Top business stories of 2007

The real estate decline The credit crisis
Climbing oil and gas prices
The Dow's rollercoaster ride
The sinking dollar
Food and toy recalls
The iPhone frenzy
Harmonix rocks the video game industry

http://www.boston.com/business/gallery/topstories2007/

What a semester!!!!

It has been a tough semester all around and I started off feeling so lost.
I must say I learned a lot and knew more about business than I thought I did.
I think I'm keeping this blog.
Thank you Professor for keeping class interesting.

Victoria's Secret store in the Kenwood Towne Centre

Victoria's Secret, special promotions, packaging and small gift items for the holidays are meant to heat up what's been slow mall traffic for much of the year.
The packaging looks so pretty.

Victoria's Secret Direct helps out area families

Employees of Victoria's Secret Direct in Rio Rancho will hand out gifts to hundreds of Albuquerque children and families on Dec. 12. It's part of parent company Limited Brands' holiday giving tree program, which takes place in Rio Rancho, where the Victoria's Secret call center is located, as well as Columbus and Kettering, Ohio, and New York City.The effort involves more than 80,000 associates in Limited Brands' home offices in those cities as well as in its 3,000 retail stores. Associates donate between 5,000 and 8,000 gifts to more than 1,700 nonprofit agencies. This is the eighth anniversary of the program. Last year the company adopted more than 44,000 families nationwide.About 200 Albuquerque area associates will help out at child care facilities, the Ronald McDonald House and the Salvation Army during December as well.

Talk about good "Social Responsibility". The perfect season for giving back to your community.

Conrad Black gets 6 1/2 years for fraud

Former newspaper mogul Conrad Black was sentenced Monday to 6½ years in prison, far less than sought by prosecutors, for swindling shareholders in his Hollinger media empire out of $6 million. To read more go to http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22185505/

Are there any honest businessmen/women left?

Victoria's Secret thrives off Jordan sweatshop

A workers-rights group said a Jordanian subcontractor that makes clothing for popular lingerie brand Victoria's Secret is abusing its workers, cheating them of wages and imprisoning them, the America in Arabic news agency reported.

The National Labor Committee (NLC), one of the biggest workers' advocacy groups in the world, said D.K. Garment in Irbid, 70 kms north of the capital Amman, is technically holding its workers prisoner after taking away their residency permits.
To read the entire article : http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2007/12/09/42699.html

I think I posted something about this a few weeks prior. This is such a shame but when you think about it, a lot of these clothing retail giants are making their profits by abusing the so-called "cheap labor". At the end of the day, its people we're talking about and they should be treated as such.

BUS104 Review

Chapter 11 cont'd

1. Implementing the production plan- (a) decide whether to make product, buy or lease product from an outside supplier. (b) selecting the best vendors to fit your needs while comparing quality, price, dependability and services offered by companies. (c) inventory control. (d) knowing how much to produce.
   
2. People in Production-line compliment is the # of people necessary to carry about production.
   
3. The engineer/time study man decides the number of workers on a line.
   
4. The start of production usually begins with cheap labor.
   
5. Flexible Manufacturing System (FMS) refers to a facility that can be modified to manufacture different products. eg different types of liquor.
   
6. Planning-Routing-Scheduling-Dispatching-Follow up are steps in the production control system.
   
7. Quality control measures output against quality standards.

Chapter 12

1. Marketing is the process of planning & executing the conception, distribution, promotion and pricing of a good/service.
   
2. Utility is the want satisfying power of a good.
   
3. Types of utility-form (conversion of raw materials into finished goods), time (making good/service available when customer wants), place (convenient location for customers) and ownership (transfer of good from seller to buyer).
   
4. A marketing concept refers to consumer orientation to promote the success of a good/service and varies from company to company.
   
5. There are different types of marketing: non-profit marketing, nontraditional marketing, person marketing, place marketing, cause marketing, event marketing and organization marketing.
   
