Google 2.4% Rate Shows How $60 Billion Lost to Tax Loopholes

Posted by & filed under Part 1 Business in a Global Environment.

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 relationship between governments and international businesses?
  • Who are the winners and losers in this situation?
  • What should the governments and businesses involved do?
  • How does this situation affect investors?
  • Do you think the US government will go after the tax revenues missed through international structuring or do you think this is considered acceptable by governments?
  • What are the arguments for allowing Google and other companies to dodge US taxes in this manner?

Turning Customers Into Creators

Posted by & filed under Part 2 Starting and Growing Your Business, Part 4: Marketing Management.

Description:  A FEW young women are gathered around a conference table dotted with bottles of colorful vitamin drinks, iPod cables and slender laptops. A whiteboard with lime-green writing almost swallows a wall in the room.

Source: NYTimes.com
 
Date: 10/23/2010

Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/24/business/24ping.html?ref=business

Questions for discussion:

  • How is this sort of research superior to other forms of research into investigating customer behaviors?
  • Do you think the participants are being truly honest in their feedback?
  • Are there any drawbacks to this method of interacting with customers?

7 Ways Companies Miss Out on Huge Opportunities

Posted by & filed under Part 3 Management: Empowering People to Achieve Business Objectives, Part 4: Marketing Management.

Description:  More often than not, companies manage to lock themselves into unnecessarily narrow market segments and, in so doing, lock themselves out of huge growth opportunities. It’s so prevalent it’s like an epidemic out there. I see it all the time.

Source:  BNET.com
 
Date: 10/21/2010

Link: http://www.bnet.com/blog/ceo/7-ways-companies-miss-out-on-huge-opportunities/5848?promo=713&tag=nl.e713

Questions for discussion: 

  • Do you agree with the arguments presented in this article?
  • Why else do you think some companies miss out on great opportunities?

A day with Stan Lee at Comic Con

Posted by & filed under Part 2 Starting and Growing Your Business, Part 3 Management: Empowering People to Achieve Business Objectives, Part 4: Marketing Management.

Description: The comics legend is still going strong, and still spends entire days promoting his new products and meeting his fans.

Source: CNNMoney.com – video report
 
Date: 10/15/2010

Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2010/10/15/n_cmr_stan_lee_comiccon.cnnmoney/

Questions for discussion: 

  • How important is Stan Lee as a leader for his company and industry?
  • Why do you suppose there is such reverence for the man?
  • How do you explain the longevity of this industry?
  • Who is the target audience?
  • What is the “product” they are buying?
  • What do you think of the new products mentioned in the video clip?

BullHorn: GOOG, YHOO, education, gambling

Posted by & filed under Part 6 Managing Financial Resources.

Description: Google keeps rising while Yahoo may get bought out. For-profit education takes a hit and betting on gambling may not pay off.

Source: CNNMoney.com  – video report

Date: 10/15/2010

Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/markets/2010/10/15/mkts_bh_goog_yhoo_edu_gambling.cnnmoney/

Questions for discussion: 

  • Summarize the assessments of each stock and the reasons given?
  • Do you agree with these comments?
  • How important is the management of each company in the assessments given?
  • What else is given prime consideration in terms of making an evaluation of each firm?
  • Would you be a buyer of any of these companies?

Ass-Tastic: Why Ads Are Becoming More Disgusting

Posted by & filed under Part 4: Marketing Management.

Description:  If you think advertising is becoming more tasteless, you’re right. Several new campaigns — for Levi’s, Diesel, Arm & Hammer cat litter, Jack in the Box and Kotex, among others — currently use lowbrow body-part humor or unflinching references to biological functions that would previously have been unacceptable.

Source:  BNET.com
 
Date: 10/15/2010

Link: http://www.bnet.com/blog/advertising-business/ass-tastic-why-ads-are-becoming-more-disgusting/6219?tag=content;feature-roto

Questions for discussion: 

  • Do you agree with the sentiment expressed by the reporter of this article?
  • What do you think of the trend these advertisements suggest?
  • How could they backfire on the firms using them to gain competitive advantage over other advertisements?

Google reveals surprisingly huge mobile and display ad sales

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

Description:  Google’s profit soared in the third quarter, defying skeptical investors and analysts who feared that the search giant would never find a a significant new revenue stream besides search advertisements.

Source: CNNMoney.com
 
Date: 10/15/2010

Link: http://money.cnn.com/2010/10/14/technology/google_earnings/index.htm

Questions for discussion:

  • Why has Google stock rebounded on the stock market?
  • What are the sources of revenue that explain the confidence in its future growth?
  • What else can you foresee in Google’s future that suggests increasing success?
  • Do you see any threats from competitors or other factors that should give investors concern?

Rum Battle in Caribbean Leaves Tax Hangover

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

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 say about the relationship between governments and businesses?
  • Are there winners and losers in this situation?
  • What should the governments and businesses involved do?

Small business is still hiring

Posted by & filed under Part 2 Starting and Growing Your Business.

Description: ‘Help Wanted’ signs are popping up all over, but small business owners say they still feel the impact of the financial downturn.

Source: CNNMoney.com  – video report

Date: 10/08/2010

Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2010/10/08/n_help_wanted.cnnmoney/

Questions for discussion: 

  • Summarize the current state of affairs at the small businesses that were profiled in the report.
  • What does this information suggest to you about the economy in general?
  • Why is the employment situation at small business so worthwhile knowing?

digits: Verizon iPhone: Benefits, Drawbacks?

Posted by & filed under Part 4: Marketing Management.

Description: Walt Mossberg and Marcelo Prince discuss the possible benefits and drawbacks of having the iPhone on Verizon’s wireless network, including whether it will suffer some of the same problems that have plagued AT&T. Plus, Verizon readies 4G service.

Source: Marketwatch.com – video report
 
Date: 10/07/2010

Link: http://www.marketwatch.com/video/asset/digits-verizon-iphone-benefits-drawbacks/BAD18EA8-BF63-4C59-925D-F88F550AFF6E

Questions for discussion: 

  • Summarize the concerns about how consumers might respond to new technologies.
  • How do you think consumers will react?
  • What are the marketing implications for the firms involved?