnmoney/

Questions for discussion: 

  • What does this report have to say about the global nature of business?
  • How might businesses be expected to react to the supply shortages?
  • How might consumers be expected to react?

NOLA’s green renaissance

Posted by & filed under Part 5 Managing Technology and Information, Part 6 Managing Financial Resources.

Description: Five years after Katrina destroyed the city, New Orleans is rebuilt and flowering into a ‘green’ hub of the South. 

Source:  CNNMoney.com – video report

Date: 03/17/2011

Link:   http://money.cnn.com/video/smallbusiness/2011/03/17/sbiz_green_new_orleans.cnnmoney/

Questions for discussion: 

  • Summarize the green energy renewal effort in New Orleans.
  • How can this serve as a model for other communities?
  • Do you think this effort is sufficient to rejuvenate the local economy?
  • What else could be done to help business development?

General Mills Nears $1.1 Billion Deal to Buy Half of Yoplait

Posted by & filed under Part 6 Managing Financial Resources.

Description:  The owners of Yoplait, the French yogurt maker, said Friday that they were in exclusive negotiations with the company’s longtime American partner, General Mills, to sell just over a 50 percent stake for about 800 million euros ($1.1 billion).

Source: NYTimes.com
 
Date: 03/18/2011

Link: http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/03/18/general-mills-set-to-buy-yoplait-stake-for-1-1-billion/?ref=business

Questions for discussion: 

  • Do you think that General Mills would have made this offer if the licensing agreement wasn’t an issue?
  • Do you think they might be over-paying because of the circumstances?
  • What alternatives are available to both firms?
  • Would you be following this strategy?
  • Would you be a buyer of the company stock today?

Apple, Google May Profit on a Tax Holiday

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

Description: Those companies and others say they’ll bring home billions in earnings—but only if they get a big tax break

Source:  Businessweek.com

Date: 03/17/2011

Link:  http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/11_13/b4221064108107.htm

Questions for discussion: 

  • Summarize the basic arguments surrounding this topic.
  • What are the factors favoring allowing tax-free repatriation and those against?

How the Colonel Convinced the Chinese to Eat More Chicken — Lots of It

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

Description:  KFC’s success in opening and operating fast food restaurants in China is such that one analyst declared it to be “the most successful foreign company in China.” Now, here’s one of the broader effects of that achievement — a huge surge in chicken consumption among the Chinese.

Source: BNET.com

Date: 03/18/2011

Link: http://www.bnet.com/blog/food-industry/how-the-colonel-convinced-the-chinese-to-eat-more-chicken-8212-lots-of-it/2733?tag=fd-featureRoto;fd-featureRoto5

Questions for discussion: 

  • What does this report have to say about international business and consumer tastes?
  • What other business are also likely to find similar success in China?

Japan quake shakes up oil prices

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

Description:   The earthquake in Japan may not cause prices to plunge more Friday but the long-term impact on oil could be drastic

Source: CNNMoney.com – video report

Date: 03/11/2011

Link:   http://money.cnn.com/video/markets/2011/03/11/mkts_japan_quake_oil2.cnnmoney/

Questions for discussion: 

  • How does this incredible disaster in Japan connect to the international demand and price for oil?
  • What are some of the economic scenarios that might result from this crisis in Japan and elsewhere in the world?

BullHorn: SXSW: Who’ll be the best?

Posted by & filed under Part 5 Managing Technology and Information, Part 6 Managing Financial Resources.

Description: Foursquare and Gowalla were big hits last year at the technology conference in Austin, Texas. Are they takeover targets now?

Source:  CNNMoney.com – video report

Date: 03/10/2011

Link:   http://money.cnn.com/video/markets/2011/03/10/mkts_bh_sxsw_bsft_fnsr.cnnmoney/

Questions for discussion: 

  • Summarize the analysis presented about each company.
  • Do you think any one of these companies has an advantage in the developing technologies of “real-time web”?
  • What are the revenue streams that might emerge from this technology?

Walt Mossberg Reviews the iPad 2

Posted by & filed under Part 4: Marketing Management, Part 5 Managing Technology and Information.

Description:  You already know the highlights of the new Apple iPad: thinner, lighter, faster. But how is it to use? Walt Mossberg shares the results of his testing of the iPad 2.

Source: CNNMoney.com – video report
 
Date: 03/09/2011

Link: http://www.marketwatch.com/video/asset/walt-mossberg-reviews-the-ipad-2/884A2E9D-C41F-4FAD-8C2E-37EEBFDB29A5

Questions for discussion: 

  • Summarize the review of the new model?
  • Do you believe this model will continue to give Apple market leadership?
  • How important is the number of apps to the success of this device?
  • How important is the $499 starting price?