NickelsMcHughMcHugh - McGraw-Hill Introduction to Business

Dallas Takes on Bike-Share Companies

August 16, 2018

If you live in a large or mid-sized city, you’ve probably noticed a lot of brightly colored bicycles popping up on sidewalks throughout town. Whether they’re green bikes from Lime or Ofo’s yellow models, these two-wheeled vehicles are available to rent for as little as $1 per ride. Bike-share companies claim that this business model provides cities with a wealth of transportation options that both tourists and locals alike can easily access. For communities that have been absolutely flooded with Continue reading →

Texas, China, Regulation, Transportation, Ethics, Product Distribution, Bike-share, Dallas

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 15: Distribution, Bonus Chapter B: Technology and New Media, Uncategorized

Bayer Risks Its Reputation with Takeover of Monsanto

August 14, 2018

NickelsMcHughMcHugh

In June, the German pharmaceutical giant Bayer paid $63 billion to acquire Monsanto, one of the biggest names in agricultural technology. The idea behind the deal was to merge Bayer’s pesticide business with Monsanto’s dominance in genetically modified crops to create the world’s largest seed and agrochemical company. Along with these valuable assets, however, Bayer also acquired a lot of legal baggage. Over the years, Monsanto has faced thousands of lawsuits from consumer and environmental advocates who claim that the Continue reading →

Marketing, Agriculture, Ethics, Mergers and Acquisitions, Bayer, Monsanto, Reputation, Branding, Legal

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 5: Forms of Business Ownership, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Bonus Chapter A: Business Law

Canada Dry Faces Lawsuit Over Lack of Ginger

August 10, 2018

NickelsMcHughMcHugh

Over the last few years, many Americans have started to cut sugary drinks like soda out of their diets for health reasons. So instead of reaching for a Coke, these calorie-conscious consumers will opt for alternatives like bottled water or ginger ale. According to a recent lawsuit filed in New York, however, the latter isn’t that much better than soda if you’re drinking Canada Dry. Despite advertising on the label that it is “made with real ginger,” plaintiff Julie Fletcher Continue reading →

Promotions, Packaging, Legal, Marketing, False Advertising, Ethics, Canada Dry, Food & Drink

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 16: Place and Promotion, Bonus Chapter A: Business Law

Apple’s Market Cap Climbs Above $1 Trillion

August 9, 2018

NickelsMcHughMcHugh

Last year, Apple sold more than 280 million iPhones, iPads, and Mac computers to customers around the world. And judging by the tech giant’s ever climbing stock price, the sales tally for 2018 appears to be going strong as well. In fact, last week the price of an Apple share climbed above $207. Besides being good news for investors, reaching this milestone meant that Apple became the first publicly traded company to achieve a market capitalization above $1 trillion.

To Continue reading →

Product Development, Technology, Innovation, Silicon Valley, Mobile, Apple, Market Capitalization

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 2: Economics, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 5: Forms of Business Ownership, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 19: Securities Markets, Bonus Chapter B: Technology and New Media

MoviePass Changes Business Model after Heavy Losses

August 7, 2018

NickelsMcHughMcHugh

At the beginning of the year, we looked at how MoviePass planned to disrupt the multiplex by allowing subscribers to see as many movies as they liked for just $9.95 per month. Since the company paid theaters directly for every ticket obtained by its members, critics wondered how long MoviePass could operate before it ran out of money. In fact, the company was losing $45 million a month as it tried to amass a large user base. These losses unnerved Continue reading →

Product Distribution, Movies, MoviePass, Promotions, Entertainment, Ethics, Pricing

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 6: Entrepreneurship, Chapter 7: Management & Leadership, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Chapter 16: Place and Promotion

[VIDEO] How the Campbell Soup Company Fell Off Its Perch

August 3, 2018

NickelsMcHughMcHugh

A few months ago, we looked at why our subject for the Chapter 8 profile in Understanding Business was leaving her position as CEO of the Campbell Soup Company. As the video below shows, however, Campbell’s problems began long before Denise Morrison took the top job.

Questions:

Why has Campbell’s struggled to grow steadily in recent years?
What do you think Campbell’s should do to start winning over young consumers who don’t like canned soup?

Management, Product Development, Marketing, Leadership structure, Food, Packaging, Product Distribution, Campbell’s, Mergers and Acquisitions

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 5: Forms of Business Ownership, Chapter 7: Management & Leadership, Chapter 8: Organizational Culture and Structure, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Uncategorized

Poke Craze Leads to Trademark Conflicts

August 2, 2018

NickelsMcHughMcHugh

If you’ve never heard of poke (pronounced poe-kay) before, then you’re certainly not alone. This Hawaiian dish consisting of marinated sushi served over rice has been popular with eaters in the 50th state since the 1970s. For many people on the U.S. mainland, however, this meal remained a mystery until a few years ago when poke joints began to pop up along the east and west coasts. It has since grown into a nationwide trend: according to Foursquare more than Continue reading →

Fads, Trademarks, Ethics, Product Development, Entrepreneurship, Branding, Food, Legal, Hawaii

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 6: Entrepreneurship, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 16: Place and Promotion, Bonus Chapter A: Business Law

Vanilla Shortage in Madagascar Leads to Higher Prices Everywhere

July 31, 2018

NickelsMcHughMcHugh

Although people sometimes use “vanilla” as a byword for “boring,” the complicated global industry that surrounds this flavor is far from dull. 80 percent of the world’s vanilla crop is grown in Madagascar, which has the perfect climate for vanilla orchids. These plants only bloom one day a year and must be pollinated by hand, followed by another 9 months of waiting for the fruit to mature into pods. Then comes another weeks-long process of curing the plants using steam, Continue reading →

Operations Management, Global, Product Development, Ethics, Sustainability, Cooperatives, Product Distribution, Food, Africa

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 5: Forms of Business Ownership, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution

Why Used Electric Car Batteries Will Soon Be in High Demand

July 27, 2018

NickelsMcHughMcHugh

From smartphones to electric vehicles, many of today’s most innovative products depend on lithium-ion batteries to function. That’s why every year the tech industry upgrades these portable power sources to hold more and more charge. While this allows them to create better products (at least in theory), it also leads companies to discard a lot of technically obsolete batteries that can still collect energy. For instance, the lithium-ion units that power cars and buses can be used for Continue reading →

Batteries, Product Development, Innovation, Global, Transportation, Sustainability, Product Distribution, Infrastructure, Electric cars

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Bonus Chapter B: Technology and New Media

Consumers Grow Concerned about Autonomous Vehicles

July 26, 2018

NickelsMcHughMcHugh

For the past few years, a number of technology companies have championed self-driving cars as the future of transportation. But recently the concept has received some bad press thanks to a string of accidents involving autonomous vehicles. For instance, last month a Waymo test car made headlines when it ended up in a five-car crash. Meanwhile, several Tesla vehicles in “driver-assist” mode have been involved in collisions, including one fatal incident. As a result, consumers are becoming more wary about Continue reading →

Regulation, Ethics, Automation, Product Distribution, Self-Driving Cars, Waymo, Product Development, Innovation

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Bonus Chapter A: Business Law, Bonus Chapter B: Technology and New Media