Starwood: Tech boosts hotel bookings

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Description: According Starwood CFO Vasant Prabhu, the internet and technology has made traveling cheaper without taking away the need for face-to-face meetings. Source: CNNMoney.com – video report Date: August 14, 2013 Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2013/08/14/f-leadership-starwood-cfo-vasant-prabhu-corporate-travel.fortune/index.html Questions for Discussions: What does Vasant Prabhu have to say about the use of communications technology and the human need to meet… Read more »

The business of Ashton Kutcher

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Description: Ashton Kutcher is more entrenched in the tech world than simply playing the role of Steve Jobs. He actually throws around big dollars investing in some of the hottest startups. Source: CNNMoney.com – video report Date: August 16, 2013 Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/technology/2013/08/16/t-ashton-kutcher-business-steve-jobs.cnnmoney/index.html Questions for Discussions: Is Ashton Kutcher a typical venture capitalist? Why do you… Read more »

Novel Ways to Solve Exporting Riddles for Small Businesses

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Description: About two-thirds of small businesses that don’t export goods or services would like to start selling overseas, according to a June study (PDF) from the National Small Business Association (NSBA). Almost half of those businesses said a main barrier is that they’re “not sure where to start.” Given President Barack Obama’s promise in 2010… Read more »

Hanging Out at the E-Mall

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Description: Shopping online is easier than shopping in a mall — as long as you know exactly what you want to buy. The problem comes when you don’t know what you want. Source: NYTimes.com Date: August 17, 2013 Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/17/technology/hanging-out-at-the-e-mall.html?ref=business Questions for Discussions: Describe how the sites help create a better online shopping experience. How… Read more »

How to Make a Tesla: A View From the Factory Floor

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Description: Aug. 7 (Bloomberg) — Bloomberg Businessweek’s Ashlee Vance tours Tesla’s factory floor. (Source: Bloomberg) Source: Bloomberg.com – video report Date: August 07, 2013 Link: http://www.bloomberg.com/video/a-tour-of-tesla-s-factory-floor-mODU5sP6RC~HNgoCzv6uYw.html Questions for Discussions: How does reducing inventories of parts help control costs of production? How else can management strategy reduce production costs?

Body Glove: Perfecting the wetsuit

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Description: Twin brothers Bill and Bob Meistrell created the first practical wetsuit out of neoprene. But finding the perfect material meant a lot of trial and error – including with old Pontiac parts. Source: CNNMoney.com – video report Date: August 06, 2013 Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/smallbusiness/2013/08/06/sbiz-hwgs-body-glove.cnnmoney/index.html Questions for Discussions: What does this report say about management style… Read more »

Rhea Lana’s Unpaid Moms ‘Don’t Care About Making Minimum Wage’

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Description: Rhea Lana Riner is on a mission to get government off her back. As chief executive and founder of Rhea Lana’s, a children’s consignment franchise business based in Conway, Ark., Riner has been investigated twice in the past two years for labor violations, first by the Arkansas Department of Labor and then by the… Read more »

How UrgentRx Crashed the Party at the Cash Register

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Description: The checkout line in Duane Reade drugstores encompasses some of the most coveted real estate in New York. Within a five-foot radius of the cash register, dozens of the biggest brands in the world vie for attention from hooks, racks and shelves, every inch of which have been allocated according to the product’s place… Read more »