Posted by & filed under Part 4: Marketing Management.

Description: Throw away the cellphone after two years? Not so fast. Ditch the flat-panel TV for an even thinner model? Maybe next year. Replace the blouse with the hole? Darn it!

Source:  NYTimes.com

Date: 02/25/2011

Link:  http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/26/business/26upgrade.html?ref=business

Questions for discussion: 

  • What does this report suggest amount changing consumer behavior?
  • How should marketers deal with this trend?

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

Description:  Since its introduction as little more than a simple and inexpensive way to share videos on the Internet, YouTube has risen to the level of nearly universal name recognition. More important, however, is the increasing use of YouTube for much more than merely sharing videos but rather as a highly effective tool for online business and commerce. Perhaps nowhere is this more apparent than the world of advertising and yet many businesses remain either unaware of the opportunity or unprepared to take advantage.

Source: BNET.com – Webinar

Date: 02/22/2011

Link: http://event.on24.com/eventRegistration/EventLobbyServlet?target=lobby.jsp&eventid=284228&sessionid=1&key=10611A9E3AC130146B6ABE89BB49C421&eventuserid=45613660

Questions for discussion: 

  • Why is YouTube becoming more popular with advertisers and audiences? 
  • Summarize the key marketing recommendations for using YouTube to make successful advertisements? 

Posted by & filed under Part 6 Managing Financial Resources.

Description: KB Home CEO Jeffrey Mezger says recovery is taking place in California and Texas and foreclosed homes are finding buyers.

Source: CNNMoney.com – video report

Date: 02/18/2011

Link:  http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2011/02/17/n_kb_home_lookahead.cnnmoney/

Questions for discussion: 

  • Do you agree with the analysis presented in this report?
  • How would investors be expected to react to the forecasts presented for improving real estate markets?
  • Would you be an investor in KB today?

Posted by & filed under Part 6 Managing Financial Resources.

Description: If worries about Steve Jobs’s health don’t derail Apple’s run, what will? Amazon and Disney are smokin’ too.

Source:  CNNMoney.com – video report

Date: 02/18/2011

Link:  http://money.cnn.com/video/markets/2011/02/18/mkts_bh_aapl_dis_amzn.cnnmoney/

Questions for discussion:  

  • Summarize the analysis presented for each company.
  • Do you agree with them?
  • Do you agree with the view that some of these companies are “unstoppable”?

Posted by & filed under Part 3 Management: Empowering People to Achieve Business Objectives, Part 6 Managing Financial Resources.

Description:  Warren Buffett, the billionaire chief executive officer of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., said he rates businesses on their ability to raise prices and sometimes doesn’t even consider the people in charge.

Source: Bloomberg.com

Date: 02/18/2011

Link: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-18/buffett-says-pricing-power-more-important-than-good-management.html

Questions for discussion:  

  • What does Warren Buffet have to say about the importance of management and the ability of the company to raise prices?
  • Do you agree with this view?
  • What does this opinion suggest about the performance-based compensation packages paid to managers?
  • What does this thinking suggest about the way financial managers are compensated, in general?

Posted by & filed under Part 6 Managing Financial Resources.

Description:  Stocks haven’t risen this much with such narrow price swings since 1971. This puts equities at risk for short-term losses.

 Source: Businessweek.com
 
Date: 02/17/2011

Link: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/11_09/b4217045129476.htm

Questions for discussion: 

  • Summarize the concerns  about the current state of the stock market?
  • How should a prudent investor behave if they were in agreement with this analsys?

Posted by & filed under Part 4: Marketing Management.

Description: Few people in this city 800 miles south of Detroit cared much about the auto industry until Hyundai announced it would build cars here nine years ago.

Source:  NYTimes.com

Date: 02/19/2011

Link:  http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/19/business/19hyundai.html?ref=business

Questions for discussion:

  • Why have these automobile manufacturers thrived in Alabama while others elsewhere in the U.S. have struggled in recent years?
  • Is there a suggestion here for other manufacturers?

Posted by & filed under Part 4: Marketing Management.

Description:  Valentine’s Day orders bring 20 percent of annual revenue for ProFlowers.

Source:  CNNMoney.com – video report

Date: 02/11/2011

Link:  http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2011/02/11/n_valentines_day_proflowers.cnnmoney/

Questions for discussion:  

  • Who is the target market and describe their buying behavior.
  • How important is the Internet for this business?
  • What do you think is the message intended and received when roses are sent on Valentine’s Day?

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

Description: U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack says corn-based ethanol didn’t cause record food prices, weather and trade policies did.

Source:  CNNMoney.com – video report

Date: 02/10/2011

Link:  http://money.cnn.com/video/markets/2011/02/10/mkts_usda_food_prices.cnnmoney/

Questions for discussion:  

  • Summarize the reasons for the global rise in food prices.
  • Do you think bio-fuel production contributes to higher prices?
  • How does population and income growth in China contribute to price changes?

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

Description:  Investing in a troubled region with a long-term perspective

Source: Marketwatch.com

Date: 02/11/2011

Link: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-risk-of-egypt-and-mideast-stocks-post-mubarak-2011-02-11?dist=afterbell

Questions for discussion: 

  • What does this article have to say about the risks associated with investment and investment in Egypt and the Middle East in particular?
  • Do you agree with these views?
  • What are some good reasons to be an investor there now?
  • What are some good reasons not to be?