6. Person and place marketing can occur together.
   
7. Target marketing is marketing a good/service toward a specific group of people.
   
8. Marketing Mix is making use of all four elements to satisfy chosen customer segments.
   
9. Marketing Research uses available information to support marketing decision making.
   
10. Some reasons for marketing research are to identify problems and opportunities, analyze the competition, evaluate/ predict consumer behavior, monitor existing products/ assess the potential for new ones, develop price/promotion/distribution method.
    
11. Data mining.
    
12. Dividing a total market into several homogeneous groups is known as Market Segmentation.
    
13. Criterion for market segmentation are must be a measurable group, must be accessible for communications.
    
14. Different types of segmentation are- geographical (by population), demographic (by age, income, gender), psycho graphic (by values, lifestyles), product-related (by relationship to good/service).
    
15. Buyer behavior.
    
16. Consumer behavior.

In-flight e-mail makes US debut on JetBlue with Yahoo
JetBlue will begin offering passengers free e-mail access on one of its airplanes next week as Internet connections that have become ubiquitous on the ground begin taking to the skies. An Airbus-320 passenger jet called "BetaBlue" is equipped with wireless Internet antennae in the ceiling and a computer server that relays signals to mobile telephone towers on the ground.BetaBlue will make its commercial flight debut Tuesday on a route from New York City to San Francisco.

We are slowly but surely turning into an "I-Robot" world. As much as it pains me to admit this (since I am one of the many who thinks all this technology is a good thing), we are becoming slaves to all these gadgets that we believe are invented to make our lives easier, but are they really?

Has Facebook Worn Out Its Welcome?
The Associated Press is reporting that Syria has blocked its citizens’ access to the popular Facebook social networking web site. No official reason has yet been given, but the A.P. report suggests that it may have to do with Damascus worrying that Israelis were using the site to somehow infiltrate Syrian social networks.While that’s kind of mystifying — what would be the point, exactly? — it caught The Lede’s attention for being another data point in a growing pattern: On all sides, people seem ready to conclude that Facebook is becoming A Bad Thing.

This all comes moments after Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg made a public apology for the incorporation of the Beacon tracking and advertising feature, which a lot of users complained was an invasion of their privacy. In the world of business, it seems inevitable that a company's need to make a profit begins to overshadow to safety and well being of its consumers/ users, etc.
The picture illustrates something we just talked about in class as well. This is a good example of a database and its use to target specific markets by people's interests.

NBC Plans Major Job Cuts At MSNBC, News Division
NBC boss Jeff Zucker is expected to make big cuts on the newsgathering and operational side of the company's news division, including eliminating an entire level of MSNBC's management team, in a bid to save between $20 million and $40 million, The Post has learned.

Oh Boy! And to think just yesterday I was posting positive things about the job market. Its just like I said...Here today, Gone tomorrow.

Wall Street Firms Under Fire For Aiding Subprime Loan Crisis

As the subprime loan crisis deepens, Wall Street firms are increasingly coming under scrutiny for their role in selling risky mortgage-related securities to investors. Many of the home loans tied to these investments quickly defaulted, resulting in billions of dollars of losses for investors. At the same time, many of the companies that sold these securities, concerned about a looming meltdown in the housing market, protected themselves from losses.

Private-sector Nov jobs growth best in a year
Private employers added 189,000 jobs in November for the largest monthly increase in a year, a private employment service said on Wednesday. The bulk of the gains in private-sector employment came from the service sector, where new jobs totaled 197,000, the ADP Employer Services report, which handily beat Wall Street forecasts, said.

I just wonder how sturdy the economy is to uphold such a vast increase in employment much less keep it continuously flowing. The job market is so "here today gone tomorrow".

Kia Commercial

I think this commercial is hilarious. If only they really had a dancing sales person at the store....who wouldn't want to buy a car after such great entertainment.

Pirates Attack Exxon Vessel In Nigeria

Pirates attacked a vessel operated by oil major ExxonMobil in the Niger Delta in southern Nigeria on Tuesday, killing a crew member and injuring another, private security contractors working in the oil industry said. Attacks by politically motivated rebels in the delta, who last year shut down a fifth of Nigerian oil production, have subsided since a new president took office in May but armed robbers and pirates still stage sporadic raids in the creeks.

