Posted by & filed under International Business, Management.

Description: As Amazon builds its drone delivery service, drone experts say there a few things they’ll need to build before a robot can bring you your packages. Laurie Segall reports.

Source: CNNMoney.com – video report

Date: Dec 03, 2013

Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/technology/2013/12/03/t-amazon-drone-delivery-tech.cnnmoney/index.html

Questions for Discussions:

  • What are the concerns related to using this technology for order fulfillment?
  • Do you think drones will eventually find their way into the delivery infrastructure?

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

Description: Big companies like Coca-Cola and Visa are counting on capitalizing on the global exposure of being a World Cup sponsor.

Source: CNNMoney.com – video report

Date: Dec 04, 2013

Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2013/12/06/n-world-cup-soccer-brands.cnnmoney/index.html

Questions for Discussions:

  • What are the benefits of going with a global branding event like World Cup Soccer?
  • How does this approach fit with the move toward more individualized communications efforts using social media?
  • Which do you think makes more sense for a firm like Coke?

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

Description: Volkswagen turns off some employees’ email 30 minutes after their shifts end. Goldman Sachs is urging junior staff to take weekends off. BMW is planning new rules that will keep workers from being contacted after hours.

Source: VancouverSun.com

Date: Dec 07, 2013

Link: http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Employers+step+prevent+staff+burnout/9259561/story.html#ixzz2mnpH6D2r

Questions for Discussions:

  • What does the article say about the reasons for employee burnout?
  • How can communications be a cause of stress?
  • Do you believe the solutions described in the article are likely to solve employee stress and burnout?

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

Description: In 1984, Mike Lazaridis, an engineering student at the University of Waterloo, and Douglas Fregin, an engineering student at the University of Windsor, founded an electronics and computer science consulting company called Research In Motion, or RIM. For years the company tinkered in obscurity, until it focused on a breakthrough technology: an easy, secure, and effective device that allowed workers to send and receive e-mails while away from the office. They called it the BlackBerry.

Source: Businessweek.com

Date: Dec 05, 2013

Link: http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-12-05/the-rise-and-fall-of-blackberry-an-oral-history#r=most%20popular

Questions for discussion:

  • What are the lessons about Blackberry management that can be learned from this article?
  • What items stands out in you mind?

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

Description: Apple wants to know exactly where you are when you enter an Apple Store. On Friday Apple launched a new feature in its Apple Store app, which allows Apple to see specifically where you are in its own stores. Those who have the latest version of the app and have enabled the new location features will be sent alerts based on where they are in the retail spaces.

Source: ABCNews.com

Date: Dec 07, 2013

Link: http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/apple-ibeacon-track-stores/story?id=21129648&.tsrc=emul

Questions for discussion:

  • Explain this new technology of micro-location awareness and how it might be used to better serve the public?
  • What are the social and ethical concerns related to its use?
  • How should management go about introducing this “service”?

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

Description: Online merchant KlearGear.com fined a customer $3,500 for posting a critical review about the company’s customer service.

Source: CNNMoney.com – video report

Date: Nov 29, 2013

Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2013/11/29/fined-for-bad-online-review.cnnmoney/index.html

Questions for Discussions:

  • What are arguments for and against management applying this policy?
  • Is the publicity surrounding this story likely to hurt sales at the firm or change customer behaviors?

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

Description: Former Hearst intern Diana Wang says her lawsuit over an unpaid internship at Bazaar has made it difficult to find a full-time job.

Source: CNNMoney.com – video report

Date: Nov 18, 2013

Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2013/11/18/n-asher-interns-sue-companies-job-prospects.cnnmoney/index.html

Questions for Discussions:

  • What are the ethical and legal issues surrounding internship working conditions and contracts?
  • What are the potential risks for interns and companies if a dispute over conditions goes public?
  • Do you believe publicity over disputes will affect decisions by potential interns and firms?

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

Description: BLOG: Facebook (FB-Q 47.01 0.52 1.12%) may have a problem with teenagers. During its third quarter earnings call, CFO David Ebersman admitted Facebook saw a decrease in daily users in its latest quarter, specifically among younger teens. Since then Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg has been in damage control mode – saying the reaction to Ebersman’s comment has been “blown out of proportion.”

Source: BNN.ca – video report

Date: Nov 29, 2013

Link: http://www.bnn.ca/News/2013/11/29/Facebooks-pain-may-be-Instagrams-gain.aspx

Questions for Discussions:

  • What problems should Facebook management be concerned with, according to this report?
  • How can Facebook managers respond to this development?

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

Description: The Canadian phonemaker has seen three management regimes in as many years. Is this the one that will save the company from obsolescence?

Source: Fortune.com

Date: Nov 25, 2013

Link: http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2013/11/25/blackberry-shakeup-third-times-a-charm/?iid=F_F500M

Questions for discussion:

  • How important is a new management team for the firm at this time?
  • How do think the introduction of yet another new senior management team might affect the psychology of the remaining employees?
  • What advice would you give John Chen to turn the firm turn around?

Posted by & filed under Management, Organizational Behavior.

Description: General Electric (GE), on the hunt for ways to build more than 85,000 fuel nozzles for its new Leap jet engines, is making a big investment in 3D printing. Usually the nozzles are assembled from 20 different parts. Also known as additive manufacturing, 3D printing can create the units in one metal piece, through a successive layering of materials. The process is more efficient and can be used to create designs that can’t be made using traditional techniques, GE says. The finished product is stronger and lighter than those made on the assembly line and can withstand the extreme temperatures (up to 2,400F) inside an engine. There’s just one problem: Today’s industrial 3D printers don’t have enough capacity to handle GE’s production needs, which require faster, higher-quality output at a lower cost.

Source: Businessweek.com

Date: Nov 27, 2013

Link: http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-11-27/general-electric-turns-to-3d-printers-for-plane-parts#r=read

Questions for Discussions:

  • What are the benefits to using 3D printing technology, according to GE?
  • What do you think should concern GE management as it moves further towards adopting this technology in manufacturing processes?