Description: Three years ago, American Express (AXP) claimed the Saturday after Thanksgiving as Small Business Saturday, enticing shoppers with rebates if they swiped their AmEx cards at local independent stores the day after Black Friday’s big-box doorbuster sales. The next year, shopkeepers in Portland, Ore., asked: Why not make Black Friday for small business, too?… Read more »
Posts Tagged: Leadership
High tech ‘old-fashioned’ ice cream
Description: Smitten Ice Cream in San Francisco is using a super cold liquid nitrogen ‘Brrr’ machine to make ice cream made to order. Source: CNNMoney.com – video report Date: Nov 13, 2013 Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/technology/2013/11/13/t-high-tech-smitten-ice-cream.cnnmoney/index.html Questions for Discussions: How does this technology provide competitive advantage to the firm? Do you think a franchise network would be… Read more »
Snapchat, How Quickly You Have Grown
Description: While some might have been shocked this week by the multi-billion dollar offers the start-up Snapchat turned down, I found something else entirely perplexing about the valuation of this little company: just how quickly it grew. Source: NYTimes.com Date: Nov 15, 2013 Link: http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/11/15/from-university-class-project-to-billion-dollar-valuation/?ref=business Questions for Discussions: What does this article have to say… Read more »
Fast-Food Chains Inch Toward Healthiness
Description: Going cold turkey is hard—especially if it means denying yourself a 730-calorie frozen caramel coffee Coolatta or an 840-calorie steak and cheese sandwich. That’s why restaurants are getting Americans off unhealthy food gradually. Source: Businessweek.com Date: Nov 14, 2013 Link: http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-11-14/2014-outlook-fast-food-chains-inch-toward-healthiness#r=hpt-ls Questions for Discussions: How are fast food retailers dealing with the movement toward… Read more »
Lululemon Ripped For ‘Alienating The Customer’ As Stock Tumbles
Description: Lululemon’s repeated missteps are taking a toll. The yoga-wear retailer is both alienating current customers and “making it tough” to get new ones, an analyst at Sterne Agee, Sam Poser, wrote in a note to clients on Thursday. Poser downgraded the company’s stock and sent Lululemon shares downhill 4 percent to $66.24 on Thursday… Read more »
Toms’ new marketplace: More than just shoes
Description: Entrepreneur Blake Mycoskie discusses Toms Shoes’ ‘One for One’ program which gives free shoes to a poor children for every pair sold at retail and the company’s new digital marketplace. Source: CNNMoney.com – video report Date: Nov 08, 2013 Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2013/11/08/n-toms-shoes-blake-mycoskie.cnnmoney/index.html Questions for Discussions: Describe the new business model? What are the critical characteristics… Read more »
A Founder of Twitter Goes Long
Description: Between downtown San Francisco and the new Twitter offices six city blocks to the west, things get sketchy. There is a strip club, a budget motel with weekly rates and, on the gentrified edge of this no-man’s land, the offices of Medium, the new venture of Evan Williams, one of Twitter’s co-founders. Source: NYTimes.com… Read more »
Taking the business case for wellness programs beyond anecdote
Description: Mary Lui is a seasoned accountant who has worked as a manager in various capacities for a number of fast-paced, forward-thinking organizations. Though she loves her job, she also notes that it can be demanding and can place undue stress on her health and lifestyle. Source: FinancialPost.com Date: Nov 07, 2013 Link: http://business.financialpost.com/2013/10/02/taking-the-business-case-for-wellness-programs-beyond-anecdote/ Questions… Read more »
Lululemon Lab designers push the boundaries
Description: It’s part store, part factory, and part design studio where shoppers flick through racks of clothes next to a designer quietly sketching at a table. Source: GlobalNews.ca Date: Nov 08, 2013 Link: http://globalnews.ca/news/955533/lululemon-lab-designers-push-the-boundaries/ Questions for Discussions: Describe the operations at this location. What are the benefits for product development? What are other benefits accrue… Read more »
Container Store keeps employees happy
Description: The Container Store thrives as a public company and their employees will benefit as CEO Kip Tindell says about 40% of employees own stock. Source: CNNMoney.com – video report Date: Nov 01, 2013 Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/investing/2013/11/01/investing-container-store-ceo-ipo-employees.cnnmoney/index.html Questions for Discussions: How does management differ at The Container Store? How important do you think stock ownership is… Read more »