I can't help but think of captain Jack Sparrow when pirates are mentioned. however, just like in the movies, it seems that the actions of these sea bandits are something the goverments can't seem to control.

BUS104- Review

Chapter 11

1. If Sales is the backbone, Production is the heart of business.
   
2. Production is the manufacturing of finished goods and services with the use of people and/or machinery.
   
3. Production & Operations Mgt.- managing/ overseeing production.
   
4. Mass Production- manufacturing of products in large quantities which makes use of specialized skills, mechanization & standardization.
   
5. Production processes consist of an 'analytical production system', 'synthetic production system' and continuous production system'. Limitations of Production- machinery output, time (downtime:irreplaceable time lost, biggest enemy of production), lack of production (eg. the writers and stagehands strike-big setback).
   
6. FYI: 3 major components of business- production, inventory, sales.
   
7. Pallatizing.
   
8. A Production Manager must be able to have a concept of time (be able to produce the maximum number of goods in allotted time.
   
9. Planning the production process (for starting up the business)- most production plants are 1 or 2 levels. Most efficient type of space, determine whether it is light or heavy manufacturing. Robots have replaced humans in production.
   
10. Computer-aided design (CAD), Computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) & Computer-integrated systems (CIS).
    
11. Factors in deciding location- transportation (proximity to markets, raw materials & transport alternatives. Human factors ( labor supply, local regulations, community living conditions. Physical factors (water, energy, hazardous waste).
12. Production Pull & Production Push.

To be cont'd

VICTORIA'S SECRET FASHION SHOW
AIRS
TUESDAY DECEMBER 4th 2007 AT 10/9C ON CBS

VICTORIA'S SECRET ANGELS
will.i.am! SEAL! SPICE GIRLS!
Debut Reunion Performance

Woman wins suit challenging toilet-paper tax

A western Pennsylvania woman won $100 plus court costs after she sued Kmart for twice collecting sales tax on a nontaxable necessity: toilet paper.
Mary Bach, of Murrysville, said Kmart offered to settle the case out of court before a Thursday hearing at which a Monroeville district judge sided with her. But the settlement required her to sign a confidentiality agreement, which would have defeated the purpose of her suit, Bach said. "I want consumers as they shop during the important holiday to be aware of what is and what isn't taxable," Bach said after the verdict. "I would lose my ability to spread that message if I were gagged."

That reminds me of the supermarket checkout stories that Professor Evans often refers to. You have to be alert and pay attention to your purchases as they are being rung up at the register. The supermarkets, departments stores, etc. have a variety of tactics to swindle us out of a penny to a dollar. Its all about principles.

Some say mannequins don't keep the secret

Mannequins wearing racy lingerie in the window of Victoria's Secret might lure customers to the popular retailer at Carmel's Clay Terrace, but to some residents the display is a turn-off. A group of residents has spearheaded a campaign to remove the lingerie displays from the upscale outdoor mall's windows. They've sent letters to city leaders and executives at Simon Property Group, which owns Clay Terrace, and Limited Brands, which owns Victoria's Secret.

Ok! This is a store that sells lingerie we're talking about here. What do these "residents" expect to see on mannequins when passing by such a store? I'll admit, some of the displays can be a bit raunchy but you don't have to look now do you?

Angels Air Push Up Bra Commercial

Virgin America Hosts Victoria's Secret Supermodels In-Flight PJ Party

Virgin America and Victoria's Secret hosted the first ever in-flight PJ party and fashion show aboard a regularly scheduled late night Virgin America flight from JFK-LAX on November 28. Supermodels Selita Ebanks and Miranda Kerr co-hosted the party flight on "Runway Angel," the Virgin America plane named by the Victoria's Secret Angels.
During the flight, a few lucky guests received "supermodel" makeovers courtesy of Victoria's Secret using Very Sexy Makeup, available in stores now. Guests on this special Virgin America flight also received free Victoria's Secret PJs and runway cosmetic totes filled with travel sizes of the supermodels' favorite Victoria's Secret beauty products. The PJ party go-ers stayed up late, finally ending the evening with a movie hand-picked by the supermodels.

