Description: Cindy Murray has been working at Walmart store No. 1985 in Laurel, Md., for 13 years. She’s stationed in the fitting rooms and earns $12.40 an hour. Murray, who’s in her fifties, says she loves her job. She thinks of herself as a model employee. Source: Businessweek.com Date: Dec 13, 2012 Link: http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-12-13/walmart-vs-dot-union-backed-our-walmart#r=hp-ls Questions… Read more »
Posts Tagged: International Business Issues
In an era of mobile apps, is there room for the children’s toy?
Description: Fourteen years ago, Hasbro unleashed a small, furry, wide-eyed toy into the world. It came in wild colors, spoke a strange language and disliked when its owner held it upside down. Source: SmartPlanet.com Date: Dec 13, 2012 Link: http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/report/in-an-era-of-mobile-apps-is-there-room-for-the-childrens-toy/752?tag=main;carousel Questions for Discussions: How does the report respond to the question in the title? What… Read more »
Retailers Use Technology to Manage the Holiday Rush
Description: A Thanksgiving weekend study (PDF) by small business finance provider Capital Access Network shows a 3.9 percent increase in same-store credit and debit-card sales at Main Street restaurants and merchandisers, compared to the same period in 2011. A recent look at how Etsy sellers are faring this holiday season indicates that sleepless nights lie… Read more »
What Shutterfly learned from Instagram
Description: Shutterfly CEO Jeffrey Housenbold talks about how the popular smart phone photo app changed his company. Source: CNNMoney.com – video report Date: 04, 2012 Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/technology/2012/12/04/t-shutterfly-instagram.fortune/ Questions for Discussions: What does this report tell you about strategic management thinking and philosophy at Shutterfly? What did Shutterfly learn by studying Instagram?
Old school bookstore thrives in NYC
Description: The Strand Bookstore in New York has held on for over 80 years despite the changing city around it. Source: CNNMoney.com – video report Date: Dec 07, 2012 Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/smallbusiness/2012/12/07/sbiz-old-bookstore-the-strand-new-york.cnnmoney/ Questions for Discussions: Describe the similarities and differences between the operations of this book store and online competitors? Who is the target customer for… Read more »
6 reasons manufacturing is returning to North America
Description: Lower transportation costs, competitive wages, technology and employee productivity have made North America a manufacturing destination. In a sign of this manufacturing renaissance, GE, one of the world’s largest appliance manufacturers, gearing up its almost-dormant Louisville facilities for new product development and production. Source: SmartPlanet.com Date: Dec 05, 2012 Link: http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/bulletin/6-reasons-manufacturing-is-returning-to-north-america/7422?tag=nl.e660&s_cid=e660 Questions for Discussions:… Read more »
No Sleep Till Christmas: Etsy Sellers’ Haggard Holidays
Description: To keep up with orders on the world’s largest marketplace of handmade stuff, Kelly Engel starts sewing shortly after her four-month-old son wakes up at 4 a.m., and works until her husband, a school counselor, leaves at 7:30 a.m. She squeezes in a couple of hours while her two boys (her oldest is two… Read more »
Why Hewlett-Packard Should Consider Breaking Up
Description: The struggling technology company is an amalgam of businesses that could be worth more separately than they are together. Source: TheDailyBeast.com Date: Dec 07, 2012 Link: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/12/07/why-hewlett-packard-should-consider-breaking-up.html Questions for Discussions: What are the arguments for breaking up and keeping H-P as it is today? Do you think H-P should be broken up? Is there… Read more »
Ernesto Sirolli: Want to help someone? Shut up and listen!
Description: When most well-intentioned aid workers hear of a problem they think they can fix, they go to work. This, Ernesto Sirolli suggests, is naïve. In this funny and impassioned talk, he proposes that the first step is to listen to the people you’re trying to help, and tap into their own entrepreneurial spirit. His… Read more »
Why Can’t Walmart Be More Like Costco?
Description: Because they’re really very different Source: The DailyBeast.com Date: Nov 26, 2012 Link: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/11/26/why-can-t-walmart-be-more-like-costco.html Questions for Discussions: Summarize the comparison between the operations of Walmart and Costco. Are Costco employees more productive? Should Walmart try to become more like Costco? What would change, if anything at either of these retailers?
