Description: Tweezerman founder Dal LaMagna says his company grew by being frugal with money and keeping stakeholders interests at heart. Source: CNNMoney.com – video report  Date: 11/11/2010 Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/smallbusiness/2010/11/11/sbiz_tweezerman_dal_lamagna_500_dollars.cnnmoney/ Questions for discussion: Explain the global success of this game? What does its success suggest about consumer behavior? What need does this product satisfy for… Read more »
Posts Tagged: Economic Challenges Facing Contemporary Business (p66)
A Pistachio Farmer, Pom Wonderful, and the FTC
Description: California philanthropists Lynda and Stewart Resnick own a pistachio empire twice the size of Sacramento. Now they’re facing lawsuits over water control and the health claims of Pom Wonderful. Source: Businessweek.com Date: 11/11/2010 Link: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_47/b4204068352545.htm Questions for discussion: Summarize the business, legal, and moral issues in this report? Who do you side with in… Read more »
RIM Taps Teens’ Messaging Mania to Top Apple in Latin America
Description: The iPhone was an also-ran for Monica Amilpas when she chose her first smartphone last year. She opted for the BlackBerry Curve because it had an instant- messaging feature the Apple Inc. device lacked. Source: Bloomberg.com  Date: 11/11/2010 Link: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-11-11/rim-taps-teens-messaging-mania-to-top-apple-in-latin-america.html Questions for discussion: Why is RIM’s Blackberry more successful in this market? What… Read more »
The slaying of the Celtic Tiger
Description: Anglo Irish Bank’s unfinished head office pokes into the sky on Dublin’s North Wall Quay, a silent testimony to the rise and fall of the Celtic Tiger. Source: TheGlobeandMail.com  Date: 11/12/2010 Link: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/economy/the-slaying-of-the-celtic-tiger/article1797583/ Questions for discussion: Summarize the history of the Irish economic experience. What do you think will happen to Irish markets… Read more »
75 years later, Monopoly rolls on
Description: A special look inside the Monopoly factory as the legendary board game celebrates its 75th anniversary. Source: CNNMoney.com – video report  Date: 11/05/2010 Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2010/11/05/n_monopoly_birthday_factory.cnnmoney/ Questions for discussion: Explain the global success of Monopoly? What does its success suggest about consumer behavior? What need does this product satisfy for consumers? How do you… Read more »
Chasing Pirates: Inside Microsoft’s War Room
Description: AS the sun rose over the mountains circling Los Reyes, a town in the Mexican state of Michoacán, one morning in March 2009, a caravan of more than 300 heavily armed law enforcement agents set out on a raid. Source: NYTimes.com  Date: 11/06/2010 Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/07/technology/07piracy.html?ref=business Questions for discussion: Summarize how Microsoft deals with… Read more »
Bitten by a billion dollar industry
Description: Stephen Woolley, producer of “Interview with a Vampire,” talks about why we love horror, the supernatural and vampires. Source: CNNMoney.com – video report  Date: 10/29/2010 Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2010/10/29/n_vampires_halloween.cnnmoney/ Questions for discussion: Explain the global success of this genre of film and publishing business. Do you agree with the analysis presented in the video? What… Read more »
Baidu feels lucky in Q3
Description: The Chinese search engine’s profits doubled after seeing a surge in customers following Google’s shutdown in China. Source: CNNMoney.com – video report  Date: 10/21/2010 Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/markets/2010/10/22/mkts_baidu_q3.cnnmoney/ Questions for discussion: Why has Baidu’s profits grown so dramatically? Is this growth sustainable? How should investors look at the risk associated with this firm? Do you… Read more »
Google 2.4% Rate Shows How $60 Billion Lost to Tax Loopholes
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… Read more »
Rum Battle in Caribbean Leaves Tax Hangover
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… Read more »