Ironically, we were talking about marketing and promoting in class just yesterday and I think this is a great example of personal and non-personal marketing.

Limited executives buy stock at lows

Limited Brands Inc. shares got a much needed boost on Wednesday after company executives reported they bought 400,000 of the retailer's shares at multi-year lows in the days after Thanksgiving. After the purchases were reported on Tuesday, Limited shares jumped $1.31, or 7.3 percent, to $19.24 on Wednesday. During the past 52 weeks, the stock has fallen from a high of $31.96 last December to a four-year low of $16.50 a week ago.

I'm not sure if I understand this correctly...

Is it that they purchased shares within their own company?

Is this some little business trick where you buy shares from within the company you work for and it causes the value of the shares to rise or was this just a case of pure luck?

Victoria's Secret, Slave Labor & So-Called "Free Trade"

When you slip on your Victoria's Secret garb, remember this: it comes to you partly due to the wonders of so-called "free trade." And, in particular, that little Victoria Secret garment (I guess "little" is redundant in this context) may even hail from Jordan--which was supposed to be the poster child for how one forges the "right" kind of so-called "free trade" deal. But, instead, Victoria Secret exposes the exact fallacy of so-called "free trade."
To read more check out: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jonathan-tasini/victorias-secret-slave-_b_74261.html

It is amazing how many of these companies are operating under such unethical labor practices. It is even more appalling how many consumers, including myself (bowing head in shame) will still purchase these products knowing what it took to produce them.

Verizon Wireless Says ‘Bring Your Own’ Device

Verizon Wireless has stunned the wireless world by announcing that by sometime next year it will open its network to “any apps, any device.”
There is a lot of fine print, but the essence appears to be that Verizon will offer two flavors of service: its traditional bundle, which typically includes a subsidy for phone purchase and various other features, and “bring your own” device service, which will be open to any device that meets “minimum technical standards.”

Very Innovative

Bus104- Review

Chapter 6

1. Entrepreneurs- someone who seeks to capitalize on new and profitable endeavors or business; usually with considerable initiative and risk.
2. Different types of entrepreneurs: classic entrepreneur, intrapreneur & change agents.
3. Pros- Desire to be your own boss, financial success, job security, better quality of life.
4. Environment for entrepreneurs- globalization, education, information technology, demographic & economic trends.
5. How does Entrepreneurship affect the economy?- innovation, generates employment, diversity.

Chapter 7

1. E-commerce.
2. Business-to-business e-commerce (B2B).
3. Business-to-consumer e-commerce (B2C).
4. Functions of the internet-e-mail, IM, electronic bulletin boards, e-commerce.
5. Advantages of e-commerce: 24/7 service, all businesses have a fair chance to compete.
6. Disadvantages of e-commerce: fraud, consumer security, privacy concerns, system overload, poor quality of service.

Chapter 8

1. Management- the act of directing and controlling a group of people for the purpose of coordinating and motivating a gropu towards accomplishing a goal.
2. Management Hierarchy: Top Managment - CEO, CFO, Mayor; Middle Management- Regional Manager, Director, Division Head; Supervisory (1st line) Manangement- Supervisor, Section Chief, Group Leader.
3. Managerial Skills: technical skills, skills & conceptual skills. Functions of a manager: planning, organizing, directing & controlling.
4. Different types of planning: strategic planning (TM)- organizational objectives, strategies, etc. For example, GM's purchase of the Renaissance Ctr about 4 yrs. ago; tactical planning (MM); operational planning (SM) & contingency planning (ALL).
5. Mission Statement- written explanation of an organization's business intentions and aims.
6. Decision making- the process of recognizing a problem/ opportunity, evaluating it and coming up with the most suitable solution/alternative.
7. How do you recognize a problem?- expected minus what actually happened equals problem/ deviation. A problem could either be (-/+).
8. Importance of decision making is not only to find solutions but realistic alternatives as well.

