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

Description:  At last month’s Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, some film financiers met for nachos at the Wasatch Brew Pub to toast their comedy, Ass Backwards—a Dumb and Dumber-esque tale of two women who enter a beauty pageant. Dori Sperko, who’d been dabbling in Hollywood funding since selling her Florida-based payroll services company several years ago, told the table about three films she’d considered investing in that morning. “I automatically passed on the movie with the woman producer team attached,” she said. “I just feel like you can’t trust women you don’t know, but you can trust a man.” Sperko shrugged and sipped her cocktail. “It is what it is.”

Source:  Businessweek.com

Date: Feb 21, 2013

Link: http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-02-21/why-women-in-hollywood-cant-get-film-financing#r=nav-f-story

Questions for Discussions:

  • What does this report say about the risk-perception of women as managers?
  • Do you think this is a cultural “thing” that can be turned around?
  • How does this thinking affect the operations of the industry?

 

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

Description: Olympian Oscar Pistorius, now an alleged murderer, is the latest in a string of Nike athletes to fall from grace.

Source: CNNMoney.com – video report

Date: Feb 15, 2013

Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2013/02/14/n-nike-oscar-pistorius-sponsorship-homicide-shooting.cnnmoney/

Questions for Discussions:

  • How should management at firms like Nike handle sponsorship scandals?
  • Do you believe that the publicity generated by scandals actually reflect on the firm or is the public able to separate the firm from the scandal?

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

Description: Tech is fashion’s latest accessory on designer Asher Levine’s smartphone connected clothing.

Source: CNNMoney.com – video report

Date: Feb 15, 2013

Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/technology/2013/02/15/t-gps-clothes.cnnmoney/

Questions for Discussions:

  • What are the new product possibilities for this technology in the fashion and other industries?
  • Why are partnerships with other firms the better way to bring this technology to market?
  • What are the managerial risks associated with these sorts of partnerships?

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

Description:  U.S. car sharing company, Zipcar, is latching on to a growing trend that sees consumers opting to borrow, rent or share items like automobiles, clothes, their homes and even vacuum cleaners instead of buying them outright. The so-called “sharing economy” has evolved as digital technologies have reduced the cost of finding people to share with and increased the extent to which you can trust them, Arun Sundararajan, professor at New York University tells BNN.

Source:  BNN.ca – video report

Date: Feb 15, 2013

Link: http://www.bnn.ca/News/2013/2/15/The-rise-of-the-sharing-economy.aspx

Questions for Discussions:

  • Besides cost savings, what are the factors driving the development of sharing-businesses?
  • From a management perspective, which consumer product businesses are likely to see further development?
  • Refering to a specific example of a businesses that is threatened by this growing phenomenon, what can management do to mitigate the loss of customers?

Posted by & filed under International Business, Management.

Description:  Some flower shop owners hate Valentine’s Day, losing money on big orders that flow in from big e-commerce groups like FTD, 1-800-Flowers and Teleflora.

Source: CNNMoney.com

Date: Feb 14, 2013

Link: http://money.cnn.com/2013/02/14/smallbusiness/order-flowers/index.html?iid=SF_SB_Lead

Questions for Discussions:

  • Describe the working relationship between small business shops and e-commerce marketers that feed them orders.
  • How can small business owners deal with these challenges?

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

Description:  Fresh off the launch of its new Kevin Spacey political drama, House of Cards, Netflix (NFLX) is planning an original animated children’s series.

Source:  Businessweek.com

Date: Feb 13, 2013

Link: http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-02-13/with-a-3d-animated-series-netflix-aims-for-kids#r=nav-f-story

Questions for Discussions:

  • How is Netflix attempting to distinguish itself from competitors like Hulu and Amazon?
  • Do you think they will succeed with this strategy?
  • What are the organizational and managerial implications for developing content?
  • What are the international growth opportunities associated with animation content?

Posted by & filed under Management.

Description: Venture capitalists Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz talk about how they modeled their firm after CAA and JPMorgan

Source: CNNMoney.com – video report

Date: Feb 06, 2013

Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/technology/2013/02/06/t-andreessen-horowitz-partnership.fortune/

Questions for Discussions:

  • What is the formula for success used by this firm?
  • Why is the involvment and treatment of the founder so critical to the success of a venture capital firm?

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

Description:  Increased taxes due to austerity measures are forcing some small businesses in Italy to close for good.

Source: CNNMoney.com – video report

Date: Feb 05, 2013

Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2013/02/05/n-italy-small-business-squeezed.cnnmoney/

Questions for Discussions:

  • Why has austerity caused small businesses to close more so than bigger firms?
  • How should managers handle the situation?
  • Is there any reason for optimism looking down the road?

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

Description:  When the workday ends at BGI’s factory in Shenzhen, the headquarters of the largest genome mapping company in the world, it’s like a bell has gone off at math camp. The company’s scientists and technicians spill out of the doorways of the building, baby-faced and wearing jeans and sneakers

Source:  Businessweek.com

Date: Feb 07, 2013

Link: http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-02-07/bgis-young-chinese-scientists-will-map-any-genome#r=hp-ls

Questions for Discussions:

  • Describe the organizational structure of BGI.
  • Why are there partnerships with other companies and organizations?
  • How does BGI train employees?
  • Why is China a likely location for this operation?

 

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

Description: Netflix Inc. (NFLX) will test whether Machiavelli and math are a winning formula as the world’s largest subscription-video service debuts “House of Cards,” its most ambitious step yet into original online-TV programs.

Source: Bloomberg.com

Date: Feb 01, 2013

Link:  http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-02-01/machiavelli-meets-math-as-netflix-bets-on-original-shows.html

Questions for Discussions:

  • Describe the change in product strategy by Netflix?
  • What are the risks?
  • What alternative strategies could management consider in light of quickly changing consumer behaviors?
  • What sort of business entertainment landscape do you see in ten years from today?
  • Will Netflix be part of that landscape?