Obama ex-aide: Valley would’ve done better

Posted by & filed under Management, Organizational Behavior.

Description: Former White House CIO Vivek Kundra says established tech companies would have done a better job building the Obamacare website. Laurie Segall reports.

Source: CNNMoney.com – video report

Date: Oct 18, 2013

Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/technology/2013/10/25/t-obama-cio-obamacare-site.cnnmoney/

Questions for Discussions:

  • Why have there been so many problems with the roll-out of the IT system, according to Vivek Kundra?
  • Would you have handed over the project or parts of the project to firms like Amazon or Google?
  • What are the managerial and political implications for this sort of thinking?

A new electric competitor to Tesla, Porsche, Toyota

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

Description: Every major carmaker is going green with plans to put batteries next to gasoline engines. Bloomberg Television’s Matt Miller has the story about how Ford is leading the charge. (Source: Bloomberg)


Source: Bloomberg.com – video report

Date: Oct 24, 2013

Link: http://www.bloomberg.com/video/how-ford-is-leading-the-charge-of-going-electric-4aqZuNaxTAWnew411QHPjg.html

Questions for Discussions:

  • Do you think electric vehicle sales will begin to take hold?
  • What sort of infrastructure will be needed?
  • Why do you think Ford is manufacturing batteries in the U.S.A. rather than elsewhere in the world?

What managers can learn from designers

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

Description: Facebook’s design chief on empathy, complexity, leadership, and her new book.

Source: Fortune.com

Date: Oct 24, 2013

Link: http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2013/10/24/facebook-design/?iid=SF_F_River

Questions for discussion:

  • What does this report say about the role of design and design management?
  • What insight is there to the Facebook workplace and management style?

Facebook Looks Beyond the Social Media Part of Its Business

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

Description: Facebook is no longer positioning itself as just a social media solution. Carolyn Everson, Facebook’s vice president of global marketing solutions, spoke with eMarketer’s Rimma Kats about the key role social advertising and real-time marketing play for the company’s clients, as well as how mobile is constantly opening up opportunities.

Source: eMarketer.com

Date: Oct 25, 2013

Link: http://www.emarketer.com/Article/Facebook-Looks-Beyond-Social-Media-Part-of-Its-Business/1010332#8O2JvFUwE6tWWi5I.99

Questions for Discussions:

  • Summarize the key points in this report that shed light on the strategic thinking at Facebook.
  • Do you think the strategies are good ones?

The Price Of Personalization

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

Description: What kind of advertising do you want? It’s a serious question. It’s a question that most consumers don’t ask themselves, but they should.

Source: Twist.com

Date: Oct 25, 2013

Link: http://www.twistimage.com/blog/archives/the-price-of-personalization/

Questions for Discussions:

  • What is the difference between privacy and personalization?
  • How should managers deal will this debate?

Iconic Boeing 747 Could Be Nearing It’s End

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

Description: For decades, the Boeing 747 was the Queen of the Skies. But the glamorous double-decker jumbo jet that revolutionized air travel and shrunk the globe could be nearing the end of the line.

Source: HuffingtonPost.com

Date: Oct 24, 2013

Link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/24/boeing-747-end_n_4157063.html

Questions for discussion:

  • Explain the reasons for the long-term success of this airplane.
  • Why has it lost favor in the marketplace recently?
  • Do you foresee any chance for a renewal of interest from airline companies, given current operations?

Xerox’s CEO doesn’t want you to watch

Posted by & filed under Management, Organizational Behavior.

Description: Xerox CEO Ursula Burns talks about why she thinks people are oversharing and how Twitter oversimplifies conversations.

Source: CNNMoney.com – video report

Date: Oct 18, 2013

Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/technology/2013/10/18/f-mpw-ursula-burns-twitter.fortune/index.html

Questions for Discussions:

  • Summarize Ursula Burns’ views on communications and sharing?
  • Do you agree with her?

AC for feet: The future according to Under Armour

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

Description: Under Armour has more than 40 engineers and scientists working on its next big innovation… but the company doesn’t stop there. Each year, it hosts two “Future Show Innovation Challenges” — open events for entrepreneurs to pitch a product and explain why it needs to be added to the UA line. UA CEO Kevin Plank tells Bloomberg Television’s Trish Regan why this is critical to innovation and shows off the products of Under Armour’s future. (Source: Bloomberg)

Source: Bloomberg.com – video report

Date: Oct 18, 2013

Link: http://bloom.bg/16eYkJ5

Questions for Discussions:

  • Describe the way Under Armour manages product development strategy.
  • What are the benefits to Under Armour and to those engineers that enter the contests?

Marissa: My 3 biggest decisions

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

Description: Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer talks about the most important decisions she’s had to make since taking over the technology company.

Source: CNNMoney.com – video report

Date: Oct 17, 2013

Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/technology/2013/10/17/f-mpw-marissa-mayer-yahoo-decisions.fortune/index.html

Questions for discussion:

  • What do the answers given by Marissa Mayer tell you about the direction she is planning to take Yahoo?
  • What do the answers say about her leadership qualities and character?

Nissan’s failed ‘Taxi of Tomorrow’

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

Description: Hail a yellow cab in New York City today, and you could be stepping into a dog’s breakfast of vehicles, ranging from a cavernous Toyota (TM) Sienna minivan to a claustrophobic Ford Escape crossover. After climbing into the rear seat, you may find yourself nostalgic for a yellow Crown Victoria, an obsolete sedan that had been in production for 20 years when Ford (F, Fortune 500) discontinued it in 2011. But chances are you won’t be sliding your fanny into very many Nissan NV200s, the one-time “taxi of tomorrow” that now has only a slim chance of becoming a taxi of today.

Source: Fortune.com

Date: Oct 18, 2013

Link: http://money.cnn.com/2013/10/18/autos/nissan-taxi-nyc.fortune/index.html

Questions for Discussions:

  • Why did this project fail?
  • What damage has been done to the Nissan brand?
  • What would an ideal taxi look like?