Chapter 9

1. Human Resource Management entails all of the following- planning, recruiting, selection, orientation, training, performance appraisal, compensation, compliance, safety.
2. Key terms to remember: performance apprasial, wages and salaries, employee benefits & flexible benefit plans, flextime, job sharing, downsizing & outsourcing, contingent worker, job enlarement & enrichment.

Retail stocks slump as Black Friday joy fades
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Retail stocks such as Macy's Inc , Guess Inc and Urban Outfitters Inc fell on Monday as investors digested conflicting, but largely bearish, reports about this year's holiday shopping kick-off.

Just as things were beginning to look a bit promising.

Ok! So which is it?

U.S. Consumers Spent 3.5% Less on Holiday Shopping This Weekend, NRF Says U.S. consumers spent 3.5 percent less during the post-Thanksgiving Day holiday weekend than a year earlier as retailers slashed prices to lure customers grappling with higher food and energy costs.

U.S. Sales Rose 8.3% on `Black Friday' as Holiday Shopping Season Begins U.S. consumers spent $10.3 billion on holiday purchases the day after Thanksgiving, 8.3 percent more than a year earlier, as retailers promoted toys and electronics to lure shoppers.

It seems as though Black Friday sales outnumbered that of the year before but, overall for that weekend consumers shopped less. If you think about it the bargains after Black Friday are not as enticing.

Web bidding help drives live auctions
A study for the Kansas-based National Auctioneers Association found residential real estate auctions have grown 39 percent since 2003, agricultural real estate grew 33 percent, and sales of commercial and industrial property surged 27 percent. Car auctions increased by 10.5 percent and charity auctions rose 16.5 percent.

"I don't know where the auction industry would be without the Internet," said Teets, of Fairmont, W.Va. He turned professional three years ago and made the top 12 at the 2007 bid-calling world championships in San Diego.

"The Internet has educated the buyers. It's educated the sellers. It's opened a lot of these small sales up," said Teets, 31, who works for Joe R. Pyle Auctions of Mount Morris, PA.

Even though its pretty much one of the same, this is a good example of one business driving or getting the ball rolling for another.

Stocks end higher after volatile week
NEW YORK - Stocks rose as investors capped a capricious week by engaging in a bit of Black Friday bargain hunting while awaiting word of how retailers might fare during what is expected to be a tough holiday shopping season.

It is about time the stock market offered some good news. I think no matter what people are still going to shop.

‘Black Friday’ shoppers lay siege to the malls

Bargain-driven shoppers stormed America’s malls and shopping centers Friday, glomming onto earlier-than-ever holiday price cuts dangled by retailers hoping to reverse the effects of an economic downturn.

WOW!!

Heidi Klum Breasts Video: "Great Knockers" Victoria's Secret Ad Online

SIGH...I'm sorry, but I don't really get it.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Lowered Victoria's Secret demand will reduce sales

Limited Brands said on Tuesday that decreased demand caused by scaling back circulation of its Victoria's Secret catalog could reduce direct sales in the fourth quarter by $150 million.
The company said that integration issues within a new distribution center meant it could not meet expected volume, so it planned to reduce its catalog circulation.

I wonder if they anticipated such a huge setback. The company foresaw some potential problems with the use of a new distributor and put measures in place to cushion the blow.

Gold diggers may not get jewelry for holidays

NEW YORK - Gold necklaces, earrings and bracelets may be crossed off some gift lists this holiday season: With gold close to $800 an ounce, these perennial presents may be too much for some shoppers.

Everything is so expensive. Businesses are complaining about a lack of consumer spending yet prices continue to rise. I thought inflation was an effect of demand outweighing supply.

Diamond reveals `Caroline'
LOS ANGELES - Neil Diamond held onto the secret for decades, but he has finally revealed that President Kennedy's daughter was the inspiration for his smash hit "Sweet Caroline."

