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

Description:  Meet Jessica Mah: The 20-year-old chief executive who’s on startup No. 3. She’s the CEO of InDinero, a Website that lets small businesses automatically track their finances with no data entry required. Barely a month after finishing the Silicon Valley startup incubator program Y Combinator, she scored $1 million in seed funding. Next on her to-do list: Find more paying customers, keep the 5,000 existing ones happy enough so they’ll tell their friends, and — per the advice of her Y Combinator adviser Paul Graham — not “screw things up.”

Source:  BNET.com
 
Date: 10/04/2010

Link: http://www.bnet.com/article/startup-lessons-learned-from-a-20-year-old-ceo/471602?promo=857&tag=nl.e857

Questions for discussion: 

  • What did you learn about entrepreneurship by reading this interview with Jessica Mah?
  • Does she fit the typical profile of an entrepreneur?
  • What did you learn about starting up a business?
  • After reading this interview, do you feel more motivated to consider starting up your own business?

Posted by & filed under Part 4: Marketing Management.

Description:  A new logo is a gamble. It can brighten up a company’s image — or enrage loyal customers.

Source: CNNMoney.com
 
Date: 10/08/2010

Link: http://money.cnn.com/2010/10/08/news/companies/gap_logo/index.htm

Questions for discussion:

  • Why do you suppose there was such negative response to the new logo?
  • What would you recommend that marketing management do now?

Posted by & filed under Part 4: Marketing Management.

Description:  Airbus SAS’s A380 superjumbo, designed to carry 500 people per flight between the world’s biggest airport interchanges, is carving out an unexpected new market with direct travel to non-hub cities.

Source: Bloomberg.com
 
Date: 10/08/2010

Link: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-10-07/airbus-a380-jumbo-jet-bypasses-hubs-as-smaller-cities-clamor-for-flights.html

Questions for discussion:

  • What does this report have to say about the current and future direction of the airline industry?
  • Why have things changed?
  • What do you think the industry will look like in 10 years?

Posted by & filed under Part 1 Business in a Global Environment, Part 3 Management: Empowering People to Achieve Business Objectives, Part 4: Marketing Management.

Description: CEO William Weldon admitted to lawmakers that his company made mistakes involving numerous recalls, but never explained how they happened.

Source: CNNMoney.com  – video report

Date: 10/01/2010

Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2010/09/30/n_tylenol_recall_hearing.cnnmoney/

Questions for discussion: 

  • Summarize the plan at Starbucks to expand into other businesses by using the web?
  • Do you think this plan will be successful?
  • What other online strategies would you recommend to Starbucks that allows it to leverage its brand and stores.

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

Description: Although ex-SAP Chief Leo Apotheker lacks experience in the key consumer market, analysts say he will bring much-needed leadership to the tech giant.

Source: CNNMoney.com – video report
 
Date: 10/01/2010

Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/markets/2010/10/01/mkts_hp_apotheker.cnnmoney/

Questions for discussion: 

  • According to the report, what are the positive and negative aspects of the recent appointment of Leo Apotheker to head HP?
  • On the whole, do you think he is a good choice?
  • Do you think his lack of expertise in consumer markets is a serious concern?
  • How important is his international experience?

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

Description:  Daniel Gordon loves to chat. As President of Oklahoma City-based Samuel Gordon Jewelers — and the 4th generation of his family to run the 106-year-old company — you might figure that being social comes with the territory, since he is the face of his company.

Source:  BNET.com
 
Date: 09/28/2010

Link: http://www.bnet.com/blog/smb/samuel-gordon-jewelers-a-small-business-that-gets-social-media/2274?promo=713&tag=nl.e713

Questions for discussion: 

  • Why has this firm succeeded online?
  • Describe the way in which the firm has used social media?
  • Who is the target customer?
  • What other online strategies might work well?

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

Description:  Does knowing your colleagues’ salaries make you happy or disgruntled?

Source: Slate.com
 
Date: 09/28/2010

Link: http://www.slate.com/id/2268886/

Questions for discussion:

  • What does this article have to say about how employees look at their pay?
  • What lessons are there here for management?
  • Which motivational models discussed in the textbook helps explain the results of this research?

Posted by & filed under Part 4: Marketing Management.

Description:  Bugatti, Volkswagen AG’s supercar brand, and Fiat SpA’s Ferrari have sold out of their most expensive models as demand for luxury vehicles roars back.

Source: Bloomberg.com
 
Date: 10/01/2010

Link: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-09-30/bugatti-sells-out-of-2-7-million-world-record-model-as-luxury-roars-back.html

Questions for discussion:

  • Why are these cars selling so well during a time when general economic conditions are so poor?
  • What do these sales results say about the global economy?

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

Description: At the Think Mobile conference in San Francisco, Starbucks VP Adam Brotman outlines the company’s vision for a new Web-based network available in its coffee shops. In partnership with Yahoo, the new site will offer movies, music, and premium content from The Wall Street Journal and Zagat for free.

Source: BNET.com  – video report

Date: 09/23/2010

Link: http://www.bnet.com/videos/starbucks-stirs-up-new-in-store-web-hub/467814

Questions for discussion: 

  • Summarize the plan at Starbucks to expand into other businesses by using the web?
  • Do you think this plan will be successful?
  • What other online strategies would you recommend to Starbucks that allows it to leverage its brand and stores.

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

Description: Off of the coast of Great Britain, 100 wind turbines power 200,000 homes

Source: CNNMoney.com – video report
 
Date: 09/23/2010

Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2010/09/23/n_gb_off_shore_wind_farm.cnnmoney/

Questions for discussion: 

  • Do you think this energy business would be as successful, without government subsidies?
  • What role should government play in helping emerging enterprises establish themselves?
  • Are subsidies fair to other energy companies?
  • How important is the “global” nature of this business?
  • Why are governments so ready to offer subsidies to this sort of business start-up?
  • What could be a limitation to the long term success of this business?