The huge challenges and opportunities of the Circular Economy

Posted by & filed under International Business, Management, Organizational Behavior.

Description: The core challenge for the global economy is to decouple economic growth from resource constraints.

Source: Fortune.com

Date: Jan 20, 2015

Link: http://fortune.com/2015/01/20/the-huge-challenges-and-opportunities-of-the-circular-economy/

Questions for discussion:

  • What is the “circular economy”?
  • Why is it critical from a managerial point of view?
  • What will drive managers to adopt or not adopt this thinking?

Target CEO’s Golden Handshake Pretty Much Matches The One For All 17,600 Canadian Employees

Posted by & filed under International Business, Management, Organizational Behavior.

Description: An interesting talking point has seized the interwebs today: The amount of money Target has set aside to pay its Canadian staff is slightly less than the money it paid out to one former employee: Its CEO.

Source: HuffingtonPost.com

Date: Jan 21, 2015

Link: http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2015/01/21/target-ceo-severance-canadian-workers_n_6517272.html

Questions for Discussions:

  • What are the implications for companies dealing with compensation negotiations with employees and senior managers?
  • How would you expect this story to influence attitudes?

7 tips on climbing the corporate ladder

Posted by & filed under International Business, Management, Organizational Behavior.

Description: Seven women executives from Fortune’s Most Powerful Women community give their best career advice.

Source: Fortune.com – video report

Date: Jan 14, 2015

Link: http://for.tn/1ykuU73

Questions for Discussions:

  • What are the key pieces of advice given?
  • Are any of these items specific to women or to men in leadership positions?

Will Apple crush GoPro?

Posted by & filed under International Business, Management, Organizational Behavior.

Description: Andrew Nusca and Robert Hackett discuss the plunge in Go Pro’s stock after Apple announces it’s patent for remote control cameras.

Source: Fortune.com – video report

Date: Jan 15, 2015

Link: http://for.tn/1uaatWw

Questions for Discussions:

  • How can management turn Go-Pro into a media company?
  • What changes would need to be made to the organization structure and strategic planning?
  • What sort of leadership would be needed?

Wall Street Doesn’t Want You Unless You’re a Robot

Posted by & filed under International Business, Management, Organizational Behavior.

Description: Want to work on Wall Street? Suit up, turn your spell check on, and leave your risk-taking, self-starter attitude home.

Source: Businessweek.com

Date: Jan 13, 2015

Link: http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2015-01-13/wall-street-doesnt-want-you-unless-youre-a-robot#r=hpt-fs

Questions for discussion:

  • What does the article say about hiring at Wall Street firms?
  • Are you surprised?

How to go from start-up to global phenomenon

Posted by & filed under International Business, Management, Organizational Behavior.

Description: At a recent panel in San Francisco hosted by DocuSign, Fortune’s Adam Lashinsky spent a few minutes chatting with Tom Gonser about taking DocuSign from idea to global phenomenon.

Source: Fortune.com

Date: Jan 16, 2015

Link: http://fortune.com/2015/01/16/start-up-to-global-phenomenon/

Questions for discussion:

  • What does Tom Gonser have to say to other start-ups management teams about how to develop the firm more quickly?
  • Do you think this applies to all firms or more to those in technology?
  • What are the risks and benefits associated with these recommendations?

5 life lessons you can learn from Taylor Swift

Posted by & filed under International Business, Management, Organizational Behavior.

Description: Rebrand yourself like this savvy businesswoman

Source: MarketWatch.com

Date: Jasn 17, 2015

Link: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/five-lessons-you-can-learn-from-taylor-swift-2015-01-16

Questions for discussion:

  • Summarize the suggestions made in this article.
  • What do you think about this commentary?

Why SurveyMonkey won’t have an IPO any time soon

Posted by & filed under International Business, Management, Organizational Behavior.

Description: In an interview at the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show, CEO Dave Goldberg tells Fortune’s Alan Murray about SurveyMonkey’s strategy to avoid going public.

Source: Fortune.com – video report

Date: Jan 08, 2015

Link: http://for.tn/1s6zdDg

Questions for Discussions:

  • Why is the company uninterested in going public at this time?
  • How would an IPO change the management of the firm?

It’s a mod, mod world: The future of design

Posted by & filed under International Business, Management, Organizational Behavior.

Description: Award-winning designer, Karim Rashid, joins BNN to discuss the growing importance of design in business. Find out why brands like 3M, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, Audi and Sony have turned to Rashid’s design sense to reinvent their brand identities.

Source: BNN.ca– video report

Date: Dec 23, 2014

Link: http://www.bnn.ca/Video/player.aspx?vid=518948

Questions for Discussions:

  • What are the key concepts about design that managers should take away from this interview?
  • What are the globalization issues in this report?
  • What industry or product do you think is most driven by design issues?

McDonald’s New Turnaround Plan Is So 1990s

Posted by & filed under International Business, Management, Organizational Behavior.

Description: In a period of lasting difficulty for McDonald’s, with U.S. same-store sales dropping over consecutive quarters, executives turn to regionalized menus, made-to-order burgers, and speed to bring the world’s largest burger chain out of a multi-quarter slump. Sound familiar?

Source: Businessweek.com

Date: Jan 07, 2015

Link: http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2015-01-07/mcdonalds-new-turnaround-plan-is-so-1990s#r=hpt-lst

Questions for discussion:

  • What is the company’s operational strategy for change?
  • Do you think it will work?
  • What would you do to improve things?