Sweet caroline

Good times never seemed so good

Ive been inclined

To believe they never would

Sobering thought: Jack Daniels may be tossed

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Here’s a sobering thought: Hundreds of bottles of Jack Daniel’s whiskey, some of it almost 100 years old, may be unceremoniously poured down a drain because authorities suspect it was being sold by someone without a license.
Officials seized 2,400 bottles late last month during warehouse raids in Nashville and Lynchburg, the southern Tennessee town where the whiskey is distilled.
“Punish the person, not the whiskey,” said an outraged Kyle MacDonald, 28, a Jack Daniel’s drinker from British Columbia who promotes the whiskey on his blog. “Jack never did anything wrong, and the whiskey itself is innocent.”

LOL! Although I'm not a drinker I can't help but agree with Mr. MacDonald. Talk about Peter paying for Paul & Jack paying for ALL.

MTV looks to conquer Middle East market

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - MTV is hoping hip-hop and reality television tailored and sanitized for a more conservative Middle East will draw young Arabs away from dozens of locally produced music video channels that already dominate the market.
MTV Arabia, which launched over the weekend, will feature 60 percent international music and 40 percent

Good for them...

www.victoria's secret.com

Check out the website for a few gift ideas and holiday deals!

Victoria's Secret Fashion Show

Victoria's Secret models took to the runway Thursday night to show off the lingerie line's latest collections. While the models were the main event, performances by the Spice Girls and Seal and a star-studded front row did their best to show up the angelic beauties. The show airs on television Dec. 4, 2007.

Is NYC trying to go sin-free?

amNY.com-First it was your cigarettes. Then it was your cheeseburgers.Now they want your racing form.The Bloomberg administration announced yesterday that it would not bail out its Off-Track Betting Corp., meaning that the city's OTB parlors may soon go the way of quarter peep shows on 42nd Street.

Some believe that the mayor is taking things too far and that New York is no longer a fun place to live. I'm not a smoker or gambler but I do enjoy and occasional cheeseburger from time to time. What is so wrong with trying to keep people healthy?

Has NY really lost its pizazz?

Fancy and Nasty: Serendipity 3 Shut Down

Serendipity 3, a popular East Side restaurant, has been closed after failing its second health inspection in a month. Health department officials said that they closed the restaurant, known for its extravagant and expensive desserts, on Wednesday night. “Both inspections revealed rodent and fly infestation and conditions conducive to pest infestation, including stagnant water in the basement,” the department said in a statement. An inspector spotted a live mouse and mouse droppings, flies and more than 100 live cockroaches, the department said.

After salivating last week over their $25,000 dessert, I'm a little disappointed about the turn of events. I've had the pleasure of dining there a few years ago at the restaurant that has been featured in movies such as One Fine Day ('96), Serendipity ('01) and Trust the Man ('06).

Victoria's Secret angels on Walk of Fame

Victoria's Secret models, from left, Marisa Miller, Alessandra Ambrosio, Adriana Lima, Selita Ebanks, Heidi Klum, Miranda Kerr, Karolina Kurkova, and Izabel Goulart pose for photographers after the Hollywood Historic Trust presented the Victoria Secret Angels with the "Award of Excellence" star on the Hollywood Boulevard in front of the Kodak Theater in Los Angeles Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2007. (AP Photo)

Kraft shedding Post cereals for $1.65 billion

ST. LOUIS - Private-label cereal maker Ralcorp Holdings Inc. said Thursday it will purchase Kraft Foods Inc.'s Post cereals unit, the nation's third largest with brands like Spoon Size Shredded Wheat and Post Raisin Bran.

The companies said the deal includes Ralcorp stock valued at about $1.65 billion. Ralcorp will also assume $950 million in debt, boosting the total deal value to $2.6 billion.

"This acquisition is indeed a watershed event for Ralcorp," said Kevin Hunt, the St. Louis-based company's co-chief executive officer.

Everyone seems to be selling these days...

Top 10 best resale value cars4:01am: Kelley Blue Book predicts how well these vehicles will hold their value after 5 years. A CNNMoney exclusive. (more)
• Best resale value cars by type

Cameras that know who you photographed
Face recognition technology built into cameras could make it easier to organize and find photos, once the computational challenges are solved.

Not much of a gadget freak but COOL!

IBM to buy Canada's Cognos for $5 billion

MarketWatch - 8 hours agoBy Jeffry Bartash & Aude Lagorce, MarketWatch WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- International Business Machines Corp. said Monday it will acquire business-software developer Cognos Inc. for $5 billion in cash, a move aimed at keeping up with rivals in the ...

Business Intelligence...such a nice ring to it

BUS104-Review

Chapter 4

1. Globalization-international trade
2. The U.S. is both the world's largest importer and exporter.
3. United States was the main importer before WW2.
4. Benefits of global business include providing new sources of materials, labor.
5. Major barriers of global business are trade restrictions (tariffs, quotas)
   

Chapter 5

1. Small business represents a firm that is independently owned & operated, is not dominant in its field and operates in every industry.
2. Most of NY's businesses are small businesses and is based a lot upon consumer needs and preferences.
3. Some examples of small businesses include bodegas, dry cleaners, bakeries, sho repair, restaurants.
4. Although supermarkets took over, bodegas remain prosperous due to one main fact, convenience (open 24hrs).
5. Small Businesses provide : job creation, satisfies consumer needs, produces goods in smaller quantities, brought about innovation.
6. Adavantages of Small Business include low start up costs, flexibility, innovation, good customer service.
7. Disadvantages of Small Business are management shortcomings, insufficient financing, competition, gov't regulations.
8. A franchise is an authorization to sell a company's goods or services in a particular place.
9. Some examples are travel agencies, blockbuster video, fastfood joints such as burger king, wendy's & mc donald's.
10. Interesting facts: Small to Big Businesses- Hewlett Packard, IBM, Mac.
11. 3 Major forms of Private Ownership: sole proprietorship, partnership (Ford Motors was a partnership before 1950), corporation.
12. Advantages & Disadvantages of each.
13. The difference between private, public & collective ownership.

Heineken 'DraftKeg': The Most Sexist Beer Commerical Ever Produced?

Progressive car insurance adds pet coverage

For no additional charge $500 benefit will be paid if animal is hurt or dies

Progressive Corp. is providing collision coverage for customers' dogs or cats at no additional premium cost. It will pay up to $500 if a customer's dog or cat is hurt or dies in a car accident.

You have thousands of people in this country who can't afford insurance but sure enough cats and dogs get coverage. What is this world coming to?

Veteran's Day

Estee Lauder Shares Rise After P&G's Freda Named to Replace Lauder as CEO Estee Lauder Cos., the maker of Clinique cosmetics, gained the most in nine months in U.S. trading after it said Chief Executive Officer William Lauder will step down in the next two years and be replaced by Fabrizio Freda, a Procter & Gamble Co. executive.

William P. Lauder, grandson of Estee Lauder (founder) became CEO back on July 1 2004.

$25,000 Frrrozen Haute Chocolate

The Frrrozen Haute Chocolate is unveiled at the Serendipity-3 restaurant in New York November 7, 2007 after Guinness World Records researchers determined the $25,000 frozen hot chocolate was the most expensive dessert in the world. Joe Calderone, a spokesman for the Midtown restaurant, said the dessert is a mix of cocoas and milk frozen to a slushylike consistency. But it does not stop there. Five grams of 24-carat gold are mixed in; then, the chocolate is topped with whipped cream and — what else? — more gold. No ordinary cherry tops this sundae; instead, it is garnished with La Madeline au Truffe.
The whole mass is served in a goblet surrounded with a crown made, of course, of gold. And diamonds. If that is not enough, the spoon is gold, too.

As a lover of chocolate it looks devine and I'm drooling right now but who the hell buys this stuff and how healthy is it to ingest gold anyway(I predict potential bowel problems)? Just Ridiculous!!!

Global Financial buys land, plans to employ 350

Global Financial Aid Services Inc. has purchased five acres and a 35,000-square-foot facility in Birmingham to establish a contact center that will employ up to 350 people within the next few years.
The company recently moved its 50 employees from offices in Century Park South in Hoover to its new office in the Meadow Brook area off U.S. 280.
With headquarters and a contact center in Gulfport, Miss., and a shared data center in Phoenix, the company said it has aggressive plans to expand its clientele further across the country to service out of its Birmingham facility.
The company contracts with schools across the country to provide front- and back-office financial aid administration for campuses and online and contact center services.

