Description: Chris Rock has made a career of being blunt, particularly about race. So when he wrote in the Hollywood Reporter last week that the movie business is “a white industry,” his appraisal was familiarly provocative. And by most measures, his remark was also right.

Source: Businessweek.com

Date: Dec 12, 2014

Link: http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-12-12/top-five-chris-rock-is-right-hollywood-isnt-fair-to-black-films#r=hp-ls

Questions for Discussions:

• What does this report say about the management side of Hollywood and film production decision-making?
• What opportunities are presented for entrepreneurial producers?

Description: In a movement gaining steam across the country to help ex-convicts find employment, ‘Ban the Box’ prevents businesses from asking about arrests and criminal records in the first stage of a job application.

Source: CNNMoney.com – video report

Date: Dec 05, 2014

Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2014/12/05/ban-the-box.cnnmoney/

Questions for Discussions:

• What is this program about, from a corporate social responsibility point of view?
• How would you advise companies to deal with these issues?

Description: Polaroid’s retro resurgence is getting a modern makeover. It’s launching the Cube, which is a 35mm video camera that aims to appeal to a broad demographic.

Source: CNNMoney.com – video report

Date: Dec 04, 2014

Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/technology/2014/12/04/polaroid-cube.cnnmoney/

Questions for Discussions:

• Do you think this product can revitalize the Polaroid brand image, especially with younger consumers?
• Do you think this product will undermine GoPro’s rate of growth?
• How important are the supply chain partnerships mentioned in the report?

Description: Having taught in MBA programs and worked for many years in China, I have found that most Western business students have little insight into the mindset of an economic power that is on a path to surpass the U.S. in the near future.

Source: Businessweek.com

Date: Dec 05, 2014

Link: http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-12-05/business-school-doesnt-prepare-mbas-to-compete-with-china#r=most%20popular

Questions for Discussions:

• What are the suggestions presented in this report to U.S. managers?
• What do you think of these ideas?
• Do you think they are likely to be adopted?

Description: Of every kind of gratitude that matters in business, one of the most vital is a company’s appreciation for its great employees.

Source: Forbes.com

Date: Nov 25, 2014

Link: http://www.forbes.com/sites/cherylsnappconner/2014/11/25/gratitude-in-business-the-appreciation-that-inspires-employees/

Questions for Discussions:

• What does Dan Caffee have to say about leadership and employee motivation?
• How would you describe the corporate culture at Neutron Interactive?