Interesting example of strategic planning and considering the number of companies laying off workers, its a nice thought to see one planning to provide jobs instead of taking them away.

Despite $380 million loss, Ford is optimistic

Ford Motor said Thursday that it had lost $380 million in the third quarter, slipping back to a loss after a surprise profit in the second quarter. Executives said that they also expected a loss in the fourth quarter and that the company might post a small loss for the year. But Ford essentially broke even on its operations and said its restructuring plan was on track.
The U.S. automaker also said that it had decided not to sell Volvo, its Swedish brand, after conducting a strategic review of the company. Ford said that it would set up Volvo as a separate operation and that it would report results for Volvo, beginning next year.

Things that make you go hhmmm!! I guess $380 million is chump change to these guys.

Most Ridiculous British Law 1-10

1. It is illegal to die in the Houses of Parliament (27 %)
2. It is an act of treason to place a postage stamp bearing the British monarch upside-down (7%)
3. In Liverpool, it is illegal for a woman to be topless except as a clerk in a tropical fish store (6%)
4. Mince pies cannot be eaten on Christmas Day (5%)
5. In Scotland, if someone knocks on your door and requires the use of your toilet, you must let them enter (4%)
6. A pregnant woman can legally relieve herself anywhere she wants, including in a policeman's helmet (4%)
7. The head of any dead whale found on the British coast automatically becomes the property of the king, and the tail of the queen (3.5 %)
8. It is illegal to avoid telling the tax man anything you do not want him to know, but legal not to tell him information you do not mind him knowing (3%)
9. It is illegal to enter the Houses of Parliament in a suit of armour (3%)
10. In the city of York it is legal to murder a Scotsman within the ancient city walls, but only if he is carrying a bow and arrow (2%)

This was just too crazy not to post. They often say the law is an "ass".

BUS104-Review

Chapter 1:

• Business consists of all profit-seeking activities.

• Sales is the foundation of business.

• Factors of Production are resources used in the production of goods and services. Consists of natural resources, capital, human resources and entrepreneurship.

• The 6 eras of business include colonial, industrial revolution, industrial entrepreneurs, production, marketing and relationship.

• Interesting facts-Alexander Hamilton invented the US financial system
• NY was built strictly for business.
• NY was the 1st capital.
• Conception comes from a mistake.

Chapter 2:

• Ethics (as it pertains to business) refer to standards of conduct and moral values involving right and wrong actions arising in the work environment.
• Social Responsibility and how it is measured.
• Modern Specialization is a method of production where a business or area focuses on the production of a limited scope of products/services in order to gain greater degrees of productive efficiency within the entire system of businesses/areas. Many countries specialize in producing good native to their part of the world.

Chapter 3:

• 3 major types of economic systems are private enterprise, planned and mixed market.
• Four stages of the business cycle are prosperity, recession, depression and recovery.

Victoria's Secret 1977

Finally I found some pictures surrounding the start up of Victoria's Secret. Doesn't appear as though much has changed.

Wall Street firms see recession nearing

The economy might be edging toward a recession in the wake of mortgage-related credit woes plaguing the financial markets, bankers and analysts said on Monday. "I think that the risk of a recession is greater than people realize," James Dunne, chief executive of Sandler O'Neil & Partners, said at the Reuters Finance Summit in New York.
With home prices dropping, more people about to lose their homes due to unaffordable mortgages and sharply higher oil prices, the economy could be on the brink of slowing down, they said.

Stage two of the Business Cycle:
Prosperity-->Recession-->Depression-->Recovery, and is termed as a decline in a country's gross domestic product (GDP) for two or more consecutive quarters. One method of preventing a recession is for the Federal Reserve to lower rates thus allowing financial institutions to provide lower interest rates on loans, etc. This inturn would encourage more borrowing